Mr. Magazine

Change is the only constant in our media industry and boy, did we swim in a sea of change last year. Change also applies to my Mr. Magazine™ Manifesto, and here is an upgrade to what I offered at the start of 2011:

1. Stop using the words New Media in reference to digital media only. Every new issue of your magazine, every new program of your television or radio programming, every new app of every medium is new media. We were, are, and will continue to be in the business of constantly creating new media.

2. Content is more than just food for the eye and nourishment for the brain. Content is an experience to be shared, lived and practiced. The better the content, the better the experience.

3. One size does not fit all, and one medium does not satisfy all. To some, print is king and to others, digital is queen. However, for the majority of the upcoming young and restless, it is ALL not “either or.”

4. Life does not come in one dimension and neither should media. The beauty of media is that it comes in different sizes and shapes, unlike the forced “one size fits all” of the digital screen.

5. If paper is such an old technology, then why on God’s green earth (even with all the trees we are cutting) are we trying to replicate such an old, but-still-working-very-well technology. Every time I read about some new invention in plastic or e-paper, the comparisons are always to that good ol’ technology called paper.

6. Forget about UNIQUE in this day and age. It does not exist any more. Today, you must be different and better. Well, come to think about it, some may call that UNIQUE.

7. Journalism and marketing are wedded like never before, and so should ink on paper and pixels on a screen. However, as with any partnership, each should maintain and keep its individual identity and personality. It is a partnership, not a merger!

8. Before you decide on a platform, remember the good old adage in journalism: Know the audience. It is not the technology that creates the experience with the customers, but rather the customers who create the experience with the content and the technology.

9. As much as some journalists hate to admit it or adhere to it, they should give the customers what they want and they will find what they need.

10. Stop preaching and promoting your own demise in some platforms. If you do not believe and do not promote all your media, then you do not have anyone to blame for your demise but yourself.

11. If you are going to see the future, you must survive the present, and not only survive, but also thrive. The majority of the revenues today are still coming from print.

12. Do not sacrifice print on the altar of digital. Killing the golden goose will not provide you with lots of golden eggs.

13. Last but not least, do not sacrifice the traditional models of doing business. Although times have changed, your being in the business of customers who count and nothing else is an eternal constant.
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End of story, end of manifesto.
Have a happy and prosperous 2012, and may the best medium in the world continue to survive and thrive.

PS: Mr. Magazine’s™ Manifesto appears also in the Jan. 2, 2012 issue of min (Media Industry Newsletter)