A difficult balance

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2033

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Fiona Godlee, editor, BMJ

fgodlee{at}bmj.com

My predecessor but one, Stephen Lock, chose to call the book he wrote towards the end of his 16 years as editor “A difficult balance.” It was a good choice. Getting the right balance in a general medical journal is an editor’s greatest challenge. The BMJ walks various tightropes—or, put more positively, attempts to bridge many divides: between primary and secondary care, clinical medicine and public health, health care and health policy, the UK and the rest of the world, online and print, magazine and journal. One good thing is that when the balance tips too far in …