On a personal note, certainly he and JD have been "name" authors who give their best in articles, unlike many others. And I do not oppose freelancers; as a magazine editor, I have myself used freelancers in tandem with staff writers but kept their leashes short, very short. A mag at the very bottom of the entropy slope will use freelancers to fill pages and give them wide scope. Editorial direction defaults to the mailman who delivers this day's story proposals.
Eric notes the neagtivity about Military History magazine as well.
J.D. Makes the following comment on the Weider magaine situation among the comments in the post linked above:
IIRC, Chris told me that the fellow who managed Discover magazine was hired as the new manager of the history magazines. This new manager wanted to turn CWTI, ACW, etc, into more generalized, slick productions. He was looking for less specific history and more appeal to the “mass” population.Ethan Rafuse added,
Dana Shoaf gave a talk on his experiences as editor of America’s Civil War with the Weiders last week at the Chambersburg seminar and seemed much more optimistic about the prospects for the magazines. If they lose him, then I think it will be time to really become concerned.
