Editor's Desk
By Rik Kirkland/Managing Editor

(FORTUNE Magazine) – We work hard to make First, the section that opens each issue of FORTUNE, a timely blend of opinion, news, analysis, and discovery, leavened with fine writing and a sense of humor. It's edited by Lee Clifford (above, right) and top-edited by Xana Antunes, who spent a few years spiffing up and smartening the New York Post before joining us as an executive editor in October. For the past few months Xana and Lee have been rethinking the recipe for First and working with a team of designers led by design director Robert Newman to make it look even more appealing. Their new First makes its debut in this issue. I love the energy and variety--alongside some new recurring features, they've brought up to the front old favorites such as gadget guru Pete Lewis, career expert Anne Fisher, and columnist Andy Serwer--and I find the whole thing much easier to navigate. But don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Speaking of debuts, when my predecessors created the first FORTUNE 500 list in 1955, none of them could have foreseen how huge the franchise would become. Today "FORTUNE 500" is synonymous with "big business," and the list itself is both the ultimate scorecard of corporate performance and a unique historical record that, when we publish the latest rankings this spring, will have chronicled 50 years of corporate change. To celebrate this heritage, we are producing a special issue of the FORTUNE 500 in April and launching a year-long series of articles that look back at key moments in the 500 era--and what they tell us about its future. For the first, turn to page 86.

Rik Kirkland MANAGING EDITOR