On one of our too-rare visits to Twitter the other day, we found someone from the think tank behind the famous Davos conference discussing the incomprehensibility of a ‘new media’ job advertisement on the site of a London newspaper. The chief obstacle to demystification was the phrase ‘lifestyle vertical’. No dictionary has been able to enlighten us about its meaning. The Wikipedia is just as unhelpful.

Is a ‘lifestyle vertical’ aspirational? Commercial? Computational? … A vehicle – or vegetable?

Ah! We must be having an attack of summer silliness – as everyone should. We have been turning that ad over in our minds, treating it as a stretched-out Zen koan useful for relief from weightier matters, as we try to follow Voltaire’s advice to tend our turnips – ‘Il faut cultiver notre jardin.’

Here is that job announcement, in part:

Head of Lifestyle

Telegraph Media Group is recruiting for a Head of Lifestyle to sit within our Editorial department.

Telegraph Media Group has set the pace for change within the UK news industry. We have successfully evolved into a multi-platform digital operation that continues to deliver the highest quality journalism, becoming a leading global media player reaching a growing international audience.

This transformation means we remain ahead of our competition at the leading edge of the ever-changing media landscape, and are at the forefront of revolutionising our industry. Unlike many of our competitors we are profitable and confident of building on our successful financial performances.

This position will own, direct and be responsible for all the lifestyle content producing areas. The successful candidate will manage the output of the ‘lifestyle’ vertical channels on Telegraph platforms, meeting the required audience, subscriber and engagement metrics; whilst also ensuring the quality and appeal of these verticals on a daily basis.

Key responsibilities will include:

Overseeing the production of high-quality, engaging, appealing lifestyle verticals within Telegraph.co.uk, with content tailored to suit customer wants and needs, which are ‘best in market’ and outperform rivals.

Meeting key KPI targets for the verticals, including growing subscribers, audience and engagement, meeting budgets and sharing P&L responsibility

Collaborating in setting the vision and business strategy for lifestyle verticals, …

Playing a key role on the senior Editorial executive team, helping to meet Editorial- and Company-wide KPI targets on budgets and profitability

Consistently maintaining and improving the Editorial quality and appeal of the lifestyle areas, using audience/customer data …

The Individual:

Previous responsibility of overseeing the online/digital content of diverse multi-platform departments and possessing relevant journalistic and commercial experience

Knowledge and responsibility of maximising audiences, engagement and revenue in various digital arenas

Strong background in people management and leading and supporting cultural change …

[continues … ]

… Nor is the Telegraph the only enemy of comprehension. See: ‘The Huffington Post Seeks Editor for New Lifestyle Vertical’  and ‘Remark Media Announces Entry into Lifestyle Vertical’.