Meet Contemporary Media, Inc.: Bruce Vanwyngarden

Get to know the faces behind our publications: Contemporary Media, Inc. is the parent publishing company of the Memphis Flyer, MBQ: Inside Memphis Business, Memphis Magazine and Memphis Parent.

Meet Bruce VanWyngarden: Editor, Memphis Flyer

1. What does your position entail? Assigning and editing stories, working with reporters and other editors to plan future issues, writing a weekly column, deep thinking, occasional mild panic, putting my feet on my desk.

2. How did you get into this industry and what insight can you give someone interested in this industry? Go into journalism if you are intelligent, curious, fun-loving, and open-minded and want to work with other intelligent, curious, fun-loving, and open-minded people. Don't do it if you are driven by the need to accumulate wealth.

3. On an off day from work, you will find me … knee-deep in a stream.

4. What is number one on your Memphis bucket list? I think I have already kicked my Memphis bucket list, but my favorite thing to do is jump in our little runabout boat, cruise up the Mississippi River a few miles, and have dinner on a sandbar.

5. How long have you worked here? I've worked here since 1994. Began as special publications editor and was named “interim” editor of the Flyer in 2000. So far, so good. 

6. What do you think makes the Flyer different from other publications? Not being the “paper of record,” we can focus on more in-depth reporting, quirkier stories, non-mainstream opinions, and stories with a decided political slant. Plus, we can publish cuss words.  

7. When did you know that you loved words and wanted to use them to tell people a story? When my sophomore high school English teacher read one of my stories out loud to the class and everyone laughed. In a good way. I think. 

8. Tell me anything else interesting about yourself. I have a dog and his ridiculous name is Trotsky.

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