Mr. Magazine

Only one magazine dares to do what Colors did: Publish a special issue on shit. Only one magazine dares to publish with its name erased: The Believer. Only one magazine dares to offer its readers to be Dangerous and Good at the same time: The Christian Sportsman magazine. The aforementioned magazines are not but three magazines that ushered the new year with magazine tales which make reality seem like a piece of fiction.

Colors magazine, the quarterly published by United Colors of Benetton, opted to launch a special issue on a taboo topic that is next to rare to address in a magazine, let alone the cover of the magazine. The topic, Shit: A survival Guide, “Feces. Excrement. Stool. Poop. Caca. Its name changes but not most people’s reaction to it.” That must be the reason that the magazine offered a bar of soap on its back cover to probably wash your hands after the magazine editors “introduce you properly to shit: you won’t regard it.”
Front and back covers of Colors

The Believer, the nine times a year publication, opted to start its first issue of the new with an erased name, some titles, a picture and few page numbers. Following its lead story theme “What’s left behind by the erasurist” the magazine indeed used what looks like “liquid white out” to cover some of its cover lines and pictures including the name of the magazine. Those who are familiar with The Believer will recognize the magazine shape and design, but what about those first time buyers? Maybe the mere fact that a magazine uses “liquid white-out” may grab someone’s interest to pick up the magazine and discover the great stuff inside. I can’t wait to hear the retailers reaction to this daring stunt!
Jan. 2012 and Nov./Dec. 2011 covers of The Believer

The Christian Sportsman magazine mission “encourages and empowers sportsmen to discover and develop a deep passion for Jesus Christ in the context of outdoor adventure.” The quarterly magazine wants to present “great opportunity for men to become Dangerous for Good as followers of Jesus Christ in an increasingly secular culture.” The magazine’s call for the new year, “let us purpose this coming year to be God’s man on the edge of danger!”
The Christian Sportsman Volume #22

Reality Weekly, the first brand new magazine to be published in 2012, claims to be TV’s #1 New Magazine, and they are indeed correct: they are #1 TV New Magazine and they are published weekly. Content wise, on the other hand, is lots and lots of the ol’ same ol’ same news about reality TV star and starlets. The Kims (yes, that is Kim Kardashian for those aliens who do not inhabit the earth) of this world finally have a magazine they can call their own. With a low price of $1.79 that, in reality, is a true representation of the value of those “reality stars” more than that of the ink on paper the magazine costs to purchase. Is there any thing real about reality TV?
Reality Weekly first issue

First Prevention Guide wants you to reset your Body Clock then they want you to Get A Wow Body! Two Prevention Guides at the nation’s stands, each costing $3.99, and each helping women (big surprise here) find “Easy, Natural Feel-Good Weight Loss” in one and “Tighten & Tone Every Inch: Blast 5 Pounds In 6 Days” in the other. Sometimes, I can’t but wonder how many ways you can really skin a cat? Judge for yourself.
Body Clock Reset Guide and Get A Wow Body!

Even the Slow Cooker is now Skinny. Skinny Slow Cooker is the latest entry from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications. The magazine offers “125 light & luscious recipes” all under 400 calories or less. It is good to know that the recipes are the ones that are slimmed down and not the Slow Cooker itself. The magazine promises “this collection of slimmed-down slow cooker recipes, you’ll find more than 100 dishes to feed your family, your friends, or even a crowd.”
Skinny Slow Cooker (the magazine)

OK Special is the first special issue from the weekly magazine OK Weekly published by American Media, Inc. The issue is devoted to “Hollywood’s 25 Hottest Diets & Sexiest Bodies!” With almost the same number of pages of the weekly but double the price, this special issue promises to have “the right diet for you.” I know we are a nation of addicts when it comes to celebrities and diets, maybe the combo of the aforementioned will be yet another “sprinkle” in our recipe of “feeding the addiction.”
OK Special issue

Last tale but not least, is LIFE America Revealed magazine which is “A Reissue of LIFE’S Classic Book,” aimed at “Tracing Our History Beneath the Surface and Behind the Scenes.” A reissue for $12.99 at the check-out counters of the grocery stores. Who said magazines are cheap? I wonder what was the original price for the book before this reissue as a magazine, only ten years after the original launch of the book. If you think reissuing a book as a magazine is hard to believe, wait until you see all the magazines that are “reissued” with the statement on their covers, “Back by Popular Demand!” Enough said and enough tales for now. More to come, and that is a promise and not a threat. Enjoy.
LIFE American Revealed

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)

Jeremy Leslie, editorial director and founder, magCulture.com in the United Kingdom, spoke at the ACT2 Experience last week. His remarks about the Experience are on his blog here and below is the section regarding the ACT2 Experiences blog here

The final leg of the trip was south to Oxford, Mississippi and Samir ‘Mr Magazine’ Husni’s ACT2 Experience. I first met Samir when we invited him to deliver a keynote at Colophon2007, so it was a pleasure to return the favour. He’s director of the Magazine Innovation Center at Mississippi University, and this was the second ACT2 event he’s organised. I enjoyed meeting fellow speakers including editors Will Pearson of Mental Floss and Franska Stuy from Dutch title Libelle, but the main point was for Samir’s students to get rare time with professionals. Each speaker was allocated a student ‘shadow’ to look after them but also share time together – so a big hello and thank you to my shadow Ben. Hope you’ve sorted a name for your magazine!

While much of the conference was business-orientated, my role was to talk about creativity and share some magazines the audience might not know. The primary message of my talk was simple – quality counts – but I was pleased to have that echoed by a number of other speakers who were generally very positive about an industry so often described as in decline. My secondary message, however, that there have been too many magazines and fewer was better, was a harder sell and I fear I’ll be remembered as the speaker who celebrated closures!

Also on the schedule: a trip further south to the Mississippi Delta, driving through cotton fields to Clarksdale (above) and the Blues Museum and briefly meeting Morgan Freeman (God!) at his Ground Zero blues bar in the same town.

Thanks to Samir for a hugely enjoyable event, and to Lily and Shawn for the drives to and from the airport.

Thank you Jeremy and all those who attended and those who spoke at the ACT2 Experience. Stay tuned to ACT3, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16 – 19, 2012.