Coverlines

Tabloids and Me

2008-12-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

Walking past any newsstand you cannot help but stare at the tabloid headlines that scream out to you saying, “Angelina is pregnant” and “Speidi is married”. Magazine tabloids have become our past time and leisurely read.
InTouch and Life & Style are one of many magazines that make their money on the lives of celebrities. They tell us weekly about what is happening in their lives and what moves they are going to make next.
So why do we the readers and consumers indulge in such “trashy” read? These magazines give us insight to what we might want our lives to be or not to be. For example, we all want a fairy tale ending just like “Bradjolina” and have kids and travel the world. Or on the other hand we all do not want to be known as that person who always goes to rehab, such as LindsayLohan.
Tabloids make bank on timely news and getting the scoop before anybody. One of the most expensive and most sought out tabloid expose is the new celebrity baby. We want to know what Christina Aguillera’s baby looks like, and what designer duds baby Suri is wearing. So you ask, how expensive are these photo-ops? Brad and Angelina received $11 and $15 million for the first photos of their twins, Knox and Vivienne, stated in www.forbes.com by Lacey Rose. Those photos were said to be the most expensive according to Forbes. The most shocking thing, I think, is not that Brad and Angie were paid millions of dollars for these photos, but we paid $2 to $3 out of our pockets and spend 10 to 15 minute of our lives reading such nonsense every week.
These types of magazines not only give us the low down on celebrity mishaps, but they also give us the “how to” live like a celebrity and “how to” look like a celebrity. They give us the readers images of what the latest trends the celebrities are wearing. They also inform us if two celebrities are wearing the same thing, which one wore it best. In these magazines we are also able to see how much celebrities spend on houses, clothes and leisure. We can also see how we can too, purchases swanky homes, and chic looking clothes for less.
These magazines feed our brains into wanting to be just like these celebrities we see on television. Their target audience is predominantly women of the age 30, according to Intouch and Life & Style’s media kit online. For both of those magazine’s they serve from 4 to 7 million readers.
We are sucked into wanting to know what is happening in these celebrities lives and these magazines feed our need to know.

Peaches Geldof Launches Own Magazine

2008-12-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

British socialite and occasional journalist Peaches Geldof has managed to publish and create an entire magazine in a time of major strife in the industry, just about all by herself (with the help of one business partner). Disappear Here will be out this Thursday and be distributed for free in various night clubs, bars and record shops, according to Nylon (where Peaches owes her only journalism credential, a monthly column). She calsl Disappear Here a "women's magazine that appeals to men", adding that she doesn't feel womans magazines have enough of a sense of humor.

Although it will be a while until the industry will see if Peaches' newest endeavor will be a success, it does slightly stand out in the sea of new magazines launched each year. Last year, 248 new magazines were introduced into an international magazine market of almost 20,000 ( and that number is sure to multiply, if you count zines, and online magazines) titles, all according to the Magazine Publishers of America website. Out of all these publications, most are ethnic then followed by regional publications and travel magazines (Jann Wenner said to The Huffington Post, "Don't even try to start a magazine today; it's impossible. Besides financing and publishing support, you need, at the center of it, some extraordinarily talented, prescient individual. Such as I was"). So when 9 out of 10 magazines fail, (according to Entrepreneur magazine) how is a socialite going to fare? It's hard to tell, maybe magazines needs people outside the industry and without the background to come and shake things up. Or maybe this is just another example of a self-important wealthy socialite who thinks everything they touch will turn to gold.

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2008-12-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

Seeing the Rack Half Full

2008-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

The industry is changing; there’s no disputing it. Some say times are tough for the magazine business in the midst of economic unrest; others are still optimistic. Will online versions replace print? Will people begin to see such entertainment as unnecessary luxury and forgo their favorite magazines? What is in store for the world of magazines in the years to come? I’ve decided to take a closer look at what some of the more hopeful professionals are saying.

There has been a lot of talk about Hearst closing the doors on “Cosmogirl.” Conde Nast’ “Men’s Vogue” was recently relinquished and absorbed by “Vogue”. And there is no doubt that jobs are being sacrificed across the board. But according to one article published in the New Yorker: during a much more difficult economic crisis (namely the Great Depression), some magazines managed to emerge triumphantly and set the tone for a changing industry.

James Surowiecki’s feature, Let the Bad Times Roll, discusses “Fortune’s” success despite its emergence during such hard times. And although this may be an extenuating example, it illustrates a point that optimistic journalists continue to take comfort in; that the magazine industry has always found ways to reform to the times and pull through.

At a recent meeting of the Custom Publishing Council titled, “The Increasing Relevance of Magazines”, president of McPheters and Company, Rebecca McPheters told Samir Husni of Mr.Magazine.com that:

“I believe that magazines are more relevant than they have ever been before. Why? Because magazine readership is growing…magazines give you an opportunity to engage with content that you are tremendously interested in.”

And according to Husni’s statistics, 74 new magazines were launched in October of this year. Although down from 93 in 2007, the number is still high and it shows that people are still motivated to publish magazines.

In another interview he spoke with David Carey, Group President at Conde Nast, who said this when asked whether he thought optimistically about the industry:

“I would think that every industry in the history of the world has gone through what we are going through right now… I think the population of half-full thinkers shrinks right now, but God forbids, it never goes to zero…Out of these periods of time new ways of doing business emerges…new thinkers, new readers…I would say, yes, very much so half-full. I might have fewer brethren who see (it) that way, but I still very much do.”

It’s reassuring to hear people like Carey, who know the industry in and out, speak positively about the business. As with any consumer industry, I think it is important to see the light in dark times. Consumer reaction to existing markets is largely based on how businesses present themselves. Shoppers will avoid a product that is surrounded by negative publicity. The magazine industry is no exception. Because we seek to publicly discuss everything going on around us, we don’t hesitate to write unenthusiastically about ourselves. But in doing so, we only weaken our own industry by letting on to the public that as journalists- we are even losing faith. And if we don’t see the glass half full, the magazine reader won’t either.

As for the fear that digital media has and/or will take over the industry, I for one believe that although it is crucial to incorporate interactive websites and to utilize the internet, people will continue to appreciate the anticipation of receiving their printed version. There is still something to be said for the accessibility and convenience of the actual magazine. I think many people who have loyally subscribed to the same publication for years will agree that reading the same content from a computer screen just isn’t the same. According to the Magazine Publishers of America Magazine Handbook:

“Despite the abundance of online content, few consumers see the internet replacing the print versions of magazines in the next five years, according to new research from MediaVest.”

As a longtime magazine consumer, a student of magazines and as someone who aspires to enter the industry in the near future, I have confidence in the resilience of not only the American economy, but in the magazine industries’ ability to pull through these hard times, make necessary changes to ensure survival and to continue to be a sought after product for news and entertainment alike.

Mr. Hyphen 2008

2008-12-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

On October 4, 2008, six Asian American male contestants battled for the title of Mr. Hyphen 2008. With talents like slam poetry, singing and hip-hop dancing-- not to mention the sleepwear segment-- the six contestants wowed the audience. Contestants represented charities such as API Legal Outreach and the Asian American Donor Program, At the end of the night, Aristotle Garcia was crowned Mr. Hyphen, taking home $1000 for his chosen charity, the Filipino American Arts and Exposition.

While Mr. Hyphen was a fun event for the community, it’s also a smart move for Hyphen Magazine. Subscriptions were sold to attendees at the price of $5 for three issues, and in the lobby there was a booth selling Hyphen T-shirts, stickers and other paraphernalia. (Free advertising!) But those were only the most obvious benefits that Hyphen received from throwing the event. One of a magazine’s most valuable assets is the sense of community it provides. Magazines are extremely tailored to a narrow demographic, and readers feel as though the magazine “gets” them and often identify closely with their magazine of choice. The Mr. Hyphen event brought together the magazine’s community-- in their case, young Asian American artists and activists-- and allowed them to participate in an event that catered to their interests and passions, building the connection between magazine and reader. On the outreach side, Hyphen partnered with two up-and-coming Asian American designers to produce the fashion segment of the show, and community leaders were brought in as judges, including Louisa Liu (Miss Asian America 2008) and Vincent Pan of Chinese for Affirmative Action. Add to that the friends and family of the contestants (who mostly fall within the target demographic, but may not be Hyphen readers) and all those people who are just interested in seeing hot Asian American men strut their stuff, and you have the perfect opportunity to showcase Hyphen’s energy and creativity to people outside its immediate pool of subscribers. The event brought together art, activism, famous faces and just plain old fun, and created an opportunity for Hyphen fans to connect with each other over their favorite magazine.

614 magazine set to launch in April

2008-12-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

There are roughly 150,000 residents in the city of Columbus, Ohio between the age of 25 and 35 and not a single publication that truly caters to their interests. Two men have taken to the initiative to change that. On April 1, 2009, a free monthly magazine is set to debut. 614 magazine, representing the area code of Columbus, will serve as much more than a general interest magazine, making sure it’s niche of readers are indulging in the areas of arts and culture it covers.

Though this may not be the best of times for the debut of a new print magazine, the publishers seem to believe they have found ways to be successful. Wayne T. Lewis and Clark Gaines have produced a 104-page pilot that profoundly describes what 614 magazine is all about to potential advertisers. How else do they plan on making it? The publishers believe it is all about quality. As long as they are creating something with taste that is modern and clean, not to mention free, then it should very well take off successfully.

On the magazines website, 614columbus.com, potential readers are invited to bring their ideas to the table. People are being questioned as to what they would like to see and get out of the magazine. This is a trend taking off in the magazine industry. Lucia Moses, a senior editor covering the magazine industry, sees this type of shift in the editorial process in other magazines. For example, National Geographic readers can send in their own photos and then vote for which ones they believe should run in the magazine.

Lewis and Gaines have a few other tricks up their sleeves to get the ball rolling. Within the editorial staff, there is certified culinarian Angela Theado and Adventure Girl Stephanie Reighart. With the expertise of these two on staff, readers will be eager to fly high in the sky on a hang gliding mission and make it home just in time to throw a fabulous, elegant dinner party.

614 magazine is set to be distributed at over 250 locations that will inevitably fall into the hands of the target audience. There are also going to be stainless steel displays at over 100 of the set locations that will aid in driving 25,000 copies of the publication in the face of readers.

Despite the current economic situation, Lewis and Gaines are making an effort to grab readers in an exciting and unique way. There is a lot of faith in the future of 614 magazine and there seems to be no doubt in the minds of those behind this project that it will fail.

Play time is over

2008-12-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

In March earlier this year, New York Times' quarterly sports magazine "Play," was a finalist for the prize in general excellence at the National Magazine Awards. Yet just nine months later, the final buzzer rang, and the clock ran out on Play in November.

First published in February 2006, Play along with "T Style" and "Key," were introduced with the intention of bringing in luxury goods advertising for the Times. This strategy however hasn't been very successful for Play, and according to some reports was "bleeding cash." While Mark Bryant, editor of Play, has repeatedly told reporters that the magazine has been breaking even, editorial director Gerry Marzorati said otherwise: "“It was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars over several years and when you’re not going to see that turn around, that’s the problem."

In an attempt to separate itself from other sports magazine such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine, Play was much more focused on the artistic aspect of sports, especially in how they staged and composed their photographs. Their content was nuanced and off the beaten path, and offered something that most other sports magazine didn't. And yet despite the unique perspective and the circulation of nearly 1.6 million of the Sunday Times, it couldn't avoid the fate of so many other magazines, and was the first sports magazine in recent times to do so.

The shuttering of Play, has more to do with the newspaper industry than anything. With advertising and circulation falling for newspapers, the Times had to make cuts, and Play was just the first to go. While it is unclear whether other newspaper magazines will meet the same fate, it is clear that if those magazines don't bring in some sort of revenue soon, they will. The Wall Street Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer launched luxury magazines this year, while the Boston Globe launched the "OT," a sports magazine centered on "Our Town, Our Team." We'll have to wait and see whether or not these new launches will be successful editorially and in bringing in revenue for these newspaper.

Hopefully Play, or another magazine in the same mold as Play, can find life apart from the the New York Times. It offered fresh insight and a different perspective into the world of sports. And hopefully with the right mix of capable leaders, it could bring in the kind of advertising that can keep it afloat.

Magazine and Book Have A Baby

2008-12-02T06:35:00.000-08:00

In a first-quarter recession/obsession, let the journalist’s pre-New Year's resolution come in a tight little package of hope - "Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair," said philosopher Edmund Burke. Additionally, Mr. Magazine offers more than a glimmer of hope in his recent blog posting as he sites a post-9/11 New Yorker article poking a pin-hole of light in the end of the dark tunnel. Mr. Magazine writes, "For those of you who are feeling the pain of today’s economic crisis, you will find solace in reading James Surowiecki’s article titled Let the Bad Times Roll. Here is one quote from the article, ‘But history suggests that for new magazines hard times are good times.’”
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/09/03/010903talk_the_financial_page?printable=true

A majority of the major titles from Automobile Magazine to U.S. News and World Report keep one hand waving for help above the rising tide by launching on-line accompaniments to their print publication, but other publications are taking an alternative route – Book + Magazine = Bookazine.

Of which, the best example is recently folded alternative country music magazine out of Seattle befittingly titled No Depression. Previously published six times a year, No Depression relaunched as a bookazine and will now run two times a year in a paperback-bound, large-format read with no advertising and cost $20. In an interview with The News & Observer, “Dave Hamrick, associate director of UT Press, hopes that readers won't shy away from the higher cost, given the new format and its lack of advertising.” Magazines have long-time been collector’s items for their subscribers and Hamrick desires that the bookazine will encourage more cataloging.

Similar hopes surrounded the creation of Shell, a hair and beauty bookazine. The Times of Malta paints Shell as “a coffee-table book with a difference…a cross between an art publication and magazine content. It is 70 per cent pictorial, resulting from about 24 photo shoots, producing about 100 images.” Mastermind behind the bookazine, Pierre Camille, told reporter Fiona Galea Debono, "Unfortunately, so many good magazines end up in the bin..." But Shell should not have the same predicament.”

Bookazines not only spawn out of economic crisis, but also out of environmental consciousness. Loft, a Nordic bookazine offers a look into life-styles in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The quarterly publication boasts, “‘BOOKAZINE’ because we want to create something worth keeping.” Loft leads by example against the common current of reading disposable material contributing to global crisis and continual waste of irreplaceable resources. In an effort to create a timeless publication, Loft also works toward a sustainable future.

Bookazines are not a complete wave of the future. In 2008, Mother Earth News published its second bookazine in six years, Mother Earth News Bookazine: A Guide to Home Energy Savings, which is a collection of their informative articles. Likewise, Jaguar, Ferrari and Porsche have published bookazines with various publishing houses as their wing-men to catalog years of hot-rod excellence. Dennis Publishing released a FaceBook bookazine, following 15 previous publishings of similar nature on topics ranging from the Ipod to men's fitness.

This bookazine baby is another way magazine publishers are filling the glass half full. Mr. Magazine gives optimism again in his interview with David Carey, Group President at Condé Nast. Carey offers, “Out of these periods of time new ways of doing business emerges…new thinkers, new readers…”

MADE FOR YOU BY YOU

2008-12-02T01:14:00.000-08:00

JPG magazine is a San Francisco based publication that is taking a new personal approach to what a photography magazine is by featuring photos and stories almost entirely from its online community of photographers, who can easily be you. Its tagline is “Your World in Pictures”, and that’s exactly what JPG is all about.

Celebrating its nineteenth issue and two year anniversary this month, the online community of photographers that JPG has created around the world is growing strong, showing the different ways that the internet is helping print magazine’s vision for itself expand. Photographers who sign up to be in JPG’s online community capture photos based on themes that the magazine has for a particular issue, and the photographers try to interpret those themes in their own distinctive way. For example, the most recent issue has themes of faith, delectables, and night time.

The whole process includes the photographers taking pictures, and then uploading their top photos on the magazine’s website, where the online community votes on their favorite ones. Then, the JPG editors look at the photos with the highest votes, and filter them down until they reach the most captivating, innovative images that best tie with the theme. Finally, the best of the best are proudly published into the magazine for thousands to marvel over. The photographers that are chosen get 100 dollars, a free subscription, and of course, bragging rights.

For their last twelve issues, they’ve had over a million photos submitted, and over 180,000 photographers in their online community. The photographers are from all over the world, having their top ten cities be London, at the top, followed by New York, San Francisco, Chicago, West Hollywood, Toronto, Brooklyn, Sydney, Seattle, and Melbourne. Having JPG take this approach to its publication is giving an opportunity for cross-country collaborating and building a close relationship with the magazine, giving people the feeling of being apart of something big.

Not to undermine the work that’s put in by the JPG staff, but the community of photographers are truly the heart of the magazine, while the staff are the ones who take care of the skin and bones of production. This approach to a photography magazine is different because other magazines on the newsstands with them are usually “how-to” guides on taking great pictures, how to use a certain type of software, or a catalog of new camera and gadgets. JPG does include tips on photography or special photo-related projects at the end, but isn’t their main focus.

Flipping through the pages of the magazine, you don’t only see amazing pictures, but you can also learn about those who are behind the lens and the subjects of the photos through the captions or interviews. The captions the photographers write either give a history or information on the photo and sometimes give an inside scoop of what it took for them to get that perfect shot.

Seeing all the different images and getting to know the little back stories from the photographers is like going on a mini vacation for only 5.99, because the photos are potentially shot of anything, anywhere at anytime. Just in their recent issue, you can see photos from Slovenia, Italy, Sri Lanka, and Puerto Rico.

For example, in their recent faith issue, someone going through the magazine can learn about different religions, ways of worship, sanctuaries, what parts of the world believe in what just by looking at the pictures and captions. JPG is amazingly a celebration of art, culture, people, and expression all in one trying to fully engage its audience through the power of imagery.

JPG’s tone and voice changes from issue to issue based on their themes, but range from hilarious to intimate, chilling to heart-warming. Opening JPG is the world through the eyes of the featured photographers, but gives other readers a chance to step inside a realm they’ve never seen before or change your own perspectives of looking at the world.

Check out their website at:
www.jpgmag.com
(Photos used in this blog were taken from the JPG website, and were submitted for the FAITH theme for the recent Dec/Jan issue)

Music Magazines: US v. UK

2008-12-02T00:38:00.001-08:00

The United States has long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with England when it comes to music. Both nations have birthed the most influential bands and movements in rock history: England can claim The Beatles, we can claim Bob Dylan; England has London in 1977, we have San Francisco in 1967, and the list goes on. With two countries so steeped in rock 'n' roll history, it follows that both America and England should have magazines that reflect their home country's attitude toward popular music.

The grandfather of the genre is Rolling Stone. Before RS came along, music magazines were associated with fan clubs and screaming teenage girls. Rolling Stone was not originally intended as a magazine strictly about music; their philosophy from the beginning was to cover not only rock 'n' roll, but the ideals that it embodies. While their coverage can range from music to movies to politics to a series of small-town murders in a single issue, they are still thought of as the preeminent music magazine in the United States. When they do focus on music, they have a vast array to choose from. Rolling Stone has not only been around longer than most music magazines, but most magazines in general, and have gathered many different kinds of readers along the way. They have a wide range of and interests to appeal to, so they bounce back and forth between new and old acts from all types of genres.

First in sales figures, but still second in reputation, is Spin. A generation apart, Spin is Rolling Stone's rowdy son. Spin posesses a lot of the same ideals as Rolling Stone, but is clearly aimed at a younger generation. Spin focuses more sharply on music than Rolling Stone, filling each issue with entirely music-themed coverage, except for a few movie/game reviews or other notes on pop culture. Where Rolling Stone has grown with its original audience, Spin has always served college-age music lovers by embracing the same journalistic sensibilities that Rolling Stone made a name for itself on. Spin focuses on younger, newer musicians, and writes about them in a professional manner, but with a little more attitude and style than a Rolling Stone journalist might. Spin leans toward contemporary rock and hip-hop, and is devoted almost exclusively to new artists. When they do cover older musicians or ones from genres far outside the mainstream, they are ones that have influenced the here and now of music.

Things are different across the pond. The two top music magazines, Kerrang! and NME, are still stalled at the 'fan magazine' stage.

Published in the U.K. since 1952, NME (short for New Musical Express) is a weekly music magazine. Though the content can lean towards the sensational, NME is still thought of as the U.K.'s closest answer to Rolling Stone. The magazine is printed on newsprint, and the design is bold and in-your-face, but stylish. The site looks similar to the physical magazine, and is constantly updated the latest music news and gossip. NME magazine is also part of a larger empire, with television channels, radio stations, and even clubs bearing the magazine's name and logo.

Kerrang! is another popular music magazine in England. Though NME has tried to distance itself from its tabloid past with recent overhauls of design and content, Kerrang! has embraced it's rag-mag reputation. The difference in editorial content between the two magazines is vast, but their personalities are similar.

Kerrang! began as a heavy metal magazine in the early 1980s. Though they have expanded their coverage since then, traces of its hardcore roots can be seen in their choice of cover stories. The types of music they cover now is a little more eclectic, but Kerrang! still focuses on rock bands with a harder edge, be it in sound or attitude.

When it comes to layout, the magazine is classic tabloid: lots of capital letters and exclamation points, oversized pull quotes, and a "cut-and-paste" look about it. The coverage takes itself far less seriously than NME or any music magazine in the states. K! relies heavily on gossip to fuel their features, which are often not very long. Kerrang! is also more locally-focused than NME: while NME branches out to cover both national acts that have made it big and international acts whose popularity has spread to England, K! is more likely to put a band only known in the U.K. on the cover. The writers and editors of this magazine know that their readers don't come to them for revealing and poignant retrospective on My Chemical Romance's career. Kerrang! is aimed toward young people who just want to rock out and have fun.

America is once again experiencing a British Invasion, much of which can be attributed to these magazines. Bands heavily featured in British music magazines, like The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys, have crept onto the hipster rader in the U.S in the last five years. Though they are miles apart in terms of philosophies, these magazines all have the same ideal at their core: good music can change your life, but only if you know about it.

The Worst is Yet to Come

2008-12-02T00:12:00.000-08:00

"2009 will be the cataclysmic year for sure," says Michela O'Connor Abrams, president and publisher of Dwell magazine in San Francisco.
After a year of drastic economic downturn that upended the already panicking magazine industry, the coming months will prove who stays and who goes in the already excruciating competition of magazine publishing.
It began with the lay offs, then quickly progressed to the downsizing and folding of several notable titles. CosmoGIRL, started in 1999 by the now editor of Seventeen (which is also struggling to stay afloat), will cease production at the end of the year. S.I. Newhouse decided to cut Men's Vogue back to a twice-a-year supplement to Vogue. In fact, Condé Nast -- famous for its glamorous personality and liberal expense accounts-- has been forced to scale back in more ways than one in response to the economy. Its employee holiday luncheon at NYC's Four Seasons Hotel was canceled, and rumors have been floating around that car service to shuttle the employees to and from work will be reined in as well.
Even the Vanity Fair Oscar party, the most extravagant and top tier of Oscar bashes, will be significantly downsized. "The party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we're going to scale back the guest list considerably," said editor Graydon Carter in an official press realease. "We'll celebrate Hollywood's big night the way we did when we first threw the party 15 years ago -- it will be a cozier, more understated event." Only the most A-list of the A-list stars will be invited…sorry, Tara Reid.
While the surreal office environment at Condé Nast gets a jolt of reality, one wonders if maybe the magazine industry had gotten a little too comfy with the clothing allowances and three martini lunches. Now that they've been brought back down to earth, it's the perfect moment for a little reflection on the next steps. It appears that one of the greatest challenges facing magazine publishing is how to reconcile the classic, glossy comfort of a print edition with the pressing need to go online. With advertisers surely hurting in this economy as much as the magazines themselves, it might be a more economical option to buy cheaper online ads. If only magazines could figure out a truly effective online advertising strategy.
While some magazines attempt to use the internet to draw in a larger audience, others are going up-market to grab the attentions of recession-proof millionaires and billionaires who didn't lose their shirts in investment banks. In the November 30 issue of The New York Times business section, reporter Stephanie Clifford wrote of magazines flaunting their luxury merchandise in a time of financial crisis. In fashion magazines, a new term has been coined -- Recessionista -- to describe the girl who stays chic and on-trend in the face of unemployment and a worthless stock portfolio. Instead of those $500 Jimmy Choos this holiday season, why not buy the comparable $300 version from Stuart Weitzman? Perhaps, to some, that really is a sacrifice.
If Michela O'Connor Abrams is right, and things just get exponentially worse, it might be for the best. The glut of magazines will be streamlined to halt some of the paper waste brought on by a men's, teen, and home version of so many major titles. And publishers might stop dragging their feet in creating an online business plan. Of course, none of that bodes well for those of us looking for jobs in magazine publishing.

Is Nothing Sacred? Magazine Covers from Election 2008

2008-12-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

by Leticia Garcia

Just three weeks after the election, the images of president elect Barack Obama have not stopped appearing on magazine covers. Without a doubt, the frequency of political figures on covers have not changed since modern magazines were conceived, however it is the content that especially stood out this year. Since this has been most controversial presidential election in history, it is expected that the covers during this election would stand out to reflect the nation’s anticipation. We have seen the presidential candidates in so many different depictions ranging from Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama lounging naked on the cover of Radar to depicting Obama as a Superhero on Rolling Stone. With such bold magazine covers in print, the race became a media popularity contest with Barack Obama gaining the majority of the covers and, thus, the most outstanding characterizations.

Not only did the media take a lot of liberties with magazines this year, they also got into some pretty deep water this past July. The New Yorker’s July issue depicts in cartoon satire of Barack and Michelle Obama as Islamic terrorists in the Oval office with Osama bin Laden’s picture in the background. During the press release illustrator, Barry Blitt, insists that this "satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign." As a satire this cover goes beyond the usual political satirical realm to a completely slanderous level with shocked reactions from the Obama campaign and supporters alike. Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton called it “tasteless and offensive.” In such a media-driven campaign and the boldly opinionated covers that followed, it becomes a question as to how much freedom the publication media should get.

Since the start of the contemporary magazine, presidential candidates have taken the spotlight. Although not always shown in the most favorable light, these covers usually are mild and neutral. If the cover was “controversial” at best, it was with mild satirical drawings sometime with political party mascots in the background. Never was Franklin D. Roosevelt on the cover with a burning an American flag or naked. This was a first year for candidates to be depicted as a movie character, from Men in Black to Robert Neville from I Am Legend. Admittedly they portray such an obvious portrait of our society’s craving for an elaborate characterization behind a political figure.
There have always been solid sales with presidential covers, there have been connections drawn with print media coverage and election results.

According to Dr. Stuart Crane the next president will be the one with the most covers in the months leading up to the election. In the presidential election this year Obama was on the cover of Time alone 7 times versus McCain who only held 5 Time covers. So, if the number of magazine covers reflects the popularity of a candidate, then the characterization worth a thousand words. With such elaborate characterizations of Obama the presidency was a show of characters the population wanted from a candidate.

With an injured current economic standing, the presidential candidate cannot just be an image on the cover, but rather reflect a persona that will allow change. On the cover of Rolling Stone, Obama is standing at attention with a white aura surrounding him. Using the language of superheroes the cover gives the audience the feeling that he can indestructible and powerful. Post election Obama’s covers have become an homage to the history of powerful presidents. With Obama on the cover exactly as Franklin D. Roosevelt, there is hope for this president elects future. In reflecting an the recent covers, one cannot just hope that they will continue to be in a positive light and continue to inspire the hope of the country.

CosmoGirl! to Fold After December

2008-12-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hearst Communications, Inc. president, Cathie Black, announced the closing of CosmoGirl!, last October. The end of this teen magazine indicates a sign of declining economic times, a shift in girls’ reading trends, or both. December will be the last issue.

Though nine-year-old CosmoGirl! was the largest newsstand selling, monthly teen magazine, ad pages fell 15.5% by October and circulation was down 1.4% at 1.4 million. Hearst folded three titles this year. The first was Quick & Simple, a women’s service magazine, the second, CosmoGirl! and the third, O at Home. CosmoGirl! is also the third Teen magazine to close in the last few years, following Elle Girl of Filipacchi Media, and Teen People, of Time, Inc. in 2006.

Ad pages for Hearst’s Seventeen were down by 8.8% and Conde Nast’s Teen Vogue were down by 5.8%. CosmoGirl! had been in third place of these top three teen magazines. Mediaweek’s senior editor, Lucia Moses, attributes the drop in teen print magazines to the internet’s success in reaching readers’ needs.

Teen magazines aren’t the only genres struggling. “A magazine is folding every week and this will accelerate,”said Michela O’Connor Abrams, President and Publisher of Dwell magazine and chairperson of the American Magazine Conference. Other magazines cut back this year include Conde Nast’s Men’s Vogue and Filipacchi Media’s Home.

This fall marks ten years since Atoosa Rubenstein and team created CosmoGirl! Rubenstein was the youngest Editor in Chief in the history of Hearst Magazines. “I was 26 years old and felt that smart girls with attitude needed a magazine that spoke directly to them,” said Rubenstein. She created the CosmoGirl! logo on her bedroom floor with lipstick tubes, markers, and a glue stick.

CosmoGirl! publisher, Vicki Wellington will work on a new Food Network Magazine starting this month, and editor, Susan Schulz will also continue at Hearst, working on special projects. CosmoGirl!.com will continue and subscribers will receive Seventeen instead.

FIRST HALF 2008 AD PAGES %CHNG
CosmoGirl! 298.23 -14.5
Seventeen 376.84 -5.7
Teen Vogue 517.81 4.5

FIRST HALF 2006 AD PAGES %CHNG
CosmoGirl! 363.56 4.0
ElleGirl 387.14 18.2
Seventeen 440.09 -2.7
Teen People 302.19 -14.4
Teen Vogue 486.24 12.4

Sources: www.mediaweek.com, www.folio.com, www.myspace.com

Magazine 2.0

2008-11-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

As we all become more environmentally conscientious, the magazine industry is scrambling to find more eco-friendly alternatives without spending a fortune. The digital world is a new but rapidly growing trend amongst magazine publications across the country. The hybrid of digital and print magazines for companies have allowed them to provide an enhanced experience for their readers. As the business and entertainment world continue to move in the digital direction, applying online features like the digital magazine is one technology that will continue to grow.
Magazines like 7x7, Men’s Health, Spin, and Elle Decor have already jumped on the digital band wagon. All four magazines offer digital versions of their publication, exact replicas of the printed magazine in an interactive version. This has enabled them to expand their circulation and to reach more people in more areas. Through the supplementary digital magazine, all three publications have boosted readership and ad sales. By providing a digital application magazine can provide a user-friendly design that offers a whole new level of entertainment. Digital vendors like Zmag and Zendition have noticed an increase in readership for their clients who have hired them. “[Digital magazines] enables companies to very easily add interactive features, analyze what works, and constantly improve the way they present content,” said Zmags CEO Jens Kartsoft. Through multimedia ads and content, digital magazines have also helped publications to promote their brand, not solely their print magazine.
Digital magazines are also modifying the advertisement industry as well. With interactive magazines, companies may now expand their accessibility to their audience. Links to their websites or directing them to buy a specific product are now available through the digital versions of magazines. The publishers also benefit from this feature as they have more leverage in negotiation by offering features to potential advertisers that not many other magazines have. In providing a digital version of their magazine, publishers and advertisers are ensured that their publication is accessible from virtually anywhere in the world.
As we continue to see magazine companies add digital components for their publications, multimedia technology will also continue to evolve. With all that is possible in the digital age, magazines will be able to be a part of a constant evolution of new technologies. As the print industry attempts to minimize cost and production, digital magazines provide a world of opportunities in an enhanced and efficient way.

The Significant of Paper

2008-09-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

As magazines evolve with today’s media trends, the necessity for using paper in the future tends to dwindle. When you ask someone what they think what will happen to paper in the future you frequently get the same response “paper will no longer be in existence because digital technology will overtake.” So, how significant is the paper for the publication industry? Can we live without paper if we continue to live in a digital technology world? Today you have books, magazines, and documents all available in digital media. On the other hand, you have some industries that are anti-digital and are still using paper. Clearly paper has been a significant invention and has been a great contribution for publishing industry. And moving on to digital and leaving paper behind will have a great impact on the way we advertise, how we profit and of course, our content.

When you look through the pages on a print magazine you observe many advertisements. Some you scratch and sniff, some have di-cuts as part of their advertisement, and others you lift to see underneath. These previous examples are the many wonderful flexible things how you are able to control and use paper. In comparison, you have SPIN magazine that has uploaded their magazine online, where you could link to your advertisement’s websites and start shopping. But is that a better experience than print advertisements? Of course both have their disadvantages and advantages.

Economically, digital is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Today print production prices are increasing and not everyone uses recyclable paper. After all, the world surely cannot afford to keep loosing trees at the rate it’s going.

Reading content on paper is different from reading content on digital. One example could be the length of the content; you have more freedom to extend your content on paper than what you do on digital. Another example is the type of content; you feel more obligated to use content that is easy to the eye on screen than when you are reading on paper.

These previous examples are few of the disadvantages and advantages of how paper is significant. Whether, you would like to believe it or not paper does make a difference. So, are we ready to let paper die out?

Is There Really 101 New Tricks To A Great Sex That No ONE Knows About?

2008-09-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

Bitch: A Success Story

2008-09-23T09:51:00.001-07:00

It’s a tough world out there for an indie magazine. Print is dying, the economy is getting worse and worse, everything is going corporate. Things may be fine for Vogue and Newsweek, but independent magazines are dropping like flies; last year, the popular indie mag Punk Planet closed its doors. Just last week, it looked like Bitch Magazine, the smart, fun, non-profit feminist pop-culture magazine, was going to follow them. As a non-profit, Bitch depends heavily on reader donations, and they needed to raise $40,000 by October 15 in order to print their next issue- not an easy feat. But publisher Debbie Rasmussen and editorial director Andi Zeisler reached out to readers. A traditional fundraising “thermometer”, in the shape of a wiener dog (get it?), was placed at the top of the Bitch website. They shot a video asking for donations, in which they explain how serious the situation is, but also remain upbeat, making jokes about “helping our wiener grow”. “Wiener people gonna realize that independent magazines need money?” asks Zeisler in the video, causing Rasmussen to burst into laughter.

And it worked. The story quickly made the rounds on the blogosphere. The community responded, and in just three short days, Bitch’s readers had donated $40,000. At last count they’ve reached $55,000- and this during an economic recession.

The whole process has resulted in the operations of the magazine becoming much more transparent to readers. The last issue of the magazine didn’t sell as well as expected, which created the crisis. “Bitch operates without any financial cushion,” says founder Lisa Jervis in a comment on the original “Save Bitch” blog post. “We have always been a hand-to-mouth shoestring organization, making do and doing the best we can with scarce resources.” Many readers who donated expressed concern that there would have to be an emergency fundraiser before each issue to keep the magazine going; Rasmussen responded that as a non-profit, they will always rely on reader donations– “Just, ideally, in a less dramatic way.” Directors and editors have shared their ideas for a multimedia Bitch with readers, and in return readers have provided their critique, feedback, and even some ideas of their own.

Since its first issue, Bitch has been beating the odds with great journalism and a strong community. Only 10% of magazines continue to publish past their first 10 years; Bitch is currently in year 13. This recent fundraising feat just goes to show that readers still need this magazine, and are willing to donate their money to help it out. Rasmussen called the overwhelming reader response "honoring and humbling", but if anything, the fact that Bitch could raise $40,000 in three days is a testament to the quality of the magazine and its importance to readers. In such difficult times, it's inspiring to hear a story like Bitch's.

A Paper Drop in the Global Bucket

2008-09-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Digging into the question of sustainable magazine publishing practices, I stumbled across some very excited progress in the use of sustainable paper productions for magazines. For the past 10 years magazines have merely talked about making the change or starting to think about sustainability, but in the past year with rising pressure, there have been many new advances. One can only wonder, is it too little too late in the fight?
We have always been mildly content with the baby steps that magazines have taken in using sustainable methods in printing, but in reading some recent mission statements from high profile magazines, the heat is on. Once I loooked at Time, Inc.’s sustainability report I was excited to learn that they are taking some real efforts to change their 127 publications to a more positive image and effect. There is no doubt that the recent shift in global eco-concerns have made the magazines sweat on whether or not they can afford to sustain themselves in an eco-threatened market.
For many years magazines have gotten away with only publishing a “green” issue about once a year, but some have missed the goal of the whole agenda. If gigantic magazines are unable to commit to publishing just one green issue a year, then they are not setting a good reputation that they will pay for it in the long run. Although the green issues have not been selling that well, they might have to make the sacrifice for the sake of the environment not just a fleeting trend. However as Jeff Bercovici points out in several articles that magazine ethos and practices are in fact an oxymoron. Vanity Fair within the past couple of years have put out journalistic hard hitting “green issues” but did not even put it on recycled paper. Also by putting Madonna on the cover trivializes the real images that should be at the forefront of global warming and greenhouse emissions. Without any real commitment to the simple cut down to paper used, is there any way to take this issue seriously. According to Co-op America there are every increasing magazine that do make the jump, and not just for one issue but make the commitment.
With all the heat on publishers the pressure on advertisers have become very realistic, but not good enough. With the Aveda Corporation going green meant more than paper, when in 2003-04 Aveda established an environmental media strategy that meant that their advertisers had to fill out a survey about their own environmental practices. If more publishers were to follow suit there would be an evolution in the way we view eco-friendly practices. It would not be for the few, but rather for the masses.
Also the introduction last year to ReMix, Recycling Magazines is Excellent, made a mockery of magazines own responsibility. All the information is focused on the consumer to just recycle their magazines. This however falls short when the thousands of magazines in production every day are unable to use recycled paper. I will admit that if everyone recycled more, hence creating more efficient recycling practices; however beneficial more education is to recycling, it is not just the consumer that needs to think about these issues.
With all of this considered there is the influence of technology and the Internet that has helped in the production, however the age of Internet users is still fairly young. If magazine publishers can commit to using green paper and mission statement that affects advertisers, consumers and the issues, then a wider range of ages will have no choice but to pay attention to the stand they are making.
With many other magazines pulling through on the challenge, Time, Inc for example, there is no reason for other major players to get left in the trash bin. If they do, it may be the antiquity of paper production and the gradual end of outdated production. More pressure needs to be put on the publishers themselves:
And if not now, then when?

Third World Chic

2008-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Vogue India recently received a lot of attention in the media, however probably not the kind the year old magazine was looking for. The magazine received a lot of flack for displaying designer bags and clothes—a Hermes handbag and a Burberry umbrella, among other items—on the poorest of India. One photo included a poor Indian woman carrying a baby wearing a hundred dollar Fendi bib; while the average person in India earns only 500 dollars each year, according to a Stanford study.

Photographers and editors alike made sure that these pictures weren’t shot in an air-conditioned studio, they were in a rural, dire background, (an unsuspecting eye might not even spot that the models were wearing the designer goods). It seems that the sad looking background and modest looking “models” were just a prop to make sure the designer items stood out and looked good.

Equally controversial is the fact that the photo “models” weren’t even named, while the designer swag was specifically identified.

“Lighten up,” editor in chief of Vogue India Priya Tanna said in a telephone interview to the New York Times. “Vogue is about realizing the “power of fashion” she said, and the shoot was saying that “fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful,” she said. But is using some of India’s poorest as props to designer goods in good taste? And the last time I checked the kind of fashion that Vogue deals in is still a privilege of the rich.

“Earlier this summer clothes designed by India's poorest and most downtrodden women - 'night-soil carriers' from the country's untouchable caste - were modeled on a New York catwalk”, said Pamela Timms a writer for The Independent. So it seems this ‘Third World Chic’ might become a trend.

Pavan K Varma, former diplomat and author of 'The Great Indian Middle Class, noted that right now “money is fashionable” in India. And Vogue India is, no doubt, an extension of that mentality. But is hyper-consumerism and high end baby bibs, that they’ll never be able to afford, what India needs?

Random Appreciation: When Content Dictates Format

2008-09-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

When we conceive of a typical arts magazine, we imagine it as a source of art-related news, complete with reviews, gallery information and articles concerned with the reporting and discussion of the arts. This format reflects the classic understanding of what the modern magazine is designed to accomplish: to educate and offer vicarious experience.

But what happens when the arts magazine becomes the gallery and the artist becomes the journalist? When the reader can be the writer and illustrations become the basis for content, instead of the other way around?

The result is an eloquently bound platform for creative expression. An avant-garde journal inspired by unsystematic presentation fittingly titled Dossier, which is French for “file”.

In the words of the editors and founders, Skye Parrott and Katherine Krause, the publication is “an open forum in which to bring together fashion, art, literature, photography, design and food.”

This Brooklyn based, bi-annual magazine issued its first edition this past spring, launching a comprehensive website along side it. And according to Dossierjournal.com, the print version is now distributed to over 22 countries.

Skye says she and Katherine, who have been friends since they were fourteen, dreamt up the idea a long time ago but have only just brought it to life. Upon assembling a faction of artistically diverse people, hand-picked from an already established group of friends, and friends of friends, the editors gave full artistic freedom to the contributors. A rare privilege in the industry, but one that makes for interesting content.

Some might argue that such creative autonomy could potentially lead to a muddled compilation of content devoid of direction. Samir Husni of mr.magazine.com, although gives praise, takes a similar stance when he says in his review of the magazine that:

“While articles and pictures provide for great journalism, the thread uniting all of the content isn't there. This is expected for the first issue. I hope that Dossier will find a better way to organize their files, because it is definitely a filing cabinet to keep.”

But isn’t what gives the journal artistic merit the very fact that it promotes the randomness, the freewheeling nature of art in itself? Where the goal is to break free of the limitations of mainstream journalism, Dossier inspires artists to do what they do best, be unconventional. Isn’t that what most modern art is about in the first place?

Skye told me over the phone that the magazine’s purpose is to provide “real fashion with high-end writing,” solid literary content with interesting visuals. Instead of just reviewing the arts, they seek to involve the arts, showcase them.

We are in an age when the definition of a journalist has been blurred and is constantly shifting, when more and more; the general public demands a voice in the media. The natural progression is to embrace this interaction. Dossier welcomes this concept by encouraging people to participate in their creative process. But beyond that, the magazine embodies a sense of community support, offering up its pages to the everyday artist, the up-and-comer and well as to the practiced. And not just for the photographer or the painter, but the poet, the designer, musician, the creative writer. In essence, Dossier is a sanctuary for quality art that might otherwise not have a home.

Color Gracing the Covers

2008-09-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Predominantly white women are on the covers of women’s magazines. While scavenging through magazine covers dating 20-40 years ago the number of ethnic faces are scarce. As we get to more present dates the increased amount of women of color that are shown is still a minority compared to the faces of the white women that are featured.

According to a 2008 communication research called, “A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Women’s Magazines”, in 1999, 9 percent of minorities, such as Black, Latina and others were represented and 99 percent were white.

In that research it also stated that in 2004, 17 percent of minorities were represented and 83 percent were white.

In that 5 year span there was an 8 percent increase. This increase may be so due to more women of color being in the spotlight or the media.

In 1968 Glamour featured Katiti Kironde II, an African American model. It was the first time a national women’s monthly magazine had a women of color on its cover. Kironde appearance on the cover made Glamour history of being the all-time high in sales record.

Also n 1996 Tyra Banks was the first African American woman to appear on the cover of GQ Magazine and Sports Illustrated. She prides herself on being one of the first women of color breaking boundaries and history by being on those covers.

Those two names and many others have become staples in the magazine business. They paved the way for models such as Jarah Mariano who was the first Asian women to be a Victoria’s Secret model.

“As a women color I have become somewhat immune to the fact that there is rarely ever a girl on the cover of a magazine that looks like me,” said Mabel Locket a Filipino SF resident 27. “ I feel that the strides that we are making as a society of having and seeing people of color out there in the media is great, but when will I ever see a Filipino model?”

As more and more ethnicities are being seen in the media, the more they are in high demand to be seen and to becoming a household name or brand.

The WTF of the Week

2008-09-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

"The John McCain Sarah Palin Newsweek Cover is a Total Bore!" blared Mark Pasetsky's site "Cover Awards - The Media Industry's Guilty Pleasure" of the August 29 shot of the presidential nominee and his cohort.

And if it was a pendulum swing that Pasetsky and the public desired - it was a 180 degrees that he and we got. The September 8, 2008 Newsweek to hit the stands sported a VP nominee Palin touting - a baby? An American flag? The femur of a T-Rex? None of the above...a rifle.

Pasetsky goes on to say that magazines like Newsweek and TIME should be ashamed having resorted to producing the exact same covers in consecutive weeks for each side of the party to avoid criticism and seem unbiased. Without strapping on a bustle and attempting to evoke the fairness doctrine, is it too off base to mention, perhaps, equal coverage? It seems like a dated concept with TIME drinking Pepsi and Newsweek drinking Coca-Cola and the public drinking campaign Kool-aid, but some might relish in the bland portrayal of candidates not as icons but as intellectuals.

According to PNDPulse and Photo District News the Palin photo was a cutout of a six-year-old Alaska Stock photo shot by Judy Patrick in June 2002. (http://www.pdnpulse.com/2008/09/newsweeks-palin.html) Newsweek made no effort to conceal the usage of a borrowed photo from the past. But for a publication so capable of acquiring their own shots, the editorial intentions are somewhat unclear. The photo was interpreted by some as sexy. Is America supposed to fear Sarah Palin or feel safe under a mother who fears no moose?

Whether a voter wants Palin in the bleachers, in the bedroom or on the ballot, guns are a fringe issue. Her stance may be a telltale indicator of her character, but gun control at large would take constitutional reform.

In the September 8, 2008 Newsweek article Assistant Managing Editor Kathy Deveny writes, "If I'm really honest with myself, I'm mostly just happy that there's another woman on the national political stage. I think it's good for my 8-year-old daughter, who has called Hillary Clinton her idol. She doesn't love Hillary because of her health-care policy or pro-choice stance: she loves Hillary because she thinks girls rule. The more powerful women there are on the national stage, the better it is for all women, because this is a game of numbers."

Muddied as it may be whether the shot was pejorative, a nod of approval or just a memo from the circulations department saying to increase sales at all costs is apparently a null point. Palin could have been holding a missile and would still win the votes of the Lisa Frank club.

The issue is Newsweek missed the issue.

In this campaign cultural diversity rides in the backseat no matter if one is a conservative liberal or a liberal conservative. Case in point, if the nation's publications are going to pull peripheral dog-and-pony shows to the core, let the pendulum swing another 180 degrees. Mothers with 8-year-old daughters might be quick to turn the "Girls Rule" cheek to a "Boys Drool" shriek if Newsweek published a cover with Barack Obama holding a gun.

The Future of Advertising

2008-09-23T00:39:00.000-07:00

A curious reader thumbing through the October 2008 issue of Wired Magazine may have noticed a heavy object halting the fan-like movement of the pages, forcing the seam open at the center. Each October issue of Wired included an insert with an exclusive Blu-Ray directors cut disc of COMA. A seven-part mini series that was created exclusively for mobile phones and the new line of VAIO notebooks by WIMO, Sony Electronics, and Microsoft.

On August 20, 2008 the COMA series premiered on Crackle.com, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Company and was later released to YouTube, Hulu, Verizon Wireless, and AT&T phone services.

In order to clarify the magazine insert to readers, WIMO and Sony explained what the Blu-Ray disc contained as well as the purpose behind its creation. "COMA was created on the belief that new technology demands original great entertainment," the advertisement said. Once the reader turned the insert over, a large picture of Sony's new VAIO FW notebook "featuring an advanced Blu-Ray disc drive" was featured with the star of COMA, Michael Madsen, on the VAIO screen.

The 3- to 5- minute "mobisodes" are the first of their kind, filmed with Sony High-Definition cameras and starring acclaimed actors, it is the most advanced content created specifically for mobile phones and the web to date. Available only online and through magazine inserts, the distribution of the series alone is unique.

But what does this mean for the magazine industry? In the midst of a waning economy and the increased drop in magazine ad revenue, the creative marketing ideas that have arisen out of this project have shown that the promotional opportunities are endless. Editors are concerned with increasing their ad revenue online but what if mobile programming continues to use magazine distribution in order to broaden their audience? This may be the symbiotic solution to the magazine industries increased financial woes. One thing is clear: the cross-promotion and distribution of COMA represents a change in traditional magazine advertising and the line between web content and editorial- for better or for worse- seems to be blending day by day.

Magazines' Attempt at Going "Green"

2008-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

“The Green Issue”. Many major consumer magazine publications have published one. The one issue a season that is supposedly wholly dedicated to saving the environment and living with a “green” consciousness. According to Frank Locantore, director of the Magazine Paper Project for Co-Op America, only 100 published magazines are currently printed on recycled paper. In all reality, just how “green” are these magazines?

As I was flipping through the March 2008 “Green Issue” of Outside Magazine, I noticed the vast array of advertisements featuring oversized Chevy trucks and cheap airfare to exotic destinations. While the articles were based on everything from the climate crisis to stackable electrical cars, the coinciding ads were sending a mixed message to the readers’ eye. Tree Hugger, a company dedicated to making sustainability appeal to the mainstream market, found that Outside is printed on only 10% recycled paper.

Vanity Fair, a leading consumer fashion magazine has now published three “Green Issues” and have been widely criticized for merely “talking green”. Their green edition contained absolutely no recycled paper as previously planned before the issue was printed. While it may be argued that producing recycled paper still uses a lot of energy and contributes to deforestation, as long print magazine exists, more environmentally friendly paper is a small stepping stone forward rather than backward.

As pointed out in these special edition issues, the pressures for everyone to take environmental responsibility has become extremely evident these days, but hardly do the magazine publication houses actually practice what they preach. I would personally hate to see print magazine vanish completely, but in this age of advanced technology and the world wide web, digital magazines are on the verge of completely changing the face of the magazine industry. Several leading magazines, Spin, Relix, and California Home & Design, have already taken the leap on digital issues and have been hugely successful. While encouraging sustainability through mass media is greatly appreciated, seeing major publishers follow their own advice may give them more credibility on the issue of the climate crisis.

The Magazine Killer? Not quite yet.

2008-09-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com users can’t help but know what the Kindle is. “Kindle: Amazon’s Revolutionary Wireless Device,” is usually plastered on the first page of the online store. Yet at $359.00, the “revolution” hasn’t had the same impact on printed materials as the iPod had on music. The 10-ounce white e-book reader hasn’t been as visible as the white ear buds.

The Kindle’s technology is what makes it so revolutionary. The Kindle utilizes an electric paper display, which mimics the appearance of ink on paper, and doesn’t leave the impression of viewing an electric display at all. The electric paper display is key, because the main hurdle for electronic books was that the process was too taxing on the eyes and body. Reading a PDF file is quite uncomfortable, and it’d be a feat of strength to read an entire book on a laptop.

A magazine isn’t just a wall of text though. Magazines are the most visually graphic of what is printed on paper, and the transition to Kindle hasn’t been kind. While paying $1.49 for a month of Time Magazine may seem like a great deal, the lack of pictures for the Kindle version has not been received well. One reviewer on Amazon.com wrote, “Time without Pictures is like the Braille edition of Playboy.”

Kindle users can subscribe to a Kindle version of many popular magazines like Time, Newsweek, and the Reader’s digest. Through Kindle’s free web service "Whispernet," users are “delivered” the same day that the print edition is. However, it’s far from a magazine killer at this point.

It’s only a matter of time before it potentially is though. The Kindle will inevitably improve upon itself, and be offered at a price that’s affordable for the masses. “Sure it’s $400, but you have to believe that a $99 version with color photos will be on Amazon by Christmas 2009,” wrote publisher of DISCOVER magazine Henry Donahue on his Blog. “With the way ink and paper prices have been going, that might not be such a band thing.”

Whether a cheaper and more vibrant Kindle will ultimately kill the magazine remains to be seen. In fact, the Kindle could rather invigorate the market the way the iPod did paired with the Tunes store. And while it's doubtful that magazines will ditch the news racks and move online, it's definitely an exciting (and fearful) time for readers, writers, and all those involved in the print business.

Magazines For Grown-Ups

2008-09-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

About 12 years have passed since the dot-com boom made businesses realize that it’s vital to have a Web site in order to stay fresh in consumers' minds. With a new generation of entrepreneurs ushering in “Web 2.0”, these companies are faced with the challenge of giving their old sites a facelift; sprucing them up in order to keep them up-to-date with the latest Web technology.
Magazines are no different. Most glossies have at least an accompanying Web site, usually displaying digital copies of features from their latest issue, lists of staff e-mail addresses, and sometimes message boards. As consumer preferences shift toward faster, more interactive sources of information and entertainment, some magazines have embraced the Web not just as a way of communicating with readers, but as a promotional tool.
It’s true that teens and young adults rule the Web. Magazines geared toward a younger demographic often have Web sites that are accordingly cutting-edge, providing exclusive content such as blogs and video. Most readers of print magazines are older, educated people with steady jobs and families. How are magazines aimed at more mature audiences utilizing the Web?
The general trend seems to be that they are not quite up to speed with their more youthful counterparts, but they are getting there. Most Web sites attached to established magazines that target adults have harnessed the power of blogs, offering articles similar to the magazine’s content, but not a carbon-copy of the latest issue. These sites run the gamut from the shockingly hip to the shockingly drab.
News magazines lead the pack when it comes to Web 2.0 sensibilities. Both Newsweek and Time offer sophisticated sites that are constantly being updated with articles, video, and op-ed pieces not offered in the magazine. Newsweek’s site is flashy and slick, with animated ads, video, and photo slideshows screaming at you from the front page. Time is a little more subdued, but if you refresh your page a few times in an hour, you’ll see that the content featured on the home page is constantly changing as blogs are posted and breaking news is gathered from all over the world.
Magazines aimed at women over forty are also fast embracing the Internet. Redbook magazine is the front runner, featuring blogs, user-submitted recipes, and how-to videos on hairstyles and party ideas. Another women’s magazine using these techniques is More magazine. More is aimed at a trendier, more chic set of women than Redbook is, so the site is clean and stylish in layout. More’s site is like a grown-up version of Seventeen, offering slideshows about Hollywood hairstyles, exclusive beauty tips, and even a “virtual fitting room” where users can create avatars and dress them in the latest fashions. Parenting magazines like Cookie and Parents have also made use of tools like videos and exclusive blogs.
Another magazine style with a stronghold on the 35-plus demographic is home and garden. Surprisingly, sites like goodhousekeeping.com and bhg.com (Better Homes and Gardens) don’t have much to offer, considering this genre is rife with possibility for things like step-by-step instructional videos, before/after slideshows, recipe forums, and message board interactivity. Goodhousekeeping.com has many of the same features that sites for women’s magazines utilize, including recipes, beauty tips, and virtual dressing rooms. The clear loser in this category is sunset.com, the online home of Sunset magazine. Though the editorial content is much more forward-thinking than that of either Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens, the Web site is a bore to look at and a bore to browse, offering hardly anything more than just digitally-regurgitated copies of articles from the latest issue.
One day we will live in a world where videos and slideshows are the norm in delivering the news online. Until then, it’s up to the tech-savvy 18-30-year-old set to lead the way, and their parents to catch up.

What Happened to Cosmo?

2008-09-22T22:47:00.001-07:00

The concept that sex sells is so prevalent and so ingrained in our culture that the phrase has surpassed the status of a cliché -- it's as normal and expected as death and taxes. If you asked a random person on the street, they'd probably blame one entity as the source of our sex-saturated society: the media, with magazines targeting young men and women as major culprits. So which publications hold the top circulation spots in this genre? None other than two unabashed purveyors of sex, Playboy and Cosmopolitan magazines. Playboy hasn't budged much from its original formula since launching in December 1953 with a scandalous centerfold of bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Cosmopolitan, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

Cosmopolitan published its first issue in 1886, as a "first-class family magazine," according to publisher Paul Schlicht. In 1897, it was acquired by Hearst publishing, which added more investigative articles, built upon by a strong fiction theme in the 1940s. By 1955, its circulation was down to just over 1 million and steadily declined for the next ten years.

Then came Helen Gurley Brown. In 1962, her book Sex and the Single Girl came out, sending a shockwave through the lives of young, single women. She received so many thank-you notes from readers that she decided to start her own magazine as a platform for the new lifestyle she was championing. After several rejections from New York publishers, Brown met with the people at Hearst, who instead offered her their dying general interest magazine, Cosmopolitan.

The first Brown-controlled issue hit the stands in September 1965, with an article about the newly introduced birth control pill and a doe-eyed brunette in a low-cut top on the cover. In April 1972, the magazine ran a controversial, near-nude centerfold of actor Burt Reynolds. Despite catching criticism for its racy new format, Brown stood behind her philosophy -- that women didn't need men to be happy or successful, but should be free to have sex with anyone they pleased. In the Cosmopolitan article "How Cosmo Changed the World," writer Jennifer Benjamin explains that what Cosmopolitan's detractors "didn't seem to realize was, Cosmo's gentler brand of feminism was more realistic and palatable. 'Cosmo is feminist in that we believe women are just as smart and capable as men are and can achieve anything men can,' says Helen. 'But it also acknowledges that while work is important, men are too. The Cosmo girl absolutely loves men!'"

As previously mentioned, today Cosmopolitan is the most popular young women's magazine on newsstands, as well as #18 in nationwide circulation for any American magazine. Today, it is published in more than 100 countries and has been available in 34 languages, with three television networks in Spain, Latin America, and Canada. But this success hasn't been all girl power and envelope pushing. In recent years, Cosmopolitan's feminist message has been overshadowed by that bit about men being important as well. This month's issue features actress Kate Hudson, with coverlines such as "His Body: The Nonverbal Cues that Let You Read His Mind," "15 Date Ideas He'll Be Into," and "How Long Guys Want Sex to Last."

Many third-wave feminists argue that Cosmopolitan has gotten away from its 1960's roots as a feminist platform in favor of our increasingly consumerist and hegemonic culture, where the ideal woman struts around in cleavage-baring outfits and spends her leisure time reading about 10,000 new ways to please her man. But as with most things in this business, the numbers don't lie -- 3 million happy women can't be wrong.

As Advertising Dollars Drop, It Is Time To Consider New Advertising

2008-09-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Advertising revenues in magazines, mirroring the economy today, have dropped drastically compared to last year’s numbers while circulation also continues to decline. This is putting magazines in a tight situation with less money in their pocket to fund editorial content.

According to a Media Week article, McClatchy advertising sales are down almost 18 percent compared to last year’s sales. A New York Times article also recently published that magazine sales have declined a little over 6 percent. McClatchy has announced that unfortunately it will decrease its staff 10 percent to try to cut costs.

Increasing advertising money will provide better editorial content for readers and therefore increase circulation and advertising money. This is a grim time for magazines and although they are not facing as high a deficit as newspapers, magazines need to re-imagine their advertising technique(s) to include new methods to get advertiser’s messages to the reader.

There are many new marketing ideas that can be used in today’s magazine world. The most technologically savvy step would to make an advertising presence on the internet. This would include more than the typical pop-up/under and banner ads that are used in today’s marketing. The internet is not a new medium, but magazines have been reluctant to consider it a major source for advertising revenue. With print ads dropping, it is time for magazines to make the leap into the internet advertising world. Great examples of magazines that utilize online advertising would be Spin Magazine and Ebony Magazine in addition to many lesser know magazines like MC Magazine.

By creating an online pdf version of their print editions, magazines can include online advertising with their print prices. In addition, as seen in Spin Magazine, advertisers can then create special ads for the online editions. Magazines can create direct links to send readers to websites to buy advertiser’s products. A report from the Magazine Publishers of America says that people are two times more likely to go to a website of a product they liked when seen from a magazine ad. By creating an online edition of a magazine, it will allow more readers easier access to immediately shop for products advertised in the magazine. By intertwining their magazine and internet advertising alone, print magazines can increase their advertising revenues.

Cosmo has also incorporated the internet into their marketing as they have announced they will partner with YouTube to find female musicians. This marketing technique will incorporate all aspects of a magazine. It will increase advertising money, particularly music advertising, while increasing circulation or, at the very least readership and a relationship with viewers. This can also provide increased editorial content for the magazine. This is another way magazines can use the internet to increase their advertising dollars. By cross promoting with other companies they can reach an audience they may never have had or increase their presence within that audience which will bring more advertising money.

As magazines face the realities of our current economy, it is now the time for them to start looking at new ways to increase advertising revenues. As times and technology change, the magazine industry must change too. Magazines no longer paste up physical copies of every page to be produced, replacing that with desktop publication. It is now time that magazines incorporate new advertising techniques into their business model so they can continue to provide readers with material they have been promised and have come to rely on and trust.

"Special Edition"

2008-09-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

It’s interesting how the July 2008 issue of Italia Vogue is seen as a “special edition” because it's an all black issue. There’s not going to be a “special edition” for white women because they’re already on the covers of fashion magazines, making that our cultural “norm” and standard for beauty. The July issue shows that having a lot of black women in a magazine isn’t considered apart of the “norm”, unless it’s Ebony or Essence.

After the issue was distributed, people had an array of negative and positive responses. Some people responded to online blogs, such as Thread Trend and Jezebel saying that this a little too late, while others say that this is a step forward or reality check to bring back black models to the fashion industry, and also start putting more on magazine covers.

According to West Australian newspaper, Franca Sozzani, editor of Italia Vogue said to Presse-Agentur DPA that she first got the idea of the all black issue during a conversation with the successful black supermodel Naomi Campbell, and was further inspired by the United State’s presidential primary race between Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen.Hillary Clinton.

Sozzani said that the change that America is going through with having their first black presidential candidate was a part of the inspiration to have her magazine feature all black subjects and models, and to represent different faces of beauty.

This was supposed to be an all black issue, but while flipping through the pages, between the editorial material about black issues, people, and news are advertisements that have white people in them, making the issue not exactly what it was publicized and anticipated to be.

The celebrity photographer, Steven Meisel, shot the pictures for the issue. He shared his theory about why black women aren’t on the runways as much anymore to New York Magazine, saying that a part of the reason may be rooted from either or both fashion designers and magazine editors.

They’re the ones who have the upper hand on what’s in or out when it comes to content in the magazines or who they want to wear their clothes down the runway.

He also mentioned how advertisers are connected to the content of magazines, because they choose who to cast in the advertisements.

Meisel said that when he shoots ads, sometimes he asks the advertisers if they can use a black woman instead, and they would say no, because advertisers think that they won’t make money if they product is associated to a non-white.

Some of the models that are in the issue are familiar and new faces such as Iman, Tyra Banks, Naomi Cambell, Jourdan Dunn, Karen Alexander, Alek Wek, and even the plus-size America’s Next Top Model contestant Tocarra Jones, who Sozzani didn’t want in the issue at first.

Although many people felt that Meisel’s photography was very tasteful and beautiful, others felt that the models were still styled in a “white beauty” type of way from their hair or their makeup, that some of the nudity was unnecessary, or that they didn’t like how some of the models were wearing animal print or furs giving off the look of being animalistic.

People can either see Italia Vogue’s effort in a positive, genuine way to break open the door again for black models in the fashion industry or a way to make money because it was a “special edition”, but at the end it’s hard to pin point who’s at fault when it comes to the lack of diversity in magazines, because the people in power are interconnected in many ways and are driven by their society’s culture and belief of what’s attractive and marketable to who they feel will keep their magazines alive.

Interview: Chasen Marshall, Longboard Magazine

2008-09-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

When lifelong surfer and Costa Mesa, California native Chasen Marshall isn't catching waves, he's writing about them and capturing their beauty in a snap. The 25-year-old lover of writing, reading, cooking, soccer and traveling has turned his admiration for surfing into a career at Longboard magazine. Now the Managing Editor, Chasen is living the dream. When he's not fantasizing about the small fishing villages of Cinque Italy or enjoying a relaxing camping trip with his buddies, he's acting out his deepest devotions and getting paid for them. Life isn't so bad for Chasen Marshall.

Jackie Thunem: How did you end up in journalism?

Chasen Marshall: Well, I really disliked english in high school, but I loved to read. I read a ton of books and always was reading the sports page of the Los Angeles Times, so I think that kind of set in the back of my mind an interest in journalism. During my senior year, my advisor on the newspaper staff made the comment that I should consider a career in writing/reporting and it's kind of grown from there.

JT: How did you land a spot at Longboard? Was it a who ya know or what ya know kind of deal?

CM: Actually I just started as an intern. My advisor in college was always announcing internship opportunities that were sent her way, and one that she announced was for LBM, so I contacted them. I worked as an intern the summer before my senior year of college, went back to school and then they hired me full-time after I graduated. From there I've just worked my way up the hierarchy and now I'm currently working as the magazines Managing Editor.

JT: Do you feel you are based in the best place for the sake of the magazine or would you prefer to be somewhere else?

CM: The magazine office is located in San Clemente, CA, which is pretty much right in the middle of a hotbed for surfing. A number of other big surf magazines are in the area as well like SURFER and Surfer's Journal so it would seem we're wise in staying around. Being right in the middle of San Diego and Los Angeles, it allows us the opportunity to cover a wide range of breaks and top surfers.

JT: What is a normal day of work like?

CM: I've been doing a lot of photography for the magazine over the past year or so. So a number of my mornings are spent on the sand documenting some of the best longboarders in the world. Once I grab a cup of coffee and get to the office, I'll usually make a few calls and return a few emails until the remainder of the editorial staff gets in. We'll usually chit-chat a bit about where the production is on the current issue, pass around copy for editing and work on pieces as well. It's a small staff, so everyone is involved with most every level of production, from writing, to editing to occasionally a little design. Maybe there will be a meeting with the advertising department, but usually every day is pretty different.

JT: Let's talk about Longboard magazine, what is the focus and message the magazine is putting out there?

CM: We try to serve as a voice and vehicle for the sport of longboarding. Trends, contests, profiles, gear, travel destinations, history — it's all a part of the product we try to produce.

JT: What age demographic are you trying to reach? And who is your reader?

CM: Well, our reader's coverage a pretty large age range, typically from 15-55, give or take. Our average reader is probably in the 25-35 range. The magazine is distributed worldwide, with the majority of distribution on the East and West Coast of the U.S., along withHawaii and Australia.

JT: Would you say circulation is increasing or decreasing?

CM: I would assume circulation is decreasing, which is a trend that seems to be common throughout the publishing industry. As more and more people are becoming comfortable with surfing the web, they realize they can find their news and entertainment in a more timely manner on the web. On that note, our circulation hasn't had any drastic changes.

JT: I'm noticing a major online shift in the magazine industry, do you have plans to go that route?

CM: The magazine has a website, but the common theme on there seems to be "Coming Soon." So, yeah, it's there, but it needs a lot of work. I would agree that the web presence is huge for magazines, and in that realm we are heavily behind the curve. I would like to believe that the magazine will try to make further strides in that medium.

JT: So you're the managing editor and I heard you shoot the surfers as well. How does that work for you?

CM: I really enjoy having that added element with my job. Not that I didn't enjoy what I was previously doing, but it's something that is new to me. New and exciting. It's fun to see myself make progress, come up with a few good photos for the magazine and see my name in photo credits in other magazines when I sell a photo (not that many to date). It has definitely helped with my relationship with the surfers, since having photos in the magazine is much more important to them than having their name in print. It also allows me to spend more time with the men and women involved with the sport, and as I see and talk to them more and more, it does occasionally lead to story ideas and good contacts. Plus it saves the magazine money when we aren't having to buy every photo.

JT: I'm aware that there are two types of longboarding; traditional and progressive. What do you think the future of longboarding will be?

CM: I think it should and will be a blend of the two. Unfortunately the two schools have hurt the sport because in a competitive arena, it's difficult to measure one against the other. So a number of top competitors have stepped away due to frustrations in the contest scene. There is no one true identity in performance, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it diversifies the sport and makes it difficult to market, which has an effect on whether or not the surfers can make a career out the gig. But I can also see the sport going mainly high-performance/progressive in contests/judging criteria, and the traditional surfers becoming more of the photo/freesurf/lifestyle-type guys, who don't make contests and such their main priority.

Covering Culture: Fact vs. Personality

2008-09-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

This fall, two very different publications; National Geographic Magazine and 7x7 San Francisco, covered the popular topics of local, organic farming and the “Slow Food Movement.” The September 2008 cover of National Geographic (NG), a society membership publication known for features on science discovery and global culture, showed the deeply embedded, tiny roots of a 12-year-old soy bean plant alongside the coverline, “Where Food Begins.” 7x7 Magazine, which covers regional culture in the seven square miles of San Francisco, showed carrots, summer squash, and yellow wax beans pulled from the soil and resting on a weathered piece of plywood for the August 2008 cover.

Both evoke the mood of earthiness and simplicity, but a reader can judge the magazine by the subtle differences on each cover. The bean sprout reminds onlookers of biology class, an image consistent with NG’s reporting approach and focus on science. 7x7’s arrangement of vegetables and large letters: “Eat + Drink” add a human connection and give the impression of cooking and dining.

Starting with a four-page feature entitled “The New Crop,” 7x7 covers Slow Food with a locally grown produce guide (with close-up photos of fruits and veggies) and an event list to the Slow Food Nation Labor Day celebration. The August issue includes a wide range of cultural content and even has an alternate cover photo of a pulled-pork sandwich from the Richmond District. Publisher Tom Hartle says, “We are in the midst of re-imagining what 7x7 can be.”

On the other hand, NG, with its audience and style nailed down, delivers a cover story on soil conservation throughout the world and back-of-the-book blips on organic lawn care, and 1950s soil erosion. Related to NG’s soil theme, coverage of organic farming and the Slow Food Movement begins (and ends) with a feature inside the Eco-Living Food section. Like 7x7, the feature is four pages long and portrays organic farming in a positive light.

Staying traditional, NG defines “eating green,” and describes the carbon footprint of a meal using quotes from researchers at schools like Cornell, University of Michigan, and NYU. Only two out of five photos in the simple layout show actual farmers; focus is on location, process, and products.

The article jumps right into Italy, where the Slow Food Movement began. NG quotes the Slow Food Italy president and marks out special meal regions on a map of Italy. The article switches from an image of Italian farmers testing a giant vat of parmesan cheese to the growing demand for organic food in Munich markets.

NG’s coverage slightly softens with profiles of a Scottish farmer who influenced markets in the town of Fife, and an Icelandic baker who uses underground geothermal heat to bake bread. However, images are hardly personal; the Fife farmer stands in the background of his greenhouse, and the only Icelandic image is one of sliced bread.

In 7x7’s “The New Crop,” author Sara Deseran focuses on four organic California farmers with photos revealing their faces and personalities. Deseran even personalizes each with a human interest story, and a cute, pun caption: “The City Slicker” is San Franciscan Jason Mark, an urban farmer who also helps teenagers from a local public housing community learn about cultivation, and “The Beverly Hillbilly” is David Retsky, who left Los Angeles urban life behind to farm in Petaluma.

Though both issues cover Slow Food, 7x7 reads like a narrative, explaining how farmers got interested and how they feel about it, and NG reads like a report, focusing on the world’s key organic farms. One reveals a personal profile of culture, while the other delivers historical roots, scientific facts, and hard data.

Girls' Life vs. Boys' Life

2007-11-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

One of my first magazine subscriptions as a kid was for Girls’ Life— referred to nowadays by the hip nickname GL— Girls' Life is one of the most popular lifestyle magazines out there for preteens and young teenage girls.

I remember looking forward to each new glossy issue and would thumb through each of them to get to my favorite sections. I loved reading the “Dear Carol” section where girls would write in for advice on a whole range of issues that came up in their lives. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading a section of the magazine where readers would share their most embarrassing moments-- as a rather awkward teenager I definitely felt like I could relate to many of the stories.

I remember the first thing I would usually flip to once I had the magazine in my hands was to the magazine’s quiz page where I would test myself and as many friends and family members as possible, to find out if any of us were too star struck, were there for our friends, or if the boy we had been crushing on could really be deemed as “crush-worthy.”

Although I had fond memories of the magazine, I can’t help but wonder if members of the other gender benefited from a more exciting and/or more educational read in Boys’ Life magazine.

Just by taking a glance at the two websites something a little too stereotypically girly pops out at you with the overwhelmingly pink Girls’ Life site. Boys’ Life's website, on the other hand, features more earthy tones.

And while Girls’ Life features the “Dear Carol” advice section with questions such as learning how to deal with an annoying little sister or addressing one reader’s concern that wearing a sports bra might be stopping her breasts from growing, Boys’ Life has something called “Ask the Gear Guy.” Here one reader asked for advice on how to keep from rolling off his sleeping pad when he goes camping and others ask for advice on how to waterproof a tent and how to safely operate a camping stove.

The Boys’ Life website also features hobbies and projects including the “Experiment of the Week,” while the Girls’ Life site displays a “Beauty School” feature as well as “Star Signs,” so girls can read up on their holiday horoscopes.

While I understand that boys and girls often have different interests, it comes as a disappointment to me that the magazine geared for boys focuses on camping and science experiments, while the girls’ magazine focuses on more superficial topics such as how to do your make-up right and how to get the boy you’ve been crushing on to finally notice you.

Addressing adolescent girls’ concerns about their body image and relationship issues is, undeniably, crucial, but why can’t the Girls’ Life website also feature practical advice on how to set up a tent or a video clip on how to listen for sounds of the ocean in a boot?

Pulp Fiction

2007-11-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

Pulp magazines…well they are all but deceased, although their ideals are still aparent in modern day film and television. The magazines were originally created to entertain readers with exploitative stories that would cost little to purchase. These magazines normally had sensational cover art that drew in readers and fueled wild ideas about the scandalous world created by pulp authors. Comic books differed from pulp magazines in that comics had animation strips while pulps rarely had images, except on the front page. The name “pulp” originates from the cheap wood pulp paper on which such magazines were printed on. This made for a cheap production and an inexpensive sale. Other magazines of the day were printed on a more glossy paper, which furthered the notion that pulp magazines were cheap, inferior and typically lower class. The peak popularity of pulp magazines was the 1920’s and 30’s when titles like Amazing Stories, Startling Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Unknown & Weird Tales were being read by scores of people across the country. While the story matter in these stories varied the content normally had fantastical elements that were hard to believe yet easy to read. Some popular stories centered around detectives that dealt with sleuthed crime and shady individuals that middle class people in America enjoyed reading vicariously. Other story topics included: aliens, sea monsters, exciting explorations, Tarzan, ghosts, cowboys and Indians, etc.

The decline of the pulp magazines was eventual. It first started with the World War II paper shortage that crippled much of the country’s print media. In addition, heavy competition from comic books, television and paperback novels furthered the downfall of pulp magazines. The official end of the pulp magazine era is traced to the 1957 bankruptcy of American News Company who was responsible for publishing most of the pulps in the early 20th century.

As of late the genera has experienced a sort of resurgence. Some small independent publishers occasionally release magazines of short fiction or short stories that kindle back to the days of yore when pulp magazines drew lots of readers. In 2002 author Michael Chabon published an issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly calling it McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. It was a collection of pulp tales written by some of modern literatures well-known authors such as Stephen King, Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers.

While it is safe to say that the heyday of pulp magazines is gone, there is no denying the impact that these stories have left on American popular culture.

http://www.thepulp.net/

http://www.stationlink.com/pulpdom/pulphist.html

ONLINE COMMUNITY GOES PRETTY IN PRINT

2007-11-27T21:26:00.000-08:00

While over 700 magazines were launched from October of last year to September of 2007, only 17 have been highlighted on MrMagazine.com. As this years "Hottest Launches", Mr. Magazine's Samir Husni, hand picked these publications based on his "three v's: vision, values, and voice"-- and they span from arts and photography to the art of business and even a "National Geographic for Little Kids". You can view the Mr. Magazine's 17 Hottest magazine launches here.

Although they all look quite interesting, as a beginning photographer and recent graduate of photo journalism I, I was the the most impressed and inspired by the new JPG Magazine.

Based out of San Francisco, JPG Magazine was founded from and based on a diverse online community of photographers and photography lovers. As the Myspace for photographers, JPG online asks their users to vote for their favorite photography on the website. The winners are published in the bi-monthly print of JPG Magazine and receive a cash prize, subscription for a year, and other prizes depending on advertiser's participation.

In his article, "Ok, Now I Get JPG Magazine, Michael Arrington applauds JPG's ability to work with their online community for content: "The fact the that the community decides what photos end up in each issue has resulted in a ton of activity on the website. Photographers are uploading their best work to showcase their stuff- if a photo gets picked for the magazine it's just icing on the cake for them."

This magazine is interactive in a different kind of way: while many older magazines are now figuring out the online technology and making their content internet savvy, JPG has based it's magazine on the internet content that has proved to build a strong following. When asked by Mr. Magazine what kind of human being his magazine would be, Publisher Paul Cloutier embraces the youthful generation X aspirations by saying that his magazine is "an enthusiastic college student that has discovered their passion in life...joyful and constantly inspired to discover new ideas about photography...very approachable and obliging to help the people around them, their passion is contagious."

That being said- I encouraged all, skilled or not, to submit their work and see what happens.

High Times is to Pot what Playboy is to Sex: Bullshit

2007-11-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

High Times magazine is not, as previously insinuated on this blog, worthy of praise for it's "intellectual articles" of the past, having significantly departed from the "celebration of all the things 60s youth brought to America: rebellious politics, doing drugs and expanding one’s mind."

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The parallel made between Playboy and High Times however, is more fitting. High Times is as about as genuine a commentary on pot counterculture as Playboy is to people who enjoy casual sex. Playboy is a sexist magazine full of articles that have nothing to do with the average man's sex life, not to forget pictures of countless platinum blondes with gigantic fake tits. It is a perverted depiction of a good thing. Rather than fostering healthy and fun sexual relationships, Playboy encourages men to be yuppie "playboys" with bad taste in women and unhealthy perceptions of beauty. High Times, rather than focusing on expanding our minds and perceptions, it tells us to be some lazy, politically/socially apathetic douchebag who grows hydro in his closet with compact flourescents and travels to Europe solely for the purpose of getting stoned in an Amsterdam smokehouse.

Rather than addressing the issue of the distribution political power, which must be radically altered if there is any hope to ending marijuana prohibition in the United States, High Times focuses on limp articles like "the first annual stoner swimsuit special," or others on novice grow techniques or stoking the ego's of mainstream musicians.

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To make matters worse, HT has a rather disturbing habit of running reams of full page "fake pot" ads that prey on ignorance and encourage deception. These ads sell "herbs" (non-psychoactive plants) doctored to look like weed, implying that they can get you high with names like "Purple Jamacian" and "Sticky Skunk." What do some readers have to say about these shady practices?"'Those are insulting, exploitive ads,' commented an 18-year-old college student who'd earlier told me that he looks to High Times for spiritual and political guidance. 'It makes me think that High Times is insincere, that they are only about money.'"

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Additionally, HT has a history of sexist transgressions "Older readers and women are especially turned off by articles (like the Ozzy Osbourne cover story) that feature attitudes and topics far removed from marijuana or the evolved consciousness it allegedly produces"

href="http://cannabisculture.com/articles/1324.html">

Stoner swimsuit issue? Few women written stories? A well publicized event where a writer claims he can't even get laid at the publications infamous Cannabis Cup (which is wrought with corruption, see link) with his dick in his hand? Fake pot ads? Limp articles?
Well, in short, High Times sucks. If I had a house, I'd keep a couple copies around to mop up fresh spilled bongwater before the smell set in the landlords rug.
Now excuse me while I go smoke a fat spliff and fantasize about the coming revolution...

Google Getting Niche

2007-11-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

With so many popular, general interest titles available online and on newsstands, new magazines are left trying to find ways to capture any semblance of an audience. Therefore, it’s left these publications with the strategy of becoming more target specific and niche—catering to a specific demographic that they know well.

Yet, as specific as these publications try to be, they still publish some articles and advertisements that don’t necessarily cater to their reader. So, to end all of this angst and frustration, corporation giant and super search engine Google has decided to step in.

Yup, that’s right. As recently as November 8, Google was granted the patent to produce its very own publication.

Well, sort of.

The patent, titled “Customization of Content and Advertisements in Publications,” will allow Google’s users to basically customize their own magazine off of content they see online. Specifically, the users will be allowed to reform the content based on what they like and want to read. Then, the final product will be returned in either a print or online form, with advertisements added by Google that they think will matter to this now, "super niche" reader.

Google, co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and based in nearby Mountain View, has been around for roughly eleven years, offering us the world’s most popular search engine, as well as e-mail, news and videos. Now, it’s going to take a stab at media, already highlighting some of the flaws in current publications in a recent statement:

“Consumers may purchase a variety of publications in various forms, e.g., print form (e.g., newspapers, magazines, books, etc.), electronic form (e.g., electronic newspapers, electronic books ("e-Books"), electronic magazines, etc.), etc. The publishers define the content of such publications, and advertisers define which advertisements (ads) may be seen in the publications. Since consumers have no control over publication content or advertisements, they may purchase a publication that contains at least some content and advertisements that may be of no interest to them. Publishers often lack insight into the profiles of consumers who purchase their publications, and, accordingly, miss out on subscription and advertisement revenue due to a lack of personalized content and advertisements. Likewise, consumer targeting for advertisers is limited, and there is virtually no standardization for ad sizes (e.g., an ad that is supposed to be a full page may need to be reduced in size to fit within a publication). Accordingly, advertisers sometimes purchase sub-optimal or worthless ad space in an attempt to reach their target markets. Advertisers also have difficulty identifying new prospective market segments to target because they have limited insight into the desires and reactions of consumers.”

But as other sources have noted, this is still only a patent, and so far, no steps have been taken to set this idea in motion. However, if this thing gets rolling and catches momentum, what is the magazine industry going to do to counter this foe?

Only time will tell. For now, Google will continue being a mega search engine, and niche magazines will have to get more niche.

Print vs. Online

2007-11-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Picture this in your mind: a broke college sophomore student working five days a week while juggling responsibilities which consist of paying rent, gas, tuition, books, and other miscellaneous (but necessary) bills, going to school full-time, and taking care of herself. When she gets home from work at 10pm, do you think she'll have the energy (or interest) to stop by the newsstands and pick up a magazine? Or will she just go straight home, take off her shoes, and snuggle on the couch to catch up on the latest gossip on her laptop at her favorite webzine?

The latter sounds more appealing, doesn't it? Well, it is. It's all about practicality, people. We're college students, we're broke and whenever we have money, we'd rather have our dough spent on something we really need, like shoes and gas; not on something we know we can get for free, like the latest issue of Seventeen.

Nowadays, we see print magazines leave the newsstands and dive into the online world (READ: Budget Savvy). Well, there are a lot of reasons why they leave the newsstands. For us readers, that's a big plus. But why do readers like me choose reading stuff online rather than feel the glossy pages of a magazine on our fingertips? I came up with three reasons why:

1. Mobility. Others would argue that a print copy of a magazine would be mobile too. But you can go online almost anywhere. With today's advanced technology, you can now bring your iPhone with you to the bathroom and check what's up with the latest fashion while doing your business.

2. Cheaper (if not FREE). For college students like me, the words "free" and "cheap" call out to me. I'm all about saving my benjamins or spending none at all. Checking out Slate Magazine doesn't cost me anything at all if I check it at school or a public library. Subscribing to print magazines cost me money but subscribing to online editions of print magazines cost me zero dollars. So which would I choose? Free or not free? I think you know my answer. Why would I spend money on a magazine when I can get the exact same content (plus maybe more) for free?

3. Accessible. A magazine locally based in NYC distributes only to newsstands within the state of New York. People who live in Washington who would want to subscribe to that magazine would have to pay extra for shipping. What if people in Paris want to read that magazine? That would cost A LOT. But if the magazine was online, it would cost them nothing, right? Except maybe for the internet connection and electricity and the computer they would use. But if you do some thinking, that would actually cost cheaper because you can use those for other things (like for the internet, you can do other stuff like check your email or buy stuff online and for the computer, you can do homework or play games, etc).

It's really a matter of choice whether or not the reader chooses to buy a print magazine or read stuff online. But for practical people like me, I choose reading online. What will you choose?

Confessions Of An Intern

2007-11-27T17:18:00.001-08:00

By the time I completed my third internship, I was beginning to feel a little used up, having hopped from editor to editor, being passed along like some sort of editorial hussy (I’d like to think of it as a high-class call girl, but maybe that’s just semantics.) Somewhere along the way, I realized that no matter how much work it was, the network of people I was meeting was much more valuable for my future career in journalism than the classes I was taking at the university. From these connections I got my first freelance work, sent off to other internship opportunities, and earned irreplaceable references in the publishing community.

Here are some tips to aid in the internship hunt, drawn from my own experience, as well as from a few local editors who offer their wisdom.

Finding An Internship: Where to begin?

Search craigslist.org under the writing/editing jobs tab.

Scan mediabistro.com.

Brainstorm a list of publications you are interested in working for and check their websites for internship programs. Often the bigger names don’t bother to advertise on a site like craigslist, but will have their programs outlined on their own websites.

Next Step: Applying

Once you’ve found something you’re interested in, make sure you know what you need to do to apply. Leilani Labong, the research editor and internship coordinator at 7x7 Magazine says that when people contact her by email for an internship, “they need to send an electronic version of a resume, letter of recommendation from a journalism or English professor, and copies of clips (three would suffice). They should then follow-up via snail mail with a hard copy of these things.”

In terms of clips, she says she looks for published work, or “strong excerpts from class papers that might be relevant to pop culture, celebrity, food—any topics to do with a lifestyle magazine.”

It’s also a good idea to follow-up via an email to make sure that the editor received your resume/clips/cover letter and that the attachments went through OK.

A Few Notes On Resumes and Cover Letters

It’s standard to include a cover letter, so write it specifically to the publication you are applying to. Don’t use a generic cover letter, it’s obvious and makes you look like you don’t care. Gina Goff, the city editor for Citysearch.com says to “always include something specific about the company you're applying to, just to show you're not sending out a form letter.”

She also suggests having a professional looking email address with your name in it for correspondence, not something like sexybambi69@hotmail.com, and stresses the importance of proof reading you resume and cover letter. She says spelling errors are common and that they are often “Way too much to overlook for an editorial internship. Maybe you can get away with a little of that in other fields, but for editorial, no way.”

The Interview: Now What?

Do your homework. Know about the publication you are interviewing for. Familiarize yourself with parts of the magazine or website.

“In an interview, I’m looking for someone who knows their way around SF and its various arts/culture/food/music/social scenes (though this is rare), and someone who knows their way around the magazine,” says Labong. “Someone who knows the difference between 7 Things and Hot List, Dine Opener and the E+D Opener. Also, someone who can identify the pages they want to contribute to by their proper names. It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine to have someone apply for this internship and know nothing about the magazine.”

Familiarizing yourself with the publication will help you create a list of questions to bring to the interview, something Goff says is very important. “It shows that you've done some research in the company, and actually have an active interest in what we're doing, and sincerely want to know if the position will be a good match for your career goals and the company's needs,” she says. “A good interview always ends feeling like you had a two-way discussion.”

Always come equipped with a copy of your resume and a list of references, as some of the larger publications may have you fill out a formal employment application on the spot. And when it’s all over, head home and send a follow-up email thanking the interviewer for their time and reiterating your interest in the position.

The Internship: Do Or Die

You got the position, but how do you make the most of it? Goff says that a good attitude is essential, and that she thinks interns should treat their internship like a job audition. “Not just doing the work that's been given to you as a requirement,” she says. “But coming up with ideas for other projects that would be beneficial.”

Make the internship a priority and do not flake out on it. The editorial community is extremely small and your reputation is everything. Don’t get yourself blacklisted as unreliable, or opportunities are not going to come your way. Goff says that in terms of your performance, “You should leave feeling confident that if there were an entry-level position available, you'd be considered.”

Endgame

As the internship is drawing to a close, ask your editors for advice on what your next move should be. They are often in the loop about openings in the field and might have a lead for you. “At the end, always, always ask if you can use your manager as a reference, and make a little effort to stay in touch with a quick email every few months, just to keep the contact fresh,” says Goff.

Happy Hunting!

Help Wanted... In India

2007-11-27T15:21:00.001-08:00

As the world becomes smaller and smaller, it seems that every industry from toys to clothing to electronic gadgets is outsourcing work to other countries. The same apparently goes for the publishing world. Magazine outsourcing is covered in detail on the Folio website. One company, Cadmus, that is featured on Folio says their target customers are looking for ways to increase revenues from online print sources while reducing other production costs. A good chunk of this offshore publishing is happening in India.

The same company markets themselves by offering a coding service called XML( EXtensible Markup Language) which makes their customers content (podcasts, webzines, and websites) searchable and easier to retreive information by using codes that look like mumbo jumbo to Average Joe.

Cadmus operates in India because it has significant cost savings when compared to American production costs. Businesses across the board seem to be embracing outsourcing at an alarming rate, which not everyone is happy about. Other Americans seem to feel differently about such companies: http://www.nojobsforindia.com/

Their online counterpart, Outsource2India, offers up a long list of publishing services overseas that included EBook development or formatting, book to e-book conversion, ebook writing, editing, proofing, web content management, software development, and graphic design among many others.

With the cost of postage increasing rapidly and the rising cost of raw materials needed to create traditional print publications, there is a growing trend toward internet-only publications. With the ability to create such publications from any computer, it is

likely that more companies will outsource publishing work.

So, to the future publishers of America: You may want to rethink your career path.

New Magazines!

2007-11-27T08:55:00.001-08:00

The number of new magazines for 2007 is almost 300 magazines shy of the 2006 total. According to Mr. Magazine's website the 60% failure rate for new magazines in their first year jumps to 80% within four years. Is the significant drop in new magazine ventures a sign of the times, or are publishers choosing quality over quantity?
Mr. Magazine counts a total of 571 new magazines that were launched this year. For the month of October there was a whopping 96 (this includes one shot deals such as special editions to already established publications, as well as newly launched monthlies).
Samir A. Husni, also known as “Mr. Magazine” is the chair of the journalism department at the university of Mississippi, and author of the book Launch your own Magazine, and the annual Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines. Of the new launches of the 2007, Bay Area based magazines Eldr and Jpg made it to Mr. Magazine’s list of top launches of the year.
Some of the new October magazines are not unusual titles, Hair Style Ideas, a relaunch of Victoria magazine, and two tattoo magazines: Inked, and Tattoo Life.
Some of the more absurd titles? Beer, a monthly for people who love, what else? Beer; Mob Candy- “the underworld magazine of mafia politics, pleasures, and power,” with coverlines such as “Gamibno Crime family Issue- a Look at Don Carlo’s Legacy,” and “Staten Islands Finest Mercedes Uncensored.” Finally, Popstar! Magazine’s special edition launch of Zanessa- a magazine devoted to the love story of “High School Musical 2’s” Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.

Opinion:Food Magazine Education

2007-11-27T07:49:00.001-08:00

Magazines impact so many lives by the content on its pages. Magazines tell us what to wear, what to do and how to act. One of the most influential impacts magazines have on peoples’ health is telling us what to eat. Food magazines come in all different forms from gourmet to budget publications, but with the a national worry of obesity and the presentation of healthier alternatives that is sweeping across the country, what makes us so sure that the words, recipes and images on the pages of national food magazines should be indulged in?

After flipping through the pages of Everyday Food Magazine and finding a “lighter” version of sesame chicken without the nutritional facts attached, how can I be so sure it is lighter? There was nothing to compare it to, what is so light about it? I guess the fact that the chicken is “lightly” fried instead of deep fried as it would be made in a Chinese restaurant could pass as a lighter version of the popular dish, but what are they trying to hide by not telling me the nutritional facts at the end?

Sunset magazine on the other hand doesn’t even try to hide the fact that a cup of its “healthier” version of cream of mushroom soup is 394 calories and 27g of fat. I am no expert on food education myself, but personally one cup of soup wouldn’t cut it and the calorie and fat intake is already high to start eating more. The magazine also highlights every recipe with the nutritional ingredients at the end.

Overall the reader should be aware of the “everyday” recipes being presented and know the portion size to indulge in, though what still makes food publications the voice of what is good and healthy to eat? Who are these expert food writers and what qualifies them to tell the readers what is good enough? There are food writers that should be listened to on the topic of nutrition, but know who you are listening to.

How are food magazines addressing the obesity epidemic that has raged out of control across the nation? It seems that many articles in news magazines such as TIME or Newsweek address the issue, but the food magazine industry doesn’t address it enough to say why they feature healthier alternatives in the publication. I guess it just doesn’t fit in with their reader demographics. Maybe if the food magazine industry made it an issue then people would begin to listen to their words of wisdom instead of indulging in all the recipes and food advice Americans take as fact.

It'll be like the Matrix...but with magazines

2007-11-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

The Internet!

Probably the greatest idea since strike anywhere matches, the flying disk, and the lateral pass. How has one not-even-physical place captivated so many of the world's businesses, gamers and intellectuals, not to mention countless others? The answer is simple, as it is generally the root of all evils. Money.

Coin has been known for a long time to make the world go round, and its power over the American human is generally felt in the day to day grind of things. The question is, how does money relate to the internet, and how do those relate to magazines?

A trend that is becoming more and more popular in the magazine industry is to not only supplement a magazine with an online edition, but in some cases replace the print edition entirely with the online version. This trend has created a symbiotic relationship between a print magazine and its cybernet companion, as both help each other increase readership and sales via advertisement.

This can have a reverse effect. Earlier this month, Conde Nast announced 106 year publication House and Garden will finally meet its date at the gallows following its December issue. It was also announced that the entirety of the staff will be laid off. In a semi-surprising move, House and Garden's website was also shut down. This is only semi-surprising since Conde Nast did the same thing with Jane when it folded in July. Conde Nast spokeswoman Maurie Perl was quoted in an article on Folio's website as saying "The Web site was a companion to the magazine and if we closed the magazine the Web site followed."

In the same article quoting Maurie Perl, Folio took a look at several magazines that had folded their respective print divisions but had kept the online publication alive. NickJr. posted 4 million unique visitors in July, not bad for a publication that folded in February. ElleGirl.com, one of the first print brands to keep its web site up and running, is actually growing. This growth means that there is money to be made. So now we have the combination of magazines and the internet coming together to make money. But is the magazine industry, both online and in print, about to face the same fate as many other United States businesses? Everybody knows homegrown is usually the best, but can the American magazine industry fight outsourcing?

One mag that has recently decided to make the switch is Tango, a two year old women's
magazine about relationships. According to Folio, Tango has decided to make its quarterly into a yearly themed edition, but plans to update its tangomag.com website multiple times a day with interactive content and features in addition to social media tools. CEO and founder Andrea Miller says "Focusing on a digital platform will enable us to grow much more quickly and allow us to create an active, engaged community of women around our content". See, that's what I personally love about cyberspace, it makes everybody the Little Engine that Could.

However, in what might be the signal of the start of major change in the magazine industry, Tango, in deciding to ramp up its online edition, has hired two positions for its "digital platform" and in turn eliminated one position for the print-based edition. Perhaps this signals a trend, or at least the beginning of one. "The print magazine was key to putting us on the map," says Miller. "A digital platform will allow us to grow much more quickly and better leverage all that we have done to date." With plans to enter the magazine into licensing deals and sales & marketing partnerships to extend their brand in additional ways, Tango, as a model for potential joint internet and publication success could very well become the Little Engine that Did.

Oh, Reilly?

2007-11-27T07:09:00.000-08:00

There comes a time of the week in many men’s lives that they wait for. They open their mailbox and, much to their delight, find a crisp issue of Sports Illustrated inside. Then they do something curious, they open the back cover to read the last page. Why? That’s Rick Reilly territory.

Reilly has been writing for SI for 19 years. His incredible investigative reporting and insanely funny anecdotes have helped him earn eight Nation Sportswriter of the Year awards. In a surprise move, Reilly will be jumping ship to work for rival ESPN: The Magazine. That will occur June 1, 2008.

Reilly was born in 1958 in Boulder, Colorado. He always had a passion for sports and wanted his opinions to be heard. After college, he got a job at the Boulder Daily Camera before joining SI in 1985. His weekly column labeled the “Life of Reilly” is a weekly article that is always provocative and hilarious.

He is a very opinionated fellow who always has a good story idea. One time during the 2002 baseball season, Sammy Sosa was quoted as saying that he would take a steroid test if he were offered one. Reilly offered Sosa a drug test after the game he attended and Sosa responded by yelling and threatening Reilly. This, of course, gave Reilly plenty of fodder for his next article.

Reilly has also written some ridiculously funny books including Slo Mo, a fictional tale of a 7’8” kid going to the professional basketball ranks from high school. His latest publication is an anthology of his 100 best articles from the “Life of Reilly” titled Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly.

Reilly claims that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is the best athlete of all time. Armstrong even wrote the foreword for Hate Mail. This is curious though because Armstrong has recently been tied to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, which Reilly has long blasted the likes of Barry Bonds for. This seems hypocritical.

All aspiring sports writers have something to learn from Rick Reilly. It could be his knack of finding a story. It could be his skills as a wordsmith. Nonetheless, he will go down as one of the greatest ever.

Maxim: A Change For The Better?

2007-11-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

Most everyone out there knows Maxim for their scantily clad women gracing the pages of the magazine. It’s no wonder that it is the most successful modern men’s lifestyle publication in the country, with a paid circulation of about 2.6 million a year. With half-naked models and their sex appeal, it’s every teenage boy’s bible, but that might soon change. Ever since this past summer, after Quadrangle Capital Partners acquired Dennis Publishing, Inc., responsible for magazines such as Maxim, Stuff and Blender, and renamed the company Alpha Media Group Inc., Maxim has begun to undergo some changes. The first change deals with Maxim’s competitor, Stuff Magazine. After their launch in 1998, Stuff had their final issue last month. From now on, it can be found as a regular section in Maxim. According to Kent Brownridge, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Media Group Inc., “Stuff magazine is a clear and purposeful brand that will continue to reach its audience through Maxim.” In addition to that, though, stuffmagazine.com can still be found online, unaffected by these changes.

For Maxim’s December issue, Editorial Director, Jim Kaminsky, is going for a more sophisticated look. The re-design is striving for higher-end fashion pages, a more streamlined look, and will include a new how-to section. This classier look will hopefully attract more upscale advertisers, especially with high fashion and automobiles. Some of the magazine’s new clients appearing in the December issue include Diesel and Zune.

With other men’s lifestyle magazines, such as Men’s Health and GQ, incorporating luscious, half-naked models into advertisements and such, Maxim is having more and more trouble differentiating itself from the rest of the field. By making these changes, Kaminsky says that they’re going to bring Maxim back to its roots:

“Maxim is all about this young man’s lifestyle—humor, a smart, knowing tone, great service for 18 to 34, great journalism.”

One thing that will remain the same is the classic Maxim cover model in an ever-enticing bikini of some sort, which will surely keep their readers coming back for more.

Works Cited

Cross Promoting

2007-11-27T02:36:00.001-08:00

As magazine competition grows and niches narrow, publishers are forced to find new ways of getting their product to potential readers. Those in charge of industry leading video game magazine Game Informer seem to have found an answer. The publication boast a near-2 million paid circulation and is the only gaming magazine to be in the MPA's top 100.

The impressive figures are mostly due with the publication's partnersip with video game retail chain GameStop, in which for $12.99 buyers recieve a year's subscription to Game Informer and a 10% discount card similar to a safeway card. The business plan was implemented officially a year and half ago, the results have been rich. With a 20% increase in circulation from 2006 to 2007 according to Media Week, the magazine saw a $500,000 bump in their rate base bringing it to $2.3 million.

With new consoles with astonishing technology being unvieled over the past two years, traffic in GameStop, and other gaming retail stores, has risen. Equating to the target audience being directly served in a inexpensive, inexhausted and convient way. That added with the 10% discount card and the relationship is benevolent.

To its credit, Game Informer is ranked by Media Week as the fourth leading magazine to reach the highly coveted 18-34 male demographic. But suffice to say, a relationship of this nature lends itself to puffing up numbers. Aside from subscriptions, each GameStop in America is stocked with the latest issue of the magazine; meaning GameStop could be taking the brunt of the cost in buying and reselling. Whether that is the case, Game Informer stands as an advertising magnet.

Though the question remains as to whether this will become a large trend in how magazine find their readers? Current practices of chains like Best Buy using their cashiers to hock magazine subscriptions are less effective. Though, finding similar parternships with other magazines in other industries is no easy task. A year of Vogue for a 10% all Macy's outerwear?

GQ: Can Men's Fashion Magazines Be Macho?

2007-11-27T01:52:00.000-08:00

Say the phrase “fashion magazine,” and most people conjure up the images of glamorous spreads in Vogue, Glamour, and Elle. Fashion is largely a female-dominated interest, despite the fact that both men and women participate in all aspects of fashion, from the designing of clothes, to the publishing of magazines.

I started pondering the idea of gender and fashion magazines a few weeks ago when looking through some magazines with a male friend. We both picked up a bulky copy of GQ (Gentleman’s Quarterly), and were stunned at the size of the magazine.

Turns out, this copy was one of the many issues celebrating GQ’s 50th Anniversary. As the “authority on men,” GQ’s mission is to “provide definitive coverage of men’s lifestyle and culture.” The magazine covers a broad range of topics, including fashion, travel, entertainment, sports, food, technology, and relationships. Sounds like a fairly intelligent magazine, right? On paper, it seems like GQ offers more than just photographs of sexy men in fashionable dress shirts and stylish loafers. And unlike “lad mags,” (think Maxim and FHM), GQ isn’t using nude photos of attractive females to make a buck.

Despite this, my friend said he probably wouldn’t read GQ. My friend is a fairly progressive thinking guy, but I think he may be reluctant to pick it up because the magazine is written for the well-groomed middle class man. While woman’s magazines are arguably similar, it’s more likely that a larger percentage of women wouldn’t be uncomfortable picking up a copy of Vogue or Nylon. Women are encouraged to follow fashion trends, while fashion and grooming for the typical “straight” man is often a touchy subject. I decided that I would to take this opportunity to take a peek at what some men have been reading for the last 50 years.

I took a look at the November 2007 issue. The cover featured actor Ryan Gosling and the coverlines boasted “How to Improve Your Home Without Becoming a Design Snob,” “Your Career To-Do List,” “Spend Less to Look Your Best,” and “London ‘007.” Below the logo are the words, “Look Sharp, Live Smart.” Cover model Gosling looked very pulled together in his three-piece Ralph Lauren Purple Label Suit. From this cover alone, most would assume that GQ targets the well-to-do professional man. The media kit proves some of this correct, with 33 as the average reader age, and 53 percent of readers working in a professional field. Without knowing these stats, a newsstand buyer could probably guess that this is the case.

As I flipped through the magazine, I noticed how similar GQ is to other fashion/lifestyle publications. There are eight regular departments, which include a letter from the editor, “The Reaction,” which features letters from readers, “50 Years at GQ,” an award- winning column from previous issues that is printed in honor of the magazine’s 50th anniversary, “The Manual,” a 54-page lifestyle guide that included a section on the best art destinations, “The Verge,” an entertainment guide, and an open letter at the end of the issue. The features in this month’s issue included an article on office “lingo,” a piece on inexpensive home design, and an article on refugees in Iraq. And let’s not forget fashion. The fashion section featured a piece on “The Best Watches Under $500,” “The New Rio,” a photo story featuring stylish basics that could be worn on a tropical vacation, and the “Ten Ways to Wear a Tweed Jacket.” The articles and features are well written, and in some cases, requires that the reader has some knowledge of current events. Because several of the articles focus on professional business life, menswear trends, and fancy vacations, the content might seem a bit elitist to the average male reader. The emphasis on expensive fashion could also alienate prospective readers. Most men may not feel like they could measure up to the standards that are presented to them in GQ.

Interestingly, Charlie Porter commented on the boundaries between masculinity and fashion in his piece for the Autumn/Winter GQ Style issue, “ We’re not saying that this macho mood means that fashion will suddenly break down that barrier between what we’d like men to wear and what is put on each morning by the mass male population, because of tedious masculine hang-ups, the relationship between men and menswear is still cloak and dagger.” Porter’s piece discussed the new “macho” trends in men’s fashion. Unfortunately, he is aware that style and “manliness” do not often go together. Maybe GQ perpetuates gender stereotypes in the same way as women’s magazines. It’s probably safe to say that both women and men are being presented expectations and images that will continue to discourage, amaze, and enlighten the population of today’s magazine readers.

Links:
http://www.condenastemediakit.com/gq/index

http://menstyle.com/gq

GQ: Can Men's Fashion and Lifestyle Magazines Be Macho?

2007-11-27T01:30:00.000-08:00

The Real Internship

2007-11-27T01:08:00.000-08:00

Being an intern for a teen fashion magazine, is totally just like a super fun way to look at like really hot clothes and like meet celebrities and yaknow style way glam photoshoots and stuff, yaknow at least when it doesn’t get in the way of Hollywood partying at Les Deux, or like Hyde, or when you’re not too busy appearing in tabloid magazines instead of working for your publication.

At least that’s what TeenVogue faux-intern Lauren Conrad, aka“LC,” of MTV's so-called reality TV show, "The Hills" would lead one to believe.

In real reality, magazine internships are actually a mutually beneficial way for a publication to get free or cheap labor and for eager students and recent graduates to get some hands on experience in the industry.

Ali Cellini, 24, had just completed her second year at the Rhode Island School of Design as a graphic design major in 2004 when she found out that her grandmother’s cousin worked for ElleGirl Magazine in nearby New York City where there happened to be a summer internship position available.

While a little nepotism got her foot in the door, Cellini insists she wanted to go through the whole application process and be treated “like everyone else.”

So she sent in her resume and portfolio, went through the interview process, was deemed qualified and got the gig.

Initially feeling like a small fish in a very big pond, Cellini admits, “At first I was really scared. I thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’”

Not only did she worry if she was really qualified to be there, she says she was even more afraid of the fashion side of the magazine; worried the other girls would not only judge her work as a designer, but her personal style and appearance as well.

But, once she got in, she got over it she says.

“After my first few projects I got really good feedback and I became more confident in myself and my work,” says Cellini.
Cellini says the staff was really nice and supportive, “It was definitely not the nightmare intern stories you hear about the with overbearing editors and premadonna big name photographers.”

“And I never had to go on coffee runs,” Cellini states proudly.

Working exclusively in the art department, she spent two to three days a week all summer, “mostly organizing and researching images for layouts, picking photos for contact sheets and assisting the photo editor on shoots.”

Although the clips she collected are now the highlight of her portfolio, in hindsight Cellini says she could have done more networking. “As an intern you have the chance to make a lot of contacts, but I’m just really shy and at that time I was too afraid to put myself out there like that.”

Despite her shy nature, Cellini’s eyes caught the eye of the beauty editor. “I’ve always had fun with my make-up and kind of ‘punked it up,’” so when the editor couldn’t make it to a product launch party, she sent Cellini to represent ElleGirl in her place.

Meeting celebrities, getting free gifts and going out to lunch on Elle’s bill were some of the perks of the job, but the best part, says Cellini was helping with the big photo shoots that took up the whole day and then seeing all that effort once it’s printed.

“Its so cool to go to a newsstand and flip through magazine and see what you did, like ‘I made that!’”

Today she is working towards her master’s degree in photography at the San Francisco Academy of Art University and uses a lot of what she learned in the field in her current studies. Her best advice for those aspiring to be a part of magazine industry is to be there for your editors whenever they need you for anything, learn all you can by listening and work your way up from the bottom.

“You have to put in your dues,” she says, “and sometimes its just cutting paper and it’s not glamorous or fun,”
“But if you want it, it’s all worth it.”

Men's Health Magazine; Falling in Line?

2007-11-27T00:19:00.001-08:00

Men’s Health is a magazine known mostly for its pages filled with sex/health advice and glossy photographs of half-naked men with washboard abs and tight pectoral muscles. However, in this month’s issue men aren’t the only ones getting naked. Dania Ramirez, a television actress who is most recently known for her work on NBC’s “Heroes,” is featured in December’s issue wearing nothing but a Fender Stratocaster guitar slung over her shoulder. Nude women are somewhat of a departure from the Men’s Health norm. It’s no surprise that a beautiful woman would grace the pages of a men’s magazine; what man doesn’t want to look at a pretty girl. It’s the nudity that seems out of place. In previous years, the women of Men’s Health are scantily clad at most (or least), but their photos still remain somewhat modest by modern standards. The sexuality portrayed in Men’s Health is usually not so over the top compared to more risqué men’s titles such as Maxim, Double XL, FHM, Esquire or Stuff magazine; just to name a few. But December’s issue, which features an ultimate gift guide where Ramirez is shown in her birthday suit, is definitely much more daring than what Men’s Health readers are used to. Though popular men’s lifestyle titles claim to have a unique formula, it seems as though their formulas are somewhat formulaic. Each title has it’s own specialized depending on who their target demographic is, but the topics often remain the same. Generally men read about sex and relationship tips, how to stay in shape, beautiful female celebrities, as well as handsome male celebrities, style, and what high-tech or grooming products are popular at the time. What is supposed to differentiate each title from the next is the type of content/ advice offered in the magazine. Maxim is known for half-naked women on their covers and everything else comes second, their main focus is men’s culture with an emphasis on sports. Men’s Health is known for incredibly fit men on their covers and everything else comes second, their main focus is men’s health and fitness. Stuff magazine is also known to feature sexually posed women on their covers, but their content, while still maintaining their general interest status, is geared more toward the video gaming male reader. With their new cheeky photography does Men’s Health seek to expand their brand and perhaps their readership? Or do they seek to change their brand all together in order to compete with magazines like Maxim, FHM, and Stuff? Only time will tell.

Good News For People Who Like Book News: Entertainment Weekly's Choice For Entertainer Of The Year Could Be A Sign Of A New Interest In Literature

2007-11-26T23:51:00.001-08:00

J.K. Rowling has done the impossible. She’s made millions of people read. In a world where people are growing more and more reliant on their Ipods and Sidekicks than on encyclopedias and literary classics, some people are worrying about the state of literacy.

These people may have cause to worry. Last year 27% of Americans didn’t read any books and in 2002 only 57% of Americans read a book.

Rowling may be of help in alleviating some of these worries, as she was just named the #1 Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly.

This is no small feat since most magazine covers would have you believe that people are more interested in the relationship troubles of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt than Romeo and Juliette, or Cathy and Heathcliff.

By July of this year, before its release, Rowling’s final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, was already a bestseller on its first day of online pre-orders alone, according to CNNmoney.com.

According to Oregon Literacy, Inc., Harry Potter has had an enchanting effect on literacy. In the UK alone, in 2005, 59% of children cited books as improving their reading skills, and 48% of those said the Harry Potter books were why they read more.

While children may be more zealous about reading, it’s adults that may present the biggest problem.

In a study of literacy skills conducted last year on college campuses, it was discovered that half of the students at four-year universities, and three quarters of students at two-year universities could not interpret tables or understand newspaper editorial arguments, according to msnbc.com.

While overall the study did show students had an intermediate level of literacy, it is nonetheless distressing to learn that half the students at four-year universities couldn’t compare interest rates on credit card offers.

Perhaps even more distressing is that they’re better off than most adults. Compared with adults outside of college, with a similar amount of education, college students were better at researching and using information from texts and documents. However, to put this into perspective, this may simply be because most college students are practicing these skills more often on a day to day basis as requirements for their school assignments.

Some critics aren’t as worried about the decline of literacy when it comes to reading books. Dennis Baron, who writes a blog about language in the media, is considerably less concerned about the decline of reading books than his peers.

To Baron, the decline in book reading and increasing dependence on technology doesn’t create illiteracy, but a new form of being well read.

Baron points out that the average person hasn’t stopped reading just because she’s not reading books. The average person is constantly reading, in fact. Road signs, billboards, T-shirts, and television news scrawl, all engage her in the act of reading. It may not be Chaucer, Dickens, or Danielle Steel, but it’s reading, nonetheless.

Whether you feel the fate of the world’s literacy rate is vastly waxing or waning, one thing is true: JK Rowling does have an awful lot of people reading books. An awful lot of people are reading books that otherwise would be playing with their Wii systems.

The first six Harry Potter installments sold 325 million copies alone. The jury may still be out on whether this is demonstrative of a new trend, but 325 million is admittedly a large number of people engaged in the act of reading the same books.

The A-List: Do You Have What it Takes?

2007-11-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday, October 29, the list was released. Unlike the weekly tabloids that make or break celebrities, establishing their status by how many times the paparazzi catches them surprisingly, being human, the A-List is annual. You have to stand out to be on the list. You have to be consistent and presentable; your hair or make-up cannot be messy and your clothes must be neatly pressed. People have to like you, as you are. Above all, you have to be made of paper.

Advertising Age is “the most trusted brand of news and intelligence on advertising, marketing and media, delivered however and whenever our community wants to consume it.” The trade magazine is available by print or internet, electronic newsletters, blogs, video and audio. It is the source to find who and what is hot in the advertising industry. That’s why it’s an honor when Ad Age places you in one of the ten positions on the A-List.

The 2007 list was dominated primarily by women’s magazines, in contrast to the 2006 list that was evenly balanced between home, food, celebrity, and women’s magazines.

Let’s break it down:

10. Harper’s Bazaar
9. Elle
8. Every Day with Rachael Ray
7. O, The Oprah Magazine
6. Prevention
5. Vogue
4. The Economist
3. Real Simple
2. More
1. Better Homes & Gardens

And, in 2006:

10. InTouch Weekly
9. Real Simple
8. Gourmet
7. National Geographic Adventure
6. People
5. Vogue
4. New York
3. Elle
2. Dwell
1. More

Only four magazines are on both lists; of those four, only one stayed in the same position both years — Vogue, at number five. More only moved down one space, but Elle moved down six spaces, in contrast to Real Simple that moved up six spaces.

The 2007 A-List, however more occupied by magazines that target a female audience, features a balance of new and old publications. It is quite possibly the best representation of the industry and audience today. Nine of the ten are specifically women's or home-related, in which case we can question whether or not magazine audiences will sooner or later be so targeted that some audiences will be alienated and neglected as others gain more and more popularity. Maybe the industry is something like high school...

The #1 Women's Magazine wasn't always quizzes and boobs

2007-11-26T23:11:00.001-08:00

Today, Cosmopolitan is the magazine that women turn face down when they slip it into the supermarket checkout, faithfully trying to hide their interest in getting the “deepest” orgasm, burning more carbs, or answering the eternally asked but unanswerable question: why do men act the way they do?

But the magazine that so many women place on their list of guilty pleasures didn’t begin as the cleavage laden, sex advice bible it is today. It’s editorial content has gone through several drastic shifts in order to hold readership-each period very different from the last.

Cosmopolitan’s audience when it was launched in 1886 by publishers Schlicht & Field as The Cosmopolitan was pretty much the opposite of what it is today- a periodical aimed towards families, with a smaller section for women’s interests.

That’s right, a family magazine! The Cosmopolitan continued this format for two years until the original publishers passed along the editorship to E.D. Walker, who had worked for Harper’s Weekly. Besides giving the magazine a snazzier look with color illustrations, Walker started running serial fiction and book reviews, successfully tripling circulation.

The Cosmopolitan changed its editorial content again in 1886 when John Brisben Walker bought the magazine. Under this ownership Cosmopolitan featured first rate and popular writers of the time, such as Jack London and Edith Wharton, and even serialized H.G. Well’s novel War of the Worlds.

Cosmopolitan shifted editorially yet again when publishing giant William Randolph Hearst bought it in 1905. Whereas Cosmopolitan had focused more on literary criticism and fictional writing, under Hearst the magazine hired investigative journalists like Charles Edward Russell, and had features by muckrakers such as Ida B. Wells and Upton Sinclair, who critiqued and brought attention to various social injustices in America.

As for the Cosmo of today, we have Helen Gurly Brown to hold responsible. Readership declined in the 1950s, and when Brown became editor-in-chief in 1965 she reconstructed the magazine with the aim to affirm and advise what has become known as the “Cosmo Girl”-single women who engage in pre-marital sex.

Much of the guidance offered by Cosmo magazine and other literature produced by Cosmo of the 1960s directly reflects the same values it projects today. While Cosmo embraced and embraces the independent and self-sufficient working girl, the sex advice given is often meant to please the man rather than to fulfill or satisfy the needs of the woman. For example, while the 1969 book The Cosmo Girl’s Guide to the New Etiquette gave liberal suggestions on how to tactfully cheat on one’s husband, the tips given for behaving in the bedroom are contradictary because they are very centered around female submission to the male libido: “Faking an orgasm is right, proper, considerate, prudent…if making love and orgasm mean absolutely nothing to you, but you love this man and want to keep him happy.”

While the wording of this statement may seem a little dated, the semantics of it really isn’t different from any coverline which graces Cosmo today-“How to be a Total Man-Magnet,” “Make Him Crave You,”-the list goes on.

Cosmopolitan magazine has historically changed its editorial agenda to stay marketable, and although readership is currently high according to their circulation information in their media kit, it could still change. The name Cosmopolitan has represented different things since it was launched, and just because the Helen Gurly Brown version of Cosmo has endured for the last 40 years doesn’t mean it always will- the diverse history of this magazine’s content shows it is capable to turn a corner if its audience does as well.

You’ve Got Mail: Publishers May Save Billions Through Postal Reform Act

2007-11-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors announcement on November 15, 2007 that all future postal rate increases will be implemented under the CPI-capped index provision of the Postal Reform Act.

The Board is relinquishing its legal option of filing for one last rate increase under the old, pre-reform law.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 was passed by President Bush last December. The recent decision to not file another rate increase under the regulations used since 1971, is said to increase the savings for anyone who relies on USPS, including the magazine industry.

Some are convinced that this is the move the magazine industry has been waiting for, “This decision is good news for all mailers—but especially for magazine publishers,” said Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America.

If this is true their will be large savings for shipping costs and finally some good news to the magazine industry. The rise of e-mail popularity is said to be why the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 was passed- to help the U.S. Postal Service gain more mailers because of cheaper costs.

Ironically, the very reason many print publications are worried about losing money to online publications may save the magazines money as the world shifts to compete with its' ever-changing future, “Having the next increase, which is likely in spring of 2008, and all future increases under the new CPI system will literally save publishers billions of dollars in postage costs in the coming years,” said Link.

Yet, the National Association of Letter Carriers said that (http://www.nalc.org/postal/reform/index.html) not everyone is happy about the Postal Reform Act, “Postal reform finally passed not because everybody was happy with it. Nobody—and certainly not the NALC—was completely satisfied. But that is true for any major legislation that affects millions of people and businesses.”

Link also said if the old law was still upheld the difference would have been huge, “If the 2008 increase had come under the old law, it could easily have been in excess of 20% for magazines – under the new CPI cap, it will likely be no more than 2 to 3%.”

Though some seem certain about the savings others don't see a benefit to the magazine industry. President of Spin Magazine and publisher of 7x7 Magazine, Tom Hartle, does not think the act will make any difference, "I don't think there is going to be any lasting change," said Hartle.

It seems the numbers are showing in the report to be in the magazine industries favor but the only way publishers can be certain if the Postal Reform Act will make a difference is to wait until another increase happens and see for themselves.

To see official The Postal Service’s official announcement click here:
http://www.magazine.org/government_action/postal/25128.cfm

Zinio Announce Digital Magazines

2007-11-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

Printed magazines have many uses. They are ideal coffee table mates and a good bathroom companion. Endless hours can be wasted with friends debating over why that Hollywood starlet is really in rehab, as well as providing light reading. And they are the best fly swatters.

Magazines are now being digitalised for downloading onto Apple’s iPhone and iTouch devices. Zinio Labs recently released a press statement explaining their plans to introduce Zinio Mobile Newsstands to allow users to download a selection of magazines onto their iPhones.

Zinio describe themselves as ‘the leading digital and publishing platform for magazines and books’ and the CEO, Rich Maggiotto, is enthusiastic about its partnership with Apple and their ability to help publishers reach new brand of readers.

“Users will benefit from having their magazines in a high-fidelity, portable format that can be viewed practically anywhere,” says Maggiotto. As for the reasons why he chose Apple’s shiniest new gadget, he adds that it was “natural for the launch of the Zinio Mobile Newsstand […] With its advanced touch screen technology and crisp viewing experience.”

The magazines will be digitalized in its entirety and loyal readers will not miss out on sections and articles that they would usually get with a print edition. As a bonus, they will also initially be offered for free and can choose international editions too.

There are obvious upsides to having all the issues of your favorite magazines held in the palm of your hand. No longer will you have to search through dozens of issues to find that one recipe to show your friend, instead you’re able to find it with a touch of the screen. It could also lead to less ink and paper wastage and be an end to those annoying advertising inserts.

Zinio assure that no advertising opportunities will be lost through their marketing programs which include “cross-promotion to seamless production services, a robust e-commerce engine and extensive digital delivery, circulation and fulfillment services.” However, it may have an affect on pass-along readership as many people could feel reluctant on passing on their expensive iPhones and iTouches – even to their friends.

But will it really be an instant hit? Apple’s products are eagerly waited for and fly off the shelves quicker than the factories can cope. The iPhone sold one million units within its first 75 days of release. However, it is well-known that many of their products, particularly first generation versions, are littered with bugs that affect its overall performance and the company release updated and next generation models within a year.

Currently the iTouch has come under some criticism for the screen freezing and therefore not allowing the device to function properly. Surely this would present a huge problem when reading a magazine on the iTouch.
With popular magazines such as Men’s Health, NME, Playboy and Popular Mechanics among others available for download, it maybe a wiser idea for Zinio, if not readers, to wait until Apple solves their bug problems before downloading the newest issues.

After all, you can't roll up an iPhone to swat a fly.

Fresh Air for Elle

2007-11-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

The fashion magazine Elle has long been losing its edge. The magazine has been stuck in third place behind Vogue and In Style for years, but Elle refuses to remain stagnant and predictable any longer. With the magazine’s redesign in September, Elle has proved to its readers that it still has the content for a cover-to-cover read. For the last three months Elle has recreated itself in a subtle, but exciting way.
The initial redesign buzz was caused by the editor's choice to put Lindsey Lohan on the cover. Readers responded hesitantly at the choice to put a relapsing drug addict on the cover of the respectable publication. Despite the executive decision readers were impressed by the magazines bold move to increase the health and fashion features and investigative reporting sections and cut down on the needless yip-yap. The magazine focused mostly on expanding the editorial content to attract readers. Elle has widened the fashion news section and provided readers with insider information. This attracts the intelligent fashion reader, who is not only interested in the clothing, but also the industry.
The redesign also addressed layout and content for the pages. The design team worked to slightly clean up the clutter of the spreads by modernizing and simplifying. In addition, a fresh team of writers and photographers are now delivering the content.
The long-time creative director Gilles Bensimon, 63, is now stepping down from his position and allowing Joe Zee to take his place. Another fresh breath for Elle is the new editorial director, Amy Gross, who was hired from Mirabella to help Elle. These small changes have resulted in a huge applause from its readers.
The new leaders of Elle have helped to redirect and refocus the magazine to keep it on track, modern and much better than before.

OK! Magazine Goes German

2007-11-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Some people may roll their eyes at the idea of celebrity gossip magazines, but it’s definitely not

stopping the widespread popularity of the infamous magazines. OK! Magazine is one of many

magazines that is expanding their horizons and planning on dominating yet another country.

OK! Magazine documents the lives and careers of celebrities and gives the readers every last gruesome detail of life in the shoes of a celebrity. The magazine claims to be “the first for celebrity news” and is now preparing to take on Germany and bring them the dirt on the lives of Hollywood’s finest.

OK! Magazine is already an international title, but has now partnered with a German publishing company to produce a German language version of the magazine. This edition will be launched in the first half of 2008 in Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking areas of Switzerland according to Jason Fell of Folio Magazine. With this new addition to the OK! Magazine family, there will be a total of 16 countries that house the title.

Now some may wonder what exactly is so appealing about having to know everything about celebrities and why these tabloid magazines do so well on the newsstands. The latter is obvious, they are right in front of you and at a very cheap price and your subconscious just happens to grab it for a quick read at the gym (it’ll keep you on the machine longer is what I like to tell myself!). As for why we find the lives and everyday happenings of A-list stars so appealing is beyond me, and I am an avid reader of these tabloids! They take a look at a life that is beyond your imagination and they give you a glimpse as to what it would be like to live life in the fast lane, even though it may only be for the hour long read at the gym.

As for OK! Magazine launching in Germany, I can only imagine it will do wonders over there as it has made its mark here as well. Even though it may not be the most reliable magazine and the facts may be a little misconstrued, it is a widely known publication and it gives readers what they crave and as long as they keep serving up more of the same, they should soar in Germany just as they have everywhere else.

Advertise in magazine or suffer the consequences

2007-11-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

Of any media, magazines are the best to advertise in. Countless studies have proved that magazines advertisers see the biggest results. Here are a few of these studies:

Dynamic Logic, a major research firm, with their survey, CrossMedia Studies 2006, showed magazines were three times more likely than TV and six times more likely than the Internet to produce purchase intent in automobile buyers.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/content/Files/mpaADWEEK012007.pdf

The Online Publishers’ Association found with a 2007 survey that viewers of video advertisements on magazine Web sites were more likely to check out company Web sites and were more likely to go to a store to check out product than the viewers on News sites, Web Portals and User generated content sites.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/content/Files/MAG%2Dproof%2Dff.pdf

Marketing Evolution, with a survey in 2006, found that magazines made viewers more aware of the brands advertised than TV or online. They also found that magazines were more likely to increase purchasing intent, which is often considered the most important part of the purchasing funnel, than TV or online. Both studies were included in a pamphlet published by Magazine.org, which concluded that magazines were the most consistent performer for advertisers, rather than TV or online.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/content/Files/AccountabilityII.pdf

A study by Media Choices found that more adults trust magazine advertising than advertising on network television, cable television or the Internet. A Neopets Youth Study discovered the same thing about teens.

Source: The Magazine From Cover to Cover (p. 28), Sammye Johnson and Patricia Prijatel Copyright 2007.

Case studies also show that magazines advertisers see great results. Magazine.org list over 150 successful case studies. These are just a few of them.

Harley Davidson purchased a full page spread in a magazine for an ad titled Black and Orange. Ads that year, 75 percent of which were in print magazines, raised sales more than 40 percent from the year before.

Boeri Helmets purchased numerous magazine ads ranging from small spaces to full pages in 2002. They targeted snow enthusiasts through niche magazines. After their campaign, which was 75 percent magazine, they were the number one helmet brand in the snow industry.

LL Bean, a brand that became famous from catalogs, targeted 35-54-year-old males with above average incomes. They used magazines to “to precisely target L.L. Bean’s more affluent customer and are a proven response environment.” Their results were a 15 percent increase in catalog requests and a 50 percent increase in new buyers.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/Advertising_and_PIB/Case_Studies/index.cfm

Maybe We Don't Love Them That Much

2007-11-26T16:29:00.001-08:00

How much do we really need to know about celebrities lives? How much money are we willing to spend to know every true or false detail about A-lister's every move?

A recent increase on the sale price of a couple of well known celebrity weeklies may answer these questions.....

In Touch and Life&Style both raised their sale price of $1 to $2.99 a few weeks ago. The single copy sales price of each has gone down by at least 10% from the first half of 2007. Is this a meaningless coincidence or should the industry be more thoughtful as to how much Hollywood in worth to readers?

According to a few industry sources, a few weeks isn't enough to determine whether or not the inflation has anything to do with the consumption decline. They also admit that fall is a down time for most celebrity readings.

My guess is that they're right. Maybe some people see the $1.99 increase, gasp, ponder, and reconsider their purchase. After all, they could really use that money to buy the rest of Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas present for little Timmy. I'm sure after the holidays things will be back to normal and that price change will remain, sucking more out of our pockets to read things that don't matter.

Rolling Stone takes the Heat for the Camel Ad

2007-11-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

In the Nov. 15th issue of Rolling Stone the magazine printed a Camel cigarette sponsored ad promoting a website and campaign devoted to “free range music” that supports independent record labels.

It seemed like a harmless campaign at first, but all bets were off when Anti smoking Activists heard about Camel's involvement in the project.

The cartoon insert is among several other inserts in Rolling Stone’s 40th anniversary issue. These inserts are what the magazine industry refers to as “butterfly gates” in which there are ad pages on the outside but it unfolds to reveal pages of articles inside.

The article inside the “butterfly gates” features, “Indie Rock Universe,” which presents a list of independent bands and a out of this world picture of planets, animals and spaceships by Benjamin Marra.

Although this was a creative way of promoting the campaign/website the magazine found itself under fire by several Anti smoking Activists. According to activists it blurs the line between advertising and editorial content.

“The fact that Rolling Stone produced the content, but displayed it in such a manner that it is indistinguishable from the Camel ad, only makes them an accomplice,” said Matthew L. Myers president of the organization, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in Washington, in an interview with The New York Times.

According to Myers the insert might violate the 1998 settlement between tobacco companies and state attorneys general because the pictures look like cartoons, which can no longer be used in cigarettes ads.

“The insert is particularly egregious because Camel is most notorious for using cartoon characters to market cigarettes to children with the now-banned Joe Camel,” Myers added.

Even though Camel sponsored the ads they disputed the complaint and take no credit for the editorial content.

“There was a clear delineation between our ads on the outside pages and the inside foldout, which is all editorial content from Rolling Stone,” said David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reyonds Tobacco in Winston-Salem, N.C., in an interview with The New York Times.

After Camel’s spokesman made this comment it seemed at first that Camel was not willing to take responsibility for their actions. But after The New York Times interviewed someone at Rolling Stone, It was determined that Camel was telling the truth about the editoral content of the ad.

“Reynolds Tobacco had no idea it would take a cartoon format because the advertisers don’t know in advance about articles, just as the editors don’t see the advertising,” said Ray Chelstowski the Publisher of a unit of Wenner Media at Rolling Stone

Even though, Camel cigarettes had no idea what the cartoon format was going to look like it still suspiciously seemed like it was a cigarette ad.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

2007-11-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

When Rupert Murdoch added the Wall Street Journal to his News Corporation media empire, one of the first things he did was to sign off on the creation of Pursuits magazine, a spin-off of the lifestyles section of the Journal’s Saturday edition. Starting in September 2008, Pursuits will be a monthly magazine that focuses on the lifestyles of the rich and famous, offering “compelling journalism, vivid imagery and an unmatched guide to wealth, fashion, collecting and travel,” according to WSJ managing editor Marcus W. Brauchli (WJS.com). There is still no word as to who will be the magazine’s editor. The leading candidate is Journal columnist and author Robert Frank. Frank most recently wrote the book “Richistan” about America’s wealthy. He has been heavily active in Pursuit’s conception.
The Wall Street Journal announced the decision to launch Pursuits on September 17. The Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones & Company said that that they hoped this new glossy magazine would draw more ads for expensive consumer goods and travel agencies. The Journal will launch the first issue as an insert in the September 2008 Saturday edition of the Wall Street Journal. Pursuits initial circulation will be about 800,000. The magazine will be delivered to WSJ subscribers in the 18 metropolitan areas where the Journal sells its most copies. The magazine’s content will also be available for free on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site.
Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, purchasing it from the Bancroft family, the majority shareholders of Dow Jones & Company who initially opposed the sale, for $5 billion dollars. Since taking over, he had contemplated spinning off the Pursuits section of the Saturday edition of the Journal into a monthly glossy magazine. He has also considered turning the whole Saturday edition into a magazine.

Resources
The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17journal.html?ref=business

The Wall Street Journal Online
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118998549310929184.html

From School Project to Online Magazine

2007-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Artist: Monica, who paints at the Neighborhood House in San Francisco.

This image can be found at: http://www.fulcrum-magazine.com/site/art_monica.php

“Does your dog smoke?” he asked every new person that he met.

This eccentric question became the title of a phantom magazine that a group of SF State students created for a class called Contemporary Magazine, in the fall of 2005. The magazine was supposed to target the 40 million people living with some form of disability and the people close to them.

The person behind the idea’ of the magazine, Maria Trombetta, who graduated from the journalism department at SF State in January, 2007, took that basic idea and started a real online magazine "...to tell the stories of these millions of people in an open and honest way, so that the wider world can understand the struggles, the nightmares, the creativity and the joy behind every human being."

Trombetta had worked with people with disabilities for about 15 years and brewed on the idea for a while when she finally put it into motion. The magazine was launched this past summer with a name that Trombetta feels more appropriately reflects her vision: Fulcrum.

The initial title, words borrowed from a guy she’d worked with who used them as “an icebreaker” in new social situations, was too long and weird for a real magazine, she says.

“I opened the dictionary and Fulcrum was the first word I saw,” she says when describing how she came up with the new name.

According to the dictionary, Fulcrum means: “the support on which a lever turns in raising something.” Trombetta felt that that captured the essence of her vision. “Tipping or not tipping,” she says. That depends on our awareness and engagement of an issue, she explains. And Fulcrum is here to act as the lever “for people who can move the world,” as stated under the “About” section on the Magazine’s website: http://www.fulcrum-magazine.com

Regular departments in Fulcrum are: “travel and adventure,” “arts and artists,” “free advice” and a remnant from the school project: “does your dog smoke?” for questions and answers. Then there are a couple of reviews and a few features—most of them both interesting and informative.

The magazine has six regular contributors so far and the flow of new pitches never stops. Despite that, she says that one of the biggest challenges right now is to find more people who want to write for Fulcrum. Trombetta and her three-people-staff’s goal is to put up 8-10 new stories a month, but eventually she would like to update the content every two weeks.

Getting more advertisers is another concern. Lesley Seacrist, managing editor at Fulcrum, has been successful in finding a few advertisers so far, one being Google. However, Trombetta estimates that they would need between 15-20 ads at any given time in order to cover all the expenses. “People don’t want to work for free,” she says. “It’s hard to balance this, my other job and other parts of my life.”

Trombetta works on Fulcrum out of her own apartment on her time off from her regular day job. Seeing an idea’ turn into something tangible makes it all worth while, she says.

“People tell me that the magazine is great," she says. "‘Something I’ve been looking for’,” people tell her. She has experienced a lot of growing so far— something she says she hadn’t expected. “I wanted it to be perfect from the beginning, but it’s not,” she says. “You have to let it become perfect.”

Trombetta’s dream is to get enough advertisement or investors involved so that Fulcrum eventually could become a print magazine as well. She believes that you can make more of a statement in print. Meanwhile, her optimism can encourage others who have only conceived the idea’ of a magazine and are yet to act upon it.

“If you have something that you care about, that you want people to read, then you can launch your own magazine on the internet because it’s so easy,” she says. “It’s not hard, nothing should hold you back.”

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” - Archimedes, great mathematician and physicist 287-211 BC.

Covers of 2007

2007-11-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

The American Magazine Conference finished with a bang this year, with supermodel and activist Petra Nemcova on hand to announce the best magazine covers of 2007.

Held in Boca Raton, Florida and in only its second year of existence, the Best Covers Competition attracted a total of 1, 773 entries submitted by 334 print and online magazines. Only members of ASME and MPA were eligible to enter the competition, which was judged by a panel comprised of magazine editors, design directors, art directors and photo editors.

Top award of Cover of the Year went to The New Yorker’s September 11, 2006 “Tightrope-Walker” issue, which marked five years since 9/11. Designed by John Mavroudis and painted by Owen Smith, judges called the cover “magical” and “a memorial to the spirit of humanity”.

The cover steered away from the now-familiar images of 9/11, instead recalling the marvel of Phillippe Petit’s tight-rope walk between the towers in 1974. It features the walker suspended in white space, with the towers and rope absent from the page. Inside on page 3 the same image is again featured, this time with the background of New York City added.

Other notable winners included Wired for Best Celebrity Cover and TIME for Best Concept Cover. Described as “provocative” by the judges, TIME’s winning cover-image for the October 15, 2006 issue featured the backside of an elephant on a black background. With the elephant symbolizing the GOP, the cover came out a week after an alleged cover-up by House Republicans was revealed, following the scandal set off when Representative Mark Foley’s inappropriate relationships with Congressional pages was exposed.

Showing a lighter side, Wired won for its August 2006 issue depicting TV comedian Stephen Colbert sawing an ipod in half,m eant to illustrate “the notion of hacking—tinkering with and improving—everyday life” according to the judges.

The award for Best Coverline went to Texas Monthly for its January 2007 issue. The cover features a picture of Dick Cheney holding a rifle, with text underneath reading: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face.” Additional copy under the coverline states: “Yes, this is a photo illustration. If we don’t say so, Dick Cheney will shoot us in the face.”

Other categories included Best Celebrity Cover, Best News Cover and Best Fashion Cover. A full list of Best Covers winners and the stories behind them can be found at the ASME website:

http://www.magazine.org/editorial/24689.cfm

2007-11-13T13:02:00.001-08:00

The Grim Reaper has reaped again taking the life of Conde Nast's 106-year-old title Home & Garden.

In a article by Folio Magazine titled "Conde Nast Shutters Shelter Title," CEO Chuck Townsend partly blames Joe Lagani--H&G’s publisher who relocated to Glam Media last month—to be the lighting storm that finally contributed to the sinking of the ship.

"With the unexpected departure of the publisher of the magazine, we decided to take a serious look and re-evaluate the title," Townsend said “our investment in H&G throughout the years has been substantial and we no longer believe it is a viable business investment for the company.”

But the magazine has seen a carousel of publishers come and go since it re-launched in 1996—after going hiatus for three years when Conde Nast acquired Architectural Digest from Knapp Communications. Perhaps the lack of command from a stable publisher was a determining factor in its decay. Not to mention a shrinking housing market and hipper competitors entering the fray.

According to the Publishers Information Bureau H&G was up 9.5 percent in advertising revenue to $68.2 million, but down in ad pages by 1.4 percent. In a recent article titled “Closing up house,” by Women’s World Daily, H&G’s average monthly circulation during the first half of the year was 976,442, an increase of nearly seven percent over 2006; yet single copy sales have been less persistent with a steady annual decrease since 2003 according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The Reaper, a snarky-magazine-death-determining-Nostradamus-lauched the site Magazine Death Pool nearly two years ago. He, who won’t reveal his real name, was not the least bit surprised that H&G went under. An interview with Media Life Magazine revealed his forecasts for the death of a shelter magazine based on the declining housing costs and eventual advertising sales.

Thus far, he has rightfully predicted the deaths of Jane, Stuff and Premiere with his expertise derived from leads in the industry including subscription agents who’ve had their magazine subscriptions revoked by clients.

He explains in the interview that magazines fold for a number of reasons including; corporate abandonment, constantly changing editorial directions in an attempt to get anything going, key executives not being replaced, betting too heavily on newsstand sales, abnormally high turnover, or putting out a magazine that readers neither need nor want.

Next on the Reapers death list are parenting magazines, a consequence of the sprouting tech savvy young mothers who have replaced older mothers that were used to print. There’s no information that can’t be found with websites and blogs for a mother’s reference. This is definitely an affliction of many print based readers who fear for the shaky threshold of the Magazine Industry.

Old-guard designer Mario Guatta said about H&G in an article published by The Wahington Post title “House & Garden Bites the Dust Once More” “It’s a sad thing because another voice is gone. But the magazine was changing to often. I think sometimes they were trying to be too avant-garde, and it turns a lot of people off.”

Also in the article, Charlotte Moss, a designer and author who archives H&G’s on her bookshelf dating back to the 1920's says she is afraid that technology is going to obliterate print.

"The loss of a magazine is sad because, in this high-tech world. I fear that printed words are evaporating," she said. "This magazine had a shelf life. It was always open-minded and refreshing. Where are all these homes and gardens going to go now?

But ultimately, doesn’t the birth and death of a new publication lead to a better, more remarkable product? Businesses are always opening and closing around us, so what makes a magazine any different besides the obvious. Some would say that the competition keeps other on their toes. Perhaps future generations can learn from the mistakes that H&G made and eventually stabalize the industry all together. One can only hope…

AP President discusses the state of news

2007-11-13T08:41:00.001-08:00

Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press, a not-for-profit cooperative that wires news to over 1,500 daily newspapers and many news magazines around the world, gave a speech at the Columbia School of Journalism during a gala fundraising dinner on November 1st in New York. Here's what he had to say.

"Madi Reddy is a 22-year-old resident of Hyderabad, India, with ambitions to rise above his hereditary caste. He’s a newshound, investing time every day turning the news into diagrams on a whiteboard in his small apartment. He then breaks the news into conversational chunks he can use to win friends and influence people, online or in person.

Madi’s story was captured by anthropologists hired by AP to study news consumption patterns of young adults. Madi was by far the biggest news junkie of the bunch, but he was not unique.

The research we did in cities in the U.S. and abroad this past summer provided compelling evidence that the news is as valuable as ever – even in an age where screen-based headlines overwhelm the senses and the next update is never more than a mouse-click away.

Young people the world over are hungry for news. They just don’t prefer our traditional platforms and packaging.

The irony of the disrupted news economy of the 21st century is that the news is hot, but the news business is not. Old media companies the world over are bemoaning their lost audiences and sinking revenues, but young Madi is whiteboarding the news every night before he goes to bed.

Somewhere in that mysterious disconnect lies the future of news – and some great opportunities for content providers.

We – the news industry -- have come to that fork in the road. We must take bold, decisive steps to secure the audiences and funding to support journalism’s essential role in both our economy and democracy, or find ourselves on an ugly path to obscurity.

The portals are running off with our best stuff, and we’re afraid or unable to make or enforce deals that drive fair value. Revenue lines in a good month are flat. In other months, they inspire the merchants of debt to imagine how they might take us over and show us how much smarter they are.

Sam Zell said at a recent Grant’s investor conference that the people running newspapers are monopolists, too inept to adapt. Sam, show respect. You’re talking about our bosses. The margins are moving toward the norm for competitive businesses.

Our own reporters ridicule our digital transition plans as one great organization or another faces ownership changes, most notably Knight Ridder, Tribune and Dow Jones. When an experienced media operator steps up, such as Murdoch, he gets vilified.

News Corp. has been a hugely successful, long-term operator. Even before taking ownership, Murdoch has changed financial journalism for the better in this city. People at other organizations know Murdoch is not afraid. They have begun to make decisions to invest or redeploy – decisions they had postponed for years.

That is exactly what must happen. We who rule content must start making decisions, the ones that deliver journalism for another generation of readers and viewers.

I’ve been inside many major news organizations the last couple years, and, invariably, I hear the same refrain. We know what to do, but we can’t get it done. Or, sadly, we’re in worse shape than we were two years ago because we’re spending even more proportionately trying to keep the old model functioning. More than a few persist in trying to make their online sites life rafts for newspapers or newscasts.

So, a few more things might have to change. The pressures on the bosses will have to build. Many more of us in leadership positions must step up and say, now.

The first thing that has to go is the attitude. Our institutional arrogance has done more to harm us than any portal. We must understand and embrace the new ways people such as Madi Reddy are consuming content.

There’s still a place for appointment media – a home-delivered newspaper on the porch each morning or an evening newscast while making dinner. But it is a smaller place. People, of course, want the news when they want it. Even more difficult to accept, they want control over what they get.

Think of it this way. The perfect paper or newscast is becoming possible – at least in the reader’s or viewer’s eyes. What is it you really want to know? We can personalize content now.

We’re not stuck on those 15-ton behemoths that miraculously manufacture a one-size-fits-all package over several hours that gets delivered over even more hours at great cost or captive of a 22-minute time slot engineered to reach a vast range of content tastes.

Our focus must be on becoming the very best at filling people’s 24-hour news needs. That’s a huge shift from the we-know-best, gatekeeper thinking. Sourcing, fact-gathering, researching, story-telling, editing, packaging aren’t going away. These professional skills still should command premium wages. But the readers and viewers are demanding to captain their information ships. Let them.

Next to go must be despair. We begin by getting our heads around the most important fact of all: we work in a growth industry. The woe-is-us over the decline in appointment media obscures terrific opportunities.

More people are accessing news more frequently than ever before the world over. All media platforms – video, audio, digital and even text – are seeing growth. Demand for the four major content areas – news, entertainment, sports and financial – continues to rise. Financial news is hottest with companies such as News Corp. and Thomson paying premiums for bigger shares.

The adjustment we’re being asked to make is to a world of increased access, new competition and different business models. It’s not about easing onto the obit page.

The journey to the next generation news begins with us believing in ourselves and what we do. In 273 years since John Peter Zenger was jailed, nothing has been invented to take the place of what reporters and committed news organizations do. Above all, it is about speaking truth to power when power most needs to be told.

We have the power to control how our content flows on the Web. We must use that power if we’re to continue to be financially secure and independent enough to speak truth to power.

Third, while the thrust of my remarks is about content, we need money, serious money to pay for great reporters as well as hire a few lawyers to keep our Zengers out of jail.

Those of us in content must accept today’s reality. The marketplace has flipped. For the last couple hundred years, content has carried ads. In today’s Internet, ads carry content. Let me be emphatic about one point. I’m not suggesting the ad department or advertisers tell us what to write. Or that content has in any way become subservient. Simply, the structure for advertising is changing from mass to targeted.

When you drop a cookie on someone in the digital space, the ads you serve that viewer become up to 200 times more valuable. Dave Morgan, formerly chairman of Tacoda and now at AOL, puts it pretty simply. He says the future is about serving ads to people, not to pages or programs.

We must change how we charge for content. In the financial marketplace, hot news is the most valuable of all. Hedge funds pay premiums, add spiders and link to trading programs. One-size-fits-all on the business side has to evolve. Tiered pricing with premiums for timeliness or comprehensiveness is one option.

Most news organizations did deals years ago for promotion. The deals are one-sided. Job one for industry leaders should be doing whatever it takes to get a fair deal even if they must swallow some decades-long enmities and partner for more clout.

Enforcement, too, must be a part. What we do comes at great cost and sacrifice, even death. We believe content should have wide distribution. We intend to be compensated for it.

Fourth, the inverted pyramid is dead. Bet you never expected someone from AP to say that – especially since we invented it. OK, the report of the pyramid’s demise is premature. AP is cranking out pyramids even as we sit here. But there are fewer pyramids in AP’s future. We need the bulletins and the brains. The bulletins are the first 150 words, getting the news out fast, in conversational radio fashion.br>
The brains are the people who can add real value whether through perspective, deeper reporting or great writing. In short, we need talent, a lot of it and some of it very different.

Think of it as a mix from news radio to The New Yorker all under one roof with the New York Public Library thrown in – for a really great data base and interactive programs with the public. Sounds crazy, but it could be a lot of fun. We’re going to have to organize and manage differently. And we certainly are going to have to retrain our managers to deal with a range of personalities and functions.

Every generation or so ushers in a different expression of content. We’re about a decade overdue. Multi-media presentation has gotten the buzz. The challenge is far greater than putting some of us pencil heads on-air without hitting the carriage return in mid-sentence.

We’re wedded to words even when pictures tell the story. The focus has to be on the best way to tell the story whether words, pictures or both and without regard to format.

We also must speed up our clock to real time. When I started, in the sixties, the news cycle was 12 hours. Today, it’s three hours – about the time it takes for a significant percentage of the people interested in a story to have encountered the story or the news they need. Yet, newspapers and newscasts run with lead stories of marginal interest that are 20-plus hours old.

Today’s news leaders need to anticipate. Our own sports departments or magazines already do this well. They tell us about upcoming events, match-ups whether with data or in take-outs and profiles. Their columns provide perspective and insight.

Finally, and, most important, editors need to stop pining for the old world and intensify the leading to the new.

Great editors connect with readers and viewers. They build – or to use the vernacular – aggregate audiences, big or niche, with value, social currency and, ultimately, impact on the political process or social norms.

The measuring stick, really the vision, has to be about much more than yesterday’s news. Clearly, new types of news-consumption behaviors have emerged. Scanning the news has become the norm. A majority get news on line – more than those who read the daily newspaper, and half of them scan for updates several times a day.

Deeper dives for the news also are vital to today’s news consumers. The need for sophisticated content sets up opportunities around analysis, perspective, opinion, interactivity, archives and related information, especially content that can be linked.

We are approaching an amazing point in the history of media. Quality will rule. With traffic to destination websites flattening and new distribution making all content accessible, we’re entering a new era of brutal competition. The best will stand out because they will be sought out. Newsrooms need to be reorganized around new content needs..

And we need to regain control over distribution. AP last week presented to its board a dramatic new distribution plan for news that would surface more relevant and timely news through the Internet engines and enable linking and viral sharing of news through widgets and the like.

Lest you think we’re going off the deep end and giving it all away for free, we’re coupling those initiatives with strong new efforts to protect news web sites from unauthorized scraping through tighter site protocols and content tagging. We also hope to strike some attractive new distribution deals with valuable advertising support.

Heavy tech and heady stuff -- all of it requiring AP and the news industry to get together on common standards for managing content and common interests for distributing it. In a nutshell, it means reinventing our 162-year-old cooperative for the digital age.

As part of that transformation, AP will be making sweeping changes in its own news organization to move more news out of our bureaus faster for online and mobile consumption and then enhance it for print and broadcast. We intend to use valuable resources that once were needed to file telegraph-style wires in every state and redeploy those jobs for real journalism. Similar changes already have been made in our international operation with significant results.

Two tenets guide us: the need to adapt our old systems and practices, especially our mindsets, in order to compete, and the need to get control over our content, so that we can take a seat at the table to set the terms for the new distribution that the search engines and Web 2.0 channels offer.

The clock is ticking, of course, and not just from the digital shift. We face an epic news year with a wide open national election, Beijing Olympics, a slowing and heavily leveraged economy and the possibility of expanding strife in the Middle East.

Against that backdrop, there can no longer be any excuse to wait for technology to prove itself or to wait for young people to grow up and subscribe to the daily newspaper or turn on the news at 6:30 at night. The future is as clear as it was when the founders of AP rallied around the use of the telegraph in the 19th century.

In fact, if you read the history of those days, you could make an argument that those guys reacted more quickly to the shift they saw.

You can bet that if they saw a Google, a Yahoo or a Facebook, they would have figured out what to do about them. You can bet that if they found a newshound like our friend Madi Reddy in India, collecting news and tidbits to share with friends, they would have found a way to feed his obsession..

That’s our job from here on. For AP, it’s a mission that’s really unchanged from 1846.

If we make the right moves, or even some of them, we have tremendous opportunities to grow…at AP and all our organizations. The new power users of news around the world have unprecedented access and appetites for information. The challenge for all of us is to build the kind of content powers that can flood the new zones of consumption and thrive both financially and journalistically.

In the broad arc of media history, it’s a very big moment. I hope you’re all as excited as I am to be a part of it. And ready to step up to the decisions.

Thank you."

-David McClymonds

Digital Rolling Stone: You've Come a Long Way, Baby

2007-11-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

As it celebrates its fortieth birthday, Rolling Stone magazine continues to innovate, proving it's not yet ready to grow old.

Using a state-of-the-art interface that mirrors Adobe's Reader, visitors to Rolling Stone's Web site can, for the first time, read the latest issue of magazine—including all the ads—page by page, online, for free.

Additionally, readers can now buy a DVD-ROM box set featuring a digital version every past Rolling Stone issue—that's 1,026 magazines and over 115,000 pages.

"It's like having 40 years of issues with hyper librarian find anything and everything you want instantly," David Anthony, the publisher responsible for the DVD's release, told BostonNow. "We've made reading the magazine a very interactive. If you are a big fan of Cameron Crowe it's very easy to find every article he wrote for the magazine. Once you find what you want, you can then create your own mini anthology."

Rolling Stone has always been a trailblazer of its industry, from its early start as a counterculture hippie rag to unleashing gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson into the world.

It was also one of the first magazines with an Internet presence.

With a nod to Rolling Stone's latest archiving venture, I prowled Archive.org's Wayback Machine to go back and check out how the magazine's Web site has progressed throughout the years. Unfortunately many of the graphics are missing, but you can get a general idea of how the site looked in its early days.

Here is the first-ever page, registered June 6, 1997. It's basically a place-marker set by the Web site host, Firefly.

Within six months, the Web site was up and running. Check out the sparse text-based home page. You can click on the links to see some really flashy HTML programming.

A year later, the site took on a stylish, magazine-like home page—imagine that large, missing graphic as a full-color photo—and added "Rolling Stone Radio", as well as an A-Z artist look-up service that linked to the now-defunct music download service, tunes.com.

By the time Y2K rolled in, the site was beginning to look more like what we expect to see today. Check out the now-staple features like MP3s and webcasts. Remember, this was nearly eight years ago.

Rolling Stone's Web site also hosted a thriving Internet public forum that was shut down in May, 2004, because of continuous abuse and code-hacking. During its peak, though, readers throughout the world chimed in on everything from politics to Britney. For a startling—but creepy—glimpse into the past, take a look at these forum postings from September 14, 2001—just days after 9/11.

The site took on its current look around 2005.

By the way, the Wayback Machine is a fascinating tool for checking out how magazine Web sites have developed throughout the decade. Some other sites worth exploring are Time, Sunset magazine (its URL once belonged to someone else), the San Francisco Bay Guardian (all the way back to 1996!), and my favorite, SF State's [X]press.

Modern Luxury – the bad boy in the magazine business

2007-11-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt about it. The cover is beautiful. The photograph, the model, the lighting, the clothes, the glossy paper. It is all beautiful. And when you open the magazine, you will find that the glossy beauty just continues. Page after page, your eyes are meet MET with the most eye-soothing commercials, mouth watering food and restaurant close-ups, pictures of the "who's who" in town, laughing and partying in dazzling clothes. The magazine I am talking about is from the publishing company Modern Luxury, a publishing company that despite the glossy surface of its products is looked upon by many in the magazine business as the "bad boy".But what is this Modern Luxury? Let's begin by looking at what is behind those glossy pages…

Spreading like wildfire

Modern Luxury is a publishing company that today prints no less than 30 magazines in 12 states. The magazines are divided into five subcategories: "Brides," "Imperious," "Men's Book," "Front Desk," – see note- and "City Magazines." Michael Kong and his brother Stephen founded the company in Chicago 1994 with the Magazine "Chicago Social." It is Kong´s niche for "luxury lifestyle" publishing, and his strategy of hooking up L.A.'s "influential" consumers to a glossy kaleidoscope of luxury-product ads that has put the company in the position it is today. (Article 5)

"Luxury magazines have been spreading like wildfire," said Peter Kreisky, president of Kreisky Media Consultancy recently to LA times. TIMES (Article 2)One reason for this is the controlled circulation, in which companies send free magazines to people living in affluent ZIP Codes—a model the company Modern Luxury uses strategically.

Luxury magazines appeal to advertisers and investors because they can reach a specific type of consumer in a way that general circulation publications can't. (Article 2)And this is really what Modern Luxury is all about. The company knows there is a need for advertisers to spend their advertising money on a target audience, and with the magazine they can give them such an audience.Modern Luxury is filled with ads from national luxury brands such as Hugo Boss, Neiman Marcus Group Inc., Cartier, Bang and Olufsen, Louis Vuitton and Roberto Cavalli. Because there has been an explosion of luxury goods worldwide these companies have advertising money to spend, and the advertisers wish to be as specific as possible to reach their target audience. In that way the success of Modern Luxury follows the success of the luxury brands worldwide.It is therefore wrong to think that the publishing company of Modern Luxury does not have a mission – they very much do – but the mission seems to be about providing the link between advertisers and consumers and making a whole lot of money.

When the controlling stake in Modern Luxury in November 2004 was bought by Shamrock, Modern Luxury published only three magazines: one in Chicago, Los Angeles and Orange County. That gave total revenue of $18 million a year.Today Modern Luxury has expanded into nine more markets and increased revenue to $70 million. This means that the company now reaches 645,000 households and 3.5 million readers a month. (Article 2)Modern Luxury and Clarity, a Beverly Hills-based placed company, which manages $1 billion in assets, plan to continue to grow by branching out into new markets nationally and internationally, and by acquiring other regional magazines. (Article 2)

Critique

The close relationship with the advertisers has, however, caused the publishing company some trouble. The company found itself under fire in some cities, including San Francisco. (Modern Luxury publishing bought San Francisco Magazine in 2005. (Article 4)

In January 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a story about how the magazine decided to pull an in depth story because the story could have offended an advertiser.In defense, the founder of Modern Luxury, Michael Kong, said that the magazines of Modern Luxury generally contain articles on lifestyle, fashion, arts and culture, rather than investigative journalism. (Article 2)"As a general industry statement," he said, "It's very hard to make your living in the news and information area as a monthly magazine.".

What now?

What is interesting about Modern Luxury is that the structure and business plan has proven to be very successful.

The question therefore is of course – what now?

Will other magazine companies follow the structure of Modern Luxury?

What will the buy-up of other magazine by few companies mean in the long run for the magazine business?

Will the development in the magazine business continue in the direction of synergizing with advertising companies?

Will the advertisers gain more control over the editorial in the future, and if so, what will this mean to democracy?What do you think?

Use the link below to write a comment and participate in the discussion.

Notes, links and facts:Note: ("Front Desk" is not a magazine as we know it. It is more like an advertorial that is made in association with selected upscale hotels in the 12 cities. "Front Desk" is full of suggested commercial restaurants and nightclubs.)

The 12 cities

Atlanta

Chicago

Dallas

Honolulu

Houston

Los Angeles

Miami

Napa-Sonoma

Orange Country

San Diego

Washington DC

San Francisco

Links and resources:

The information given in this blog has been collected from the following articles and homepages:1) Modern Luxury homepage: http://mail.djh.dk/Redirect/www.modernluxury.comArticles:2) - "Defying slumo by pursuing the rich", Los Angeles Times, by Alana Semuels, Times Staff Writer, May 21, 20073)- Shamrock Capital Growth Fund Invests in Modern Luxury Media, LLCBusiness Wire, Nov 15, 2004 4) - Article "Done Deal" link: http://mail.djh.dk/Redirect/www.modernluxury.com/ml-web/press/wwd_2007-05-31.html5) To read an interview with the founder Michael Kong go to: http://mail.djh.dk/Redirect/modernluxury.com/ml-web/mbk-interview1.html

The Fashion Magazine and its Place in Society

2007-11-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Woman’s magazines have taken on a life of their own. No longer are magazines something to read in quiet, for they are now proudly centrally placed for all to see. The fashion magazine adorns the home of young woman, and the topics included are eagerly discussed amongst friends. Magazines are becoming the leisure domain for today’s young as a means of exploring new ideas and attitudes. However, is a fashion magazine worthy of this lofty position in today’s society and its classification as a valuable tool in disseminating knowledge? This essay will outline the arguments regarding the validity in society, of fashion and female magazines such as Marie Claire, Vogue and Woman’s Weekly.

Positive aspects of magazines

Magazines are a woman’s best friend, with no interruptions; a reader can choose topics to suit individual interests and provide answers to life’s demanding questions. Such an attitude reflects women’s thoughts towards this form of mass media, thus promoting one of the most popular means of leisure activities. In today’s society, woman would much prefer to indulge in their favorite magazine and read up on the latest gossip, the best way to diet and the hot shopping spots than read a newspaper or a novel. It can be argued that fashion magazines have become one of the fastest growing forms of mass media.

It can be seen that fashion magazines have become integral in today’s dissemination of information. This is demonstrated by the growth of magazine publications. The various magazine types such as cultural, fitness, gardening, leisure health, fashion and life style can be observed in the numerous rows displayed in news agency however there are more than two rows devoted to woman’s fashion magazines. The diversity of one genre thus has the potential to create an imbalanced view on reality.

The potential to create imbalance is reflected in woman who feel their favorite magazine has the ability to reach them in emotional, social and business areas of life, thus creating the belief magazines are helping them to have a better view on life. This belief that magazines can reach inwards and be apart of a person’s decision making may have more sinister effects. Thus it needs to be explored how much power the mass media extends into society and if this power creates negativity.

Negative impacts of magazines

Magazines as acknowledged are a popular form of communication and by being popular, the issue to be considered revolves around the question does this form of dissemination negatively impacts upon its readers. It can be argued that many women by accepting their weekly magazine is serving them with all the answers to life’s problems, they are in fact ignoring various aspects of life thus creating an in balance in decision making.

It must be stated that fashion magazines do present images to the reader such subjects that they associate with: such as international clothing, latest make up methods, issues that absorb their social and sexual life. However, what must be analyzed is the incongruity in the images and words sent out in magazines such as Cleo, Vogue and New Woman.

The negative imbalance inflicted upon magazine readers has arises from three generic configurations. Firstly, the substantial array of advertising which can take up to 60% of each edition has the potential to negatively affect the reader’s view of the real world. Secondly, the fashion magazine industry has created the belief that the images is the life all woman should have, and if you do not have this life style then you are not a suitable member of the female gender. Finally, the propensity of ultra thin models throughout all magazines publications has created a large percent of younger woman readers to develop negative feelings towards their own body size.

In conclusion, the fashion magazine has a role in today’s society. Further more it would seem strange to consider the removal of this form of communication thus it is unlikely to occur. However what is needed is a re think to create balance in future publications to ensure tomorrow’s readers have a more realistic perception of the society in which they live thus removing the negative impacts which are currently in place. Further more the fashion magazine of tomorrow must avoid continuing with a “fairy Tale” world and become a representation of reality.

A Love/Hate Relationship

2007-11-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

A magazine virtually cannot survive without advertising as it makes up 54 percent of the total revenue of an average magazine. But there are certain guidelines set out by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) that advertisers are required to follow. However, the one that deters me from flipping through a magazine the most are advertising inserts. These are produced and created by the advertisers and comes bounded into the magazine. Inserts differ to normal advertising because it is often printed on different paper to the rest of the magazine. Advertisers are increasingly using this form of advertising to capture the attention of readers particularly because both Generation X and Y are so invovled in the media world.

The most common type of advertising inserts is perfume or cologne ads that have scented samples. These forms of ads are highly successful because they enable the advertiser and the reader to establish an interactive relationship. It forces the reader to feel the need to sniff the sample particularly because the smell jumps out at you when you open up the magazine. I personally think it is a clever way to advertise a product. It differs itself from other advertising making the ad more successful in achieving its goal to appeal to readers.

However when I am reading through a magazine such as November’s issue of Vanity Fair all I want to read are the articles. But each time I flip a page, I end up flipping a whole section of them all because of these inserts. As previously mentioned, it is made from different paper, usually a lot thicker than the rest of the pages of the magazine and so they act almost like page dividers. In some ways it is convenient to have them there because they act as book marks for the magazine but generally they are just irritating.

Similarly, I share the same love/hate relationship with outserts. It is another method of advertising. This is preprinted advertising which can also include editorial material. The most common one are subscription cards. Those are the ones that are constantly slipping out in between the pages of the magazine each time you flip through them. This form of advertising is definitely eye capturing as each time it falls out it also screams ‘look at me’ engaging the reader to at least pick it up and look at the advertisement.

At times, advertising can be the most irritating thing of a magazine but in most cases, they are clever and innovative inventions that does exactly what advertisers want them to do – capture the reader’s attention.

The Magazine Death Toll

2007-11-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

The Grim Reaper has reaped again taking the life of Conde Nast's 106-year-old title Home & Garden.

In a article by Folio Magazine titled "Conde Nast Shutters Shelter Title," CEO Chuck Townsend partly blames Joe Lagani--H&G’s publisher who relocated to Glam Media last month—to be the lighting storm that finally contributed to the sinking of the ship.

"With the unexpected departure of the publisher of the magazine, we decided to take a serious look and re-evaluate the title," Townsend said “our investment in H&G throughout the years has been substantial and we no longer believe it is a viable business investment for the company.”

But the magazine has seen a carousel of publishers come and go since it re-launched in 1996—after going hiatus for three years when Conde Nast acquired Architectural Digest from Knapp Communications. Perhaps the lack of command from a stable publisher was a determining factor in its decay. Not to mention a shrinking housing market and hipper competitors entering the fray.

According to the Publishers Information Bureau H&G was up 9.5 percent in advertising revenue to $68.2 million, but down in ad pages by 1.4 percent. In a recent article titled “Closing up house,” by Women’s World Daily, H&G’s average monthly circulation during the first half of the year was 976,442, an increase of nearly seven percent over 2006; yet single copy sales have been less persistent with a steady annual decrease since 2003 according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The Reaper, a snarky-magazine-death-determining-nostradamus-lauched the site Magazine Death Pool nearly two years ago. He, who won’t reveal his real name, was not the least bit surprised that H&G went under. An interview with Media Life Magazine revealed his forecasts for the death of a shelter magazine based on the declining housing costs and eventual advertising sales.

Thus far, he has rightfully predicted the deaths of Jane, Stuff and Premiere with his expertise derived from leads in the industry including subscription agents who’ve had their magazine subscriptions revoked by clients.

He explains in the interview that magazines fold for a number of reasons including; corporate abandonment, constantly changing editorial directions in an attempt to get anything going, key executives not being replaced, betting too heavily on newsstand sales, abnormally high turnover, or putting out a magazine that readers neither need nor want.

Next on the Reapers death list are parenting magazines, a consequence of the sprouting tech savvy young mothers who have replaced older mothers that were used to print. There’s no information that can’t be found with websites and blogs for a mother’s reference. This is definitely an affliction of many print based readers who fear for the shaky threshold of the Magazine Industry.

Old-guard designer Mario Guatta said about H&G in an article published by The Wahington Post title “House & Garden Bites the Dust Once More” “It’s a sad thing because another voice is gone. But the magazine was changing to often. I think sometimes they were trying to be too avant-garde, and it turns a lot of people off.”

Also in the article, Charlotte Moss, a designer and author who archives H&G’s on her bookshelf dating back to the 1920's says she is afraid that technology is going to obliterate print.

"The loss of a magazine is sad because, in this high-tech world. I fear that printed words are evaporating," she said. "This magazine had a shelf life. It was always open-minded and refreshing. Where are all these homes and gardens going to go now?

But ultimately, doesn’t the birth and death of a new publication lead to a better, more remarkable product? Businesses are always opening and closing around us, so what makes a magazine any different besides the obvious. Some would say that the competition keeps other on their toes. Perhaps future generations can learn from the mistakes that H&G made and eventually stabalize the industry all together. One can only hope…

How Niche Can They Get?

2007-11-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

In a generation that is obsessed with getting the most out of their time, money and investments, magazines have been cutting out the fat. This is also known as “niche narrowcasting”. In doing a little research I found dozens of super niche publications. These are magazines which are tightly targeted to very specific readers. It made me wonder how niche is too niche? How narrowly can a publication market to a specific demographic and still be a financial success? In 2005 alone nearly 400 niche magazines were started.

One of the titles I found was called Seed, and its mission is displaying “science as pop culture, and getting hip young readers talking about science”. Even 24 Hour Fitness has their own magazine. A publication called Modern Dog made its debut in 2002 and features celebrities and their dogs on the cover. This magazine is meant to be “The lifestyle magazine for urban dogs and their companions”. Crappie World is a magazine for sport fisherman who only fish for crappie (a type of fish).

Convenience Store is a magazine that reports on news for convenience stores. Some other titles include: Potato Grower, Church Solutions, Garage, Lady-Like, American Cemetery, New Beauty, Sunflower, and Sushi & Tofu. The list could go on. There are magazines for sheep, tea, goats, prison life, knives, bear hunting, candy, spicy food, beverages, concrete, beads, ferrets, and of course everyone’s favorite…American Window Cleaner.

The continued success of these magazines proves that if there is a market for it or a reader with a hobby, it has money-making potential and definite potential for success. As long as there is a need or desire, there is potential for profit and maybe that is all that is necessary in a society where people don't want to read about something that does not interest or concern them. A serious crappie fisherman may not want to pick up a magazine because it has just one article about fishing; instead he can subscribe to Crappie World and read about everything crappie. Consumers want what they want and nothing more. Don't waste their time, they want it now.

Advertising throughout magazines

2007-10-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Is there to much advertising in magazines? Are magazines becoming just another tool to persuade society into materialistic needs, and are magazines now just a commercial tool for advertising companies? This question is often raised by magazines readers, however on the other hand can magazines survive without companies paying to place advertisements in the magazine.

Magazines are one of the important avenues advertisers seek to promote their goods. Advertisers are willing to pay for the attractive pages of a magazine as well as fight for prominence with in a magazine, for advertising companies recognize the power of being seen in particular magazine and on particular pages. Recognition of the wide audiences made available through magazine readership has ensured advertising companies use this tool of communication to advertise everything from woman’s razors, and the latest Gucci clothing to sports cars and holidays. However, it can be argued that Advertisements are beginning to take over the magazines content. For example, the Vogue October 2007 edition displayed purely advertisements for the first 40 pages. After these 40 pages the reader arrived at the first content page, and in the following pages every second page would display an advertisement. Throughout the whole magazine, even if there was a page that wasn’t an intended advertisement, the page would contain the brand of the clothing the model was wearing, where to get it, how much it costs and a phone number to call and order.

Thus it can be seen why many readers of magazines are frustrated and feeling that advertising is taking over magazines. Within magazines selected advertising companies, due to the power of money, have a large influence over editorial content and lay out of magazines thus, poising the question, how much of our favorite magazines is stylized with the sole intention of persuading us into a purchase a product? Clearly it can be argued that an advertising frenzy is occurring within magazines making this popular media tool a commercialized area to further sell and influence its readers.

On the other hand, it is a fact that advertising is a necessary component of a magazine production and without this the magazine will most likely fail. Within the production of a magazine there are three areas necessary to keep the magazine alive: editorial, advertising and circulation. Editorial must keep the reader interested and provide what the reader wants, circulation shows to the advertisers that the magazine has the audience they desire, and advertising provides the funds to keep the magazine alive. So, if all three work together there should not be the perception that is currently around, that magazines are becoming one of the biggest advertising tools in today’s mass media.

Event: San Francisco Magazine's Fallfest

2007-10-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

On October 6, San Francisco Magazine held its annual Fallfest event in the Justin Herman Plaza near the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Bringing together over eighty Bay Area eateries and wineries in the dazzling afternoon sun, the magazine set to establish Fallfest as the food and wine event of the season celebrating the local bounty of the Bay.

Between the Asian-influenced raw delicacies, fried chicken and cornbread, savory liver mousse and delectable confectionary bites; the price of an $80 general admission ticket bought one the opportunity to feast and drink to their hearts’ content. With informative chef demonstrations and dozens of tempting tents set up along the plaza, guests got to mingle while tasting the creations from local favorites such as Postrio, Quince and Aqua as well as sampling a slew of local wines.

Of course for those desiring an up-graded culinary treat, VIP tickets were available for $150 and included an additional wine flight tasting with custom food pairings and a gift bag.

San Francisco Magazine, joined with the Examiner and KRON 4, engages in such events each year to promote their position as the leading exclusive, city-read for the discerning San Franciscan reader. Fallfest, along with the magazine’s summertime Best of the Bay event, proves a great marketing tool not only for reaching out to readers, but also to gain new advertisers as well. Some of the magazine’s top advertisers helped sponsor Fallfest such as The Ritz Carlton Club, Bauer’s transportation, Amstel Light and Fiji water.

Currently San Francisco Magazine markets itself to the established, affluent decision-makers of San Francisco and by pairing with local fine-dining establishments - the magazine has established a brand for itself much like the old-fashioned Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Each year the magazine puts out its picks for the Best of the Bay, creating a trusted relationship of taste and choosiness amongst their readers.

By tapping into the diverse food and wine culture of the city, Fallfest is yet another way for San Francisco Magazine to make its presence known among the trendy “who’s who” in the Bay Area. Additionally, the magazine holds its Fallfest to benefit the charity Meals on Wheels – aiding their well-off readership that wishes to donate to much-needed local causes.

The leading competitor of San Francisco Magazine is 7x7 magazine which also distinguishes itself as the Bay Area read for the affluent and hip. In addition, each year 7x7 declares its pick for the best of the Bay Area, yet does not hold an annual fall harvest event like San Francisco Magazine.

According to Erica Minix, assistant to the President of San Francisco Magazine, the magazine also holds smaller promotional events with the same purpose of the Fallfest on an almost weekly basis.

Making its presence known at these exclusive local parties, the magazine is constantly promoting itself and handing out free copies to potential subscribers. At Fallfest, the magazine did the same and by hosting the event, was able to distinguish itself as the leader in what’s new, fresh and tasty in the Bay Area culinary scene.

Webzines Killed the Magazine Star

2007-09-26T01:17:00.001-07:00

Magazines today are facing a hyperlink world. Now more than ever magazines need to be creative with the way they present themselves to readers because so many opportunities are available to them through technological advances, including the most influential the world-wide-web.

One essntial way to expand and grow as a magazine is to maintain a website along with the print publication. Many print-published magazines find it necessary to have a website since most of today’s world revolves around a computer.

With the costs of producing magazines sky-high and competition fierce, a new form of the magazine has taken over. The magazine website, also know as a webzine, cyberzine and hyperzine is becoming a common plank for up-and-coming magazines to launch off.

It is less expensive to maintain a website and an easy way to connect with readers internationally. Just take www.budgetsavvy.com as an example, whom had to give up on the idea of being a print magazine after a short time.

A webzine is not to be confused with blogs because a webzines bypasses the strict observance to the reverse-chronological format that you must stick to on a blog. Also, you have more control over a website as far as design, which leads many avenues for webzines to be creative and add content that was never possible with a print magazine.

The biggest change from jumping from the page to the computer screen is that with webzines you can add audio and/or multimedia projects. These new features allow readers to experience more of what they are reading on the web or feel like they are more a part of the story.

A good example of how webzines have changed the magazine industry is apparent on www.salon.com, www.pitchforkmedia.com and www.theowlmag.com which are highly respected as sources for news.

By adding videos, audio of interviews and multimedia projects, webzines are creating a new standard for receiving information. You can log in, sign up and click away at up-to-the-minute information compared to waiting a month in between for your subscription to come in the snail mail.

Though fighting through pop-up advertisements and the absents of computers on long journey’s are arguments that keep print afloat, only the future will tell how much longer glossy print magazines have in this ever-changing magazine market.

Time for a change

2007-09-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Time magazine, the stalwart in American weekly news magazines, has undergone a renovation of its marketing technique in 2007 that leaves the educated magazine industry critic to believe that it has fallen or is falling on hard or harder times.
One of the tell tale struggling signs of a magazine, despite what the company’s PR staff attempts to spin it as, is a redesign in their layout. In a sneaky last-ditch effort geared towards gaining more peaks at the newsstand, redesigns aren’t effective for much more than giving a fresh new look at the same dry content.
Time has also remodeled their website in an attempt to draw subscribers away from their print copies and towards the online sector, which is cheaper and easier to maintain the relevance which is so essential in today’s flash-flood news market. As well as admitting to their advertisers that there may be a nearly 20% drop in print readership.
But a much more direct admittance of financial strife is a slash in circulation, which Time also underwent this year by an estimated 750,000 copies, according to a study done by the Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0514/p13s01-wmgn.html?page=2).
The Time newsroom cannot be as comfortable as it once was either. The magazine has cut 140 journalists from its staff in the past year, dropping from 362 people in 2006 to 226 in 2007 according to CSM.

So what does this all mean for the titan of newsweeklies?

According to Shirrel Rhoades, magazine consultant and former VP of Reader’s Digest, Goliath is falling at the feet of an army of David’s armed with specialized weapons.
"The trend in the whole magazine industry has been from the general to the special interest," says Rhoades.
Niche marketing, which has been the calling card for the magazine industry of recent memory, is sending the generalized publications scrambling for new ways to make themselves seem more marketable.
Americans are now willing to purchase multiple magazines solely dedicated to one topic rather than solely one magazine dedicated to multiple topics.
Time has also pushed its publication date back from Monday until Friday so that by the time it reaches readers at home or on the racks, it seems a bit more contemporary in its review of the week’s events.
But in today’s age of pocket-sized internet connectivity and mobile news consumption, Time is going to find something more than facelift in design that separates them from the rest of the pack, or the Godfather of American magazines will become a casualty of the change that comes with its name…time.

Interview: Andreas Trolf, Transworld Skateboarding

2007-09-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Andreas Trolf lives a pretty cool life. I mean, the guy makes a living traveling the world, doing what he loves most—writing, reading and skateboarding. The 30-year-old Transworld Skateboarding music writer was kind enough to spend a few minutes of his busy day with me, sharing insight about everything from life as a freelance writer, to friends in the business to the literary East Coast versus West Coast. Trolf was born and raised in New York, obtained an English Literature degree from New York University and has contributed to publications such as Transworld Skateboarding, ESPN Magazine, Thrasher, Fecalface.com and SLAP. With the help of a large amount of coffee and a love to talk, Trolf had plenty of wisdom to offer.

David McClymonds: In the magazine world, do you believe that it helps to have friends?

Andreas Trolf: When there is a choice of hiring somebody talented or somebody that an editor is familiar with, if the person is reasonably competent, the job will go to the friend. It's not to say that it's all sort of nepotism in contact; there is a fair amount of talent involved, but getting any type of real job is constituent on what you've done in the past. Having clippings, having bylines—that's invaluable. But a foot in the door is the most important thing. Say you're sending out clippings or resumes, you don't have a way to distinguish yourself from the slush-pile. You're in the same boat as everybody else that really wants to get their foot in the door. If an editor or anyone on staff can recommend you and say that you're a writer that will deliver something, you're someone to be counted on, that's way more valuable than a degree in journalism.

DM: Would you recommend spending time in New York to make contacts, friends?

AT: The industry is there and the experience will be there. That's where people go to cut their teeth. That's where people make their names and their careers. You'll never have a shortage of something to write about. But then again, you won't ever have a shortage of something to write about here, you just won't have as much opportunity.

DM: Do you think as far as skateboard writing goes, there is as much opportunity in New York as here in California?

AT: There's no skateboard media located in New York, but there is generous New York coverage in all the magazines. There's tons of local photographers. As far as skateboarding media goes, a lot of times photographers will write the pieces as well. That's a way for the magazines to save money and not have to pay writers. To be 100 percent honest, based on people I know in the skateboarding industry, there are a dozen people making their living writing that aren't editors. People that make their living in skateboarding specifically from writing number very few. So if you want to go into skateboard journalism, get a camera, learn how to shoot it. You stand a much better chance if you're offering an editor images and words than you do if you're just offering words. That's just the nature of skateboard journalism. How do you write about something that is visual? It's much more difficult.

DM: You went to school in New York; do you feel like when you came to San Francisco you were prepared, as a writer?

AT: I actually had written for SLAP years ago, before I finished school. And that is, like we talked about earlier, based upon knowing people. Having an interest in writing, being blunt about it and saying, hey I can do this, I'd like to. Why don't you let me give you an article? A lot of it was based on sending out clips or being referred to a magazine by someone. But when I came back out here I had a staff position already and had a bunch of regular freelance jobs.

DM: Do you often get job referrals?

AT: Generally, people loathe to give up paying jobs. Referrals generally happen when an editor has seen your work somewhere else. I don't want to characterize anyone as being overly attached to their own income, but you really need to chase down jobs and chase down paychecks a lot of the time. The difference between having the rent payed on time is not screwing someone out of the job, but not passing along a job, either. As with anything, when you have a large amount of people vying for a limited number of spots, there is competing. It, by its very nature, is competitive.

DM: How much did an English degree prepare you for writing non-fiction?

AT: I don't know. The one thing that I really took away from going to school for English is that you need to read all the time. If you don't have time to read, you shouldn't have time to write. You can't write about skateboarding unless you're a skateboarder. What school does ultimately, is put you in an atmosphere with like-minded people that is conducive for you to learn. If anything, the experience of just being in that atmosphere, reading anything that I could get my hands on benefited in so many ways. I'd say that going to school just gives yourself more of an opportunity to concentrate on something.

DM: The way I see it, school teaches discipline more than anything... Showing up to school on time all semester—a lot of people can't do that.

AT: Right. Just don't fool yourself into thinking there is this end in sight. If you're not a more astute observer of life at the end of each day than you were at the beginning, you're not learning. Seriously, discipline and determination you need for anything, really. You've got to constantly be better than you are.

-David McClymonds

New Magazine Eldr is Helpful and Interesting for Over 60s as Well as Younsters

2007-09-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

EldR is a new magazine based in the Bay Area that was launched in July, with a target towards readers of 60 or older. According to their manifesto, the aim of the magazine is to celebrate getting older and offer helpful articles and forum for their readers to talk about the challenges and obstacles they face as they get age.
On one end, many of the features in EldR are health related and are extremely serious, such as their articles on dementia and Alzheimer’s. While reading these can be a bit of a downer, they are well written and even offer an online forum for people to ask questions and discuss their fears about these issues. These articles are also not strictly made interesting to elders-as a 22-year-old, I enjoyed reading them because they were well written and informative about issues that are important to older generations but to everyone else. Based on the online edition of EldR, its features pay particular attention to developments on Alzheimer’s, and even have a section on their menu devoted to pieces written on the subject. One surprising fact I learned while reading this section was that rapid weight loss in middle age can lead to dementia and Alzheimer’s in women.

While EldR puts focus on the health issues of the aging population, they don’t forget that even retired people have to have fun and spend tons of the money from their 401K on fantastic vacations! Eldr balances out their heavier articles with guides on where to spend weekends and time with their grandchildren, as well as suggestions on where to eat on your trip.

EldR even has a blog called “Mad as Hell,” in which different writers complain about things like telemarketers.

EldR is a perfect read for the doctor’s office, and I hope the people who market this magazine know this. Every doctor’s office I have been to that is not a pediatrician has predominantly old people in the waiting room, and this magazine will get them thinking about their health so they can ask the right questions before they go see their doctor. Move over Highlights, Eldr is taking over every badly decorated waiting room in the Bay Area-and hopefully the nation.

www.eldr.com

The Apprentice? Nah, he's the Master. Sort of.

2007-09-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Donald Trump will announce Tuesday that he is bringing back the magic that is Trump Magazine. The real estate baron has reached an agreement with Ocean Drive Media Group, which publishes small magazines for wealthy readers, to bring back the mag that stopped production last spring. Trump is scheduled to drop its first issue in November and will focus on fashion, home design and various ways to spend loads of money.

The Donald has been down this road before, previously with Trump Style and then Trump World, which was later relaunched as Trump Magazine. This new edition will be distributed freely to Trump properties and will be sold ($5.95 cover price) at newsstands in a handful of cities where his buildings are concentrated.

Ocean Drive Media chairman Jerry Powers was quoted in a NY Times article regarding the aim of the magazine. "We’re going to do stories on private jets, the interiors of the new jets, new lines of Louis Vuitton luggage, Mikimoto pearls, stories on very high-end jewelry like Cartier, travel around the world, golf clubs, fashion," he says. "It’s definitely aimed at the reader who doesn’t have to ask how much it costs."

Ugh. At least the Boss is sticking to what he knows. At least he won't be on TV. Maybe this will keep him from making appearances in professional wrestling. I don't want to ask Don Don for advice on how to body slam someone through a folding table, but rather how to properly accessorize my Gulfstream Jet. It's not that my boy D isn't a like able cat. He's just your regular white, middle-aged, wealthy man. You know, the type the public can generally trust? Right???

To his credit, the man is pretty good with money. He was quoted as saying in the New York Times he "put up no money" for this new mag. Considering the first version of it flopped, I'd say that's a pretty savvy move.

It is understood that since Mr. Trump has a lot of money, he is pretty much going to do what he wants. A good possible explanation as to why this mag is being published. Realistically, his target audience is very small. If anything this magazine helps illustrate the growing gap between the lower and upper classes. The Haves and the Have-Nots. The Trumps and Coverlines Blog Editors. Trump: Bringing it all back to the money. Dolla dolla bill y'all.

When asked is his mug would appear on the first cover, Trump responded "Only if they want to sell a lot of magazines." Dubious, at best. Donald always seems to be forgetting that not everyone on this planet loves him.