Oprah Winfrey will be Apple News’ first ever “guest editor,” Apple said Tuesday. The role shows Apple deepening its relationship with the iconic TV host and entrepreneur.
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A guest editor typically commissions articles and shapes the editorial direction of a publication. Given that Apple News is a combination of algorithm-picked news stories and those picked by human curators to highlight from other outlets, there’s likely a bit less for a guest editor to do than in a traditional magazine setting.
According to Apple’s press release, Winfrey will curate a series of articles on the Apple News service related to Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, her latest Book Club pick. It’s not clear whether these will be Apple exclusives or pieces written for other places and then aggregated.
Written by Pulitzer-winning author and historian Isabel Wilkerson, Caste is all about the “unspoken caste system” that shapes modern America. Winfrey also will engage in conversation with Wilkerson in an Apple TV+ show debuting this fall.
“This might be the most important book I’ve ever chosen for my book club,” said Winfrey. “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents provides a new way of seeing racial inequality, giving rise to countless aha moments and helping us truly understand America as it is now and how we hope it will be.”
Apple’s history with Oprah Winfrey
Apple signed Winfrey to a deal in June 2018. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter said the pact “includes everything from film, TV, applications, books and other content that could easily be distributed on Apple’s all-encompassing platform.” Since then, Winfrey has hosted three different shows for Apple TV+. She also appeared onstage at Apple events.
Apple News debuted in September 2015. It is not to be confused with Apple News+, the premium digital magazine subscription service Apple launched in March 2019.
Source: Apple
