I am back in the U.S. and the first bit of news on my Blackberry is a PR release from Time Inc. announcing the third demise of my beloved Life magazine. Re-launched in Oct. 2004 the weekly reached 13 million circulation, and contrary to my original comments about Life’s founder Henry Luce will be turning in his grave for the return of LIFE as a newspaper supplement, the folks at LIFE proved me wrong and were able to create a magazine, in the words of Time Inc. Chairman, CEO Ann Moore that “was a truly innovative publishing venture. It was developed, edited and published by some of the best talent in the business and we can remain proud of its many achievements. But sometimes we have to make tough calls, and this was one.” I am not going to argue about this tough call, but I promise you a revisit to this issue in the next few days. In the meantime, may LIFE rest in peace or pieces as it wishes.
Archive for March, 2007
The sad news about LIFE
March 27, 2007A magazine with no cover… and other interesting facts
March 24, 2007
Green is in and April is the month to celebrate anything and everything green. Well, Creative Review magazine took the celebration one step further. The April issue of the magazine has just published with no cover. Yes, it starts on page 3, the table of contents. The magazine is sold in a plastic bag and an explanation: “This magazine has no cover: In the spirit of making the most of limited resources, the bag that this issue comes in is dual-use. It both protects the magazine on its journey to you (the buyer) and acts as the cover. Result: 8700 sheets of our normal cover stock saved.” Inside the magazine Patrick Burgoyne, CR’s editor goes at length to explain the reasoning behind what they did and reaches the climax of the explanation when he asks and answers himself the following question: “If you really care that much about the environment why use up all these resources publishing the magazine at all? Why not put it all on a website? We did. You can download this and every issue of CR as a PDF from www.e-cr.co.uk. ECR provides all the content without any of the paper, ink or chemicals, with a fraction of the energy and no physical distribution.” Go figure. If that is the case, why pay 5.70 British pounds for the printed magazine?
Bo Sacks and The Last Magazine
March 24, 2007
My friend Bob Sacks, www.bosacks.com, has written an article/review (read it here) of yet another friend David Renard’s recent book called The Last Magazine. Bob warns at the end of his article “It’s never going to be the way it was. In fact, it’s not going to be the way it is.” Of course both Bob and David are great supporters of the e-paper future. I have no problem with that, my problem is not with the changes in the technology, but rather in the technology trying to imitate something we already have. Every day I hear that e-paper is going to look and feel like paper…but the question that I always ask, will be used in the same manner we use paper. One of the beauties of paper is that it is disposable. I can leave my newspaper on the train, on the plane, in the taxi…but I will never leave my laptop behind… well, at least I hope I will never leave my laptop behind. I am one of the early adapters of technology… I was, and still is, the one who rushes to buy the new stuff before it even celebrates its three months anniversary, but at the same time, I always appreciated the limits of the technology and the role it plays in my life. Will that change my look and love of the newspapers and magazines of today and tomorrow? Not a single bit, the joy of having multiple papers (especially from the UK) and tens of magazines all in the same room with me, still give me a high not any technological creation will ever change. Sorry folks, but I will continue to use the technology to spread the message. Remember, and remember well (Sorry Bob), don’t blame the medium if the message is not right.
Blogging is NOT journalism
March 23, 2007Yes, I am blogging. But make no mistake blogging is not journalism. To me blogging is voicing your opinions in writing on the world-wide-web. It is like writing your diary or journal and makes it open to the public. It is not new. Blogging in fact may date back to the early years of print journalism. The first issue of the first American newspaper Public Occurrence published in 1690 carried a blank page in the paper for people to record their own news and views. To me, that was the beginning of blogging using the available channels then. Today the web is our channel. Tomorrow, who knows… For now, enjoy the blog and please never ever consider blogging journalism. It is NOT. It is just our new virtual barber shop’s or beauty salon’s gossips and chats.
What is in common among Monkey, Zoo and Nuts?*
March 23, 2007
The above three are magazines aimed at young men. They are referred to as Lad magazines. Monkey, Zoo and Nuts are all weeklies and all are published in the UK. One is digital and two are ink on paper and on-line. Read what my friend Jeremy (magculture.com) learned at a recent presentation by the editors of Monkey.
*Monkey hates the Zoo and eats Nuts.
A Tale of Two Papers
March 23, 2007
Those of you who follow my blog may have noticed that I referred to the British Independent paper twice in the last few days. Well a lot of the blog readers seem to be The Guardian readers too. I am also a Guardian reader and can’t wait to head back to the States to scan some of their G2 daily magazines inside the paper. The main reason I love, and what my blog readers hate, is the cover story approach of The Independent. Take today’s cover story about the British budget and compare that front page with that of The Guardian. Somehow, one stops you faster than the other. I will let you be the judge which one stops you first.
The 30 Most Notable Launches of 2006
March 22, 2007From a field of more than 900 new titles launched in the United States in 2006, my staff and I selected 30 magazines that we deem were most notable. Mind you with notable we do not mean successful, but rather magazines that edged the rest by being innovative, different, bizarre, or even just plain different. Success is a different story. Take a look here at our selection and try to see if you can guess which one of those 30 magazines will be named our most notable launch of the year next week.
What is a magazine? Take 2
March 22, 2007I hope you have been reading all the comments on what is a magazine. It has been a lively debate to say the least. Well, here is one you do not want to miss. Is it really a magazine? Do we have to accept the original definition of a magazine? The word magazine means a storehouse, a supermarket of goods regardless of the medium? What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Goodies under the cover; take 2
March 21, 2007Liz Vaccariello, editor-in-chief of Prevention reminded me that since she started working at Prevention (last August), her plan was “to start playing with a new cover strategy right away.” Since November the covers changed, and thus the reason for no major changes between March and April covers…So for the sake of better comparison take a look at an old cover (right below) and at the April cover…you have to agree a job well done!
Define Luxury, one magazine at a time
March 21, 2007
A brand new weekly, with a spine, just launched in the UK. The name is So London, the tag-line is “The New Glossy Weekly/ Culture. Property. Shameless Luxury” and the magazine, according to my friend in the UK Jeremy Leslie is “designed smartly for it’s market but is let down by not being as upmarket and luxurious as it aspires to be”… It is indeed a coffe table book that will arrive every week at your doorsteps. Luxury magazines are not something new… weekly luxury magazines are going to be soon the trend of the future. So London magazine is just the beginning. And talking about soon and luxury, SOON magazine just landed with its hefty first issue, both in terms of pages and price ($70 US) and, if you really want to know, give a new meaning to the world luxury. Published in three languages (English, Chinese and French) the magazine defines luxury as “the light of a behavior, a force making beauty wiser for today and tomorrow. It permits one to understand that learning is needed to give spirit to matter.” Be prepared to use both hands when buying this magazine. It is luxuriously heavy.
Mr. Magazine 