Mr. Magazine

The publisher emeritus of our local paper Mr. Jesse Phillips once told me that he refers to his paper The Oxford Eagle as “refrigerator journalism.” When I asked to elaborate he said, “You know as in all community newspapers our job is to reflect and record all what is happening in town. Your son scores a soccer goal; we take his picture and put it in the paper. You buy the paper, cut the picture out and put it on the fridge for all to see…” I thought back that this type of “refrigerator journalism” made great sense and it still does. The good community newspaper still covers all the activities of the kids in town and stills provide a printed forum for all those stories and pictures to be cut and taped to the fridge door.
The reason for this lengthy introduction is the recent increase that I have noticed in the number of magazine titles sprouting in different communities around the country sporting pictures of social events. Page after page of parties, social events, and charity balls, etc. which showcase the movers and shakers in towns all across the nation. From a small town the size of Oxford, Mississippi to a major metropolitan town the size of Las Vegas, Nevada magazines are being published to provide a printed record of all the activities taking place in town…the catch is that all these activities are aimed at the elite and the rich and famous. It sort of reminded me of the above talk with Mr. Phillips. These magazines are nothing but “refrigerated journalism” for adults to see and be seen. Just pick any town U.S.A. and you will see one of these magazines. In most cases they are distributed free and they give you a quick glimpse at the lifestyle of the elite of the town. To give credit where credit is due, the leader of this trend is Ocean Drive magazine that was started more than ten years ago and is still going strong. Who said imitation is not the best form of flattery.
By the way, a journalist recently asked me if I consider these publications journalism. I immediately said no, they are anything but journalism. Like gossip and celebrity publications they join the ranks of other media outlets, but for the life of me I cannot consider them journalism. To me journalism, true journalism, is everything and anything that have a direct impact on you, your life, your home, your money, your country, your world, etc…. you name it.

The beauty of technology is in the way it helps us create new media and new ways of delivering content. From the days content was delivered via the newspapers to the current days of the world wide web. Each medium served and continue to serve the needs, wants and desires of its audience. When television was invented it was called radio on the screen. When color was added to newspapers they were not called newspapers with color. Same is true with the rest of the advancements in print technology and other major advances in the tech world. The reason for this lengthy introduction is to pose the question regarding the so called “magazines on line.” Are they really magazines? Do they meet the real definition of a magazine? Or are they a new medium? The more I watch and read (note the word watch) these magazines on line (Watch Monkey or People test issue of its on line and judge for yourself) the more I feel that I am watching a television program with captions. It is a hybrid between the two media: magazines and television. So why don’t we call a spade a spade. It is a Telemag short and simple. We did that with the magazines that look like books, we called them Bookazines or Mooks. Calling the magazines on line what they really are will solve a lot of definition problems and will introduce a brand new addition to our world of media. So, as of today I will start referring to the so called “magazines on line” as Telemags. They are not magazines and they are not television. They are a new world of hybrid media that found yet another way of delivering relevant content to a relevant audience through a relevant medium. Telemag it is and I hope you will agree.

“That was then but this is now. What are you going to do about it?” writes David Sullivan in The Inksniffer. A very informative and good article about focusing on the present status of our media situation. David notes the fact that the future receives a lot of ink in the media but not the present. David calls for a new newspaper organization. He writes, “We need to form a new trade organization: Journalists Who Believe in Printed Newspapers. JBPN isn’t much as an acronym, so someone else can do better.” I echo his call for a similar magazine association. One that takes care of all magazines, big and small, with or without ads, and one that updates the definition of a magazine that is written by the post office and not the people who create the magazines.Read the entire piece by clicking here.

Now that the boxing match between Bob Sacks and myself at the PBAA’s 21st Convention is over, both of us have written about the stuff we’ve observed, learned, liked and disliked at the convention. To join the debate read Bob’s observations here and my observations here. Both of our comments are lengthy, but I will leave it up to you to judge the worthiness of both. Enjoy and again thanks to the PBAA for a great convention.

BoSacks Speaks Out: Why the Newsstand is Dead
www.bosacks.com

I’m still on the road today after Thursday’s big event, but wanted to report in about the successful Periodical and Book Association of America Convention in Philadelphia. I have been to a few PBAA conventions and I always find their focus and energy to create the strong and necessary dialog and idea exchanges between publishers and distributors a noble cause. In my opinion, there are too many important issues that have long been left unanswered, unattended to, and other wise left to linger and rot. The PBAA attempts to correct that general industry oversight.
The big debate between Samir and myself, if I can judge by the ovation at breakfast the next day as a clue to its success, went very well, and I am hoping to receive some unbiased reports from readers as to which side was more convincing. If you were there please send me a report.
Another highlight for me was a conversation and presentation with some Russian distributors. It was a terrific hour of exchanges and insights.
That’s some good news of the event. The bad news is that I have seen a damning demonstration of the death of the newsstand in a forum on the last morning. This panel had a national distributor, a national wholesaler, a national retailer, and a publisher. I applaud the open dialog and for that I am very grateful. We need more conversation, not less, about supply-chain and you have to start somewhere. But, why here?
The disconnect for me was amazing and not in a good way. Not if you are hoping for new ideas and the creativity necessary to drive our businesses out of their lengthy doldrums. Although I paraphrase, the conversation went something like this:
We acknowledge that the ship is sinking, but, dear friends and business partners, it is sinking very slowly. We take great pride that we have been sinking slowly for fifteen years. We are adrift on the seas and sales have been flat for so long that flat is starting to look good, something like up, only different. And flat is good, isn’t it?
Do you know that when the wholesaler described an interesting and well-thought-out program of efficiency in the newsstand arena that successfully reduced wasted product, yet convincingly provided real data of same percentage of sales, someone on the panel, I don’t remember who, was angry that such an operation was even being discussed, let alone put into operation. Yes, that someone had the nerve to say openly the tired, old, mantra, “lower the draw, lower the sale.” To that I say, fine, buddy – you go down with the ship. I’m getting off the Titanic and creating a newer, more stable, efficient business model. Anyone that tells you there absolutely cannot be improvement in the print-ten-copies-and-sell-three model is leading you towards a big iceberg in an increasingly digitized sea. Get off now or get off later, it’s your decision, but I guarantee you are getting off that ship or sinking with it.
So, this is the death of the magazine newsstand business right before our eyes. The collusion on the stage of non-aggressive thought, the inability to recognize the icebergs, the captains yelling, damn it all, this business is the Titanic and nothing can sink this ship. BoSacks says this ship is headed in the wrong direction and needs to turn mighty quickly.
Would you entice your children to join an industry, any industry, that is barely treading water for a decade and a half and has completely lost the ability to detect up from down.As I sat there at the breakfast table, I was shocked at some of the inflexible positions and the thought of clinging on to the same business models that have keep us stagnant and without growth for over fifteen years. Yet as annoyed as I was, here was a panel that was attempting to discuss problems long kept in our dark boiler rooms in the bottom of our perspective ships. Here were some industry professionals, in an open forum seeking answers, and in front of their peers. They must get some real credit for that. They agreed to meet again and with that perhaps there will be progress. I can only hope for it.
This industry needs new ideas, new distribution models, greater efficiencies and above all else appropriate leadership for the times. We need captains that are willing to turn the ship and not hit that damned iceberg head on. Only an insane person keeps repeating the same thing over and over again expecting different results. So, I’m asking the industry at large, are you insane or just getting paid too much.
Upton Sinclair said it much better than I, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”.
Continued Success
Bob Sacks

Just came back from the very successful Periodical and Book Association of America 21st Annual Convention in Philadelphia. It is amazing to see the efforts this one organization puts into bringing magazine publishers and distributors together to discuss the issues that matter to our industry. Most of the discussions took place on one to one round tables thus providing real answers to real issues. Some of the highlights of this year’s convention that I have observed:
1. There is no time left to discuss the need to change. Even if we start today we are already late.
2. The industry must work as a whole to promote magazines to the retailers. Magazine companies must look beyond their individual titles and try to unite to promote the industry. As many in the audience told me, PBAA is the only organization that really can tackle those issues. The other leading magazine organizations do not care that much about newsstand distribution or promoting the magazine to the industry.
3. Unless a major shift take place and the industry as a whole change from an advertising driven model to a circulation driven model, attention to the newsstands from the major players will continue to be minimal.
4. There is a consensus that we cannot continue to do the same thing over and again and expect different results every time. That is how the Chinese define insanity.
5. Some wholesalers are moving, rather fast, into the direction of a fee-based distribution system rather than the traditional consignment system for new titles. There is serious debate whether that will hinder or help the magazine industry considering that almost half of the big sellers on the newsstands are less than 20 years old.
6. Reducing the number of copies placed on the newsstands by one wholesaler have not effected the total number of copies sold… however there is a major debate whether it is too soon to judge this “draw reduction program.”
7. As a result of the above one wholesaler will reduce the amount of magazine units on the newsstands this year by 130 to 140 million units than last year. Yes you read that right, there will be 130 to 140 million copies of magazines less in 2007 from 2006 on the nation’s newsstands. That is the action of one wholesaler only.
8. There is a need to make the magazine category as whole more profitable, more efficient and more attractive to the retailers.
9. New magazine publishers have to factor into their business plans distribution cost. These costs have never been a factor in the calculations of any business plan for a new magazine. The game has changed.
10. The big debate at what price can a distributor make money was challenged by a lot of the attendees who counter pointed that if a candy bar manufacture can make money on a 30 cents candy bar why can’t a magazine distributor make money on a $1.99 cover price.
11. Our problem is not in our medium; it is in the content that it carries. We need to be relevant to our audience and give the audience the relevant content via the relevant medium.
12. Digital editions of magazines are good and dandy, but they are more like a television channel than a magazine. The good ones are not competition to print; they just are a different medium.
13. The biggest absent from this convention was any representation, on the panels or in any of the discussions, from the biggest magazine industry organization (you know who), but to say I am surprised will be a big lie. If they are not willing to take a hard look at the real pulse of this industry, circulation and mainly single copy sales (think postal rate increases among many other factors hurting subscriptions) and do something real about it (not another wasted ad campaign) their presence and need to the majority of the magazines in this country will continue to be marginalized. (Point of clarification: none of the PBAA directors or officers critiqued or mentioned any other organization. I am talking about attendees representing magazine companies, distributors, wholesalers and retailers).
14. On a personal note, Bob Sacks and I survived our boxing match, and print is still alive, kicking and well.
For more info about the PBAA click here. Next year’s convention is going to be in Baltimore. If you care about newsstands and single copy sales plan on being there. I promise you it is worth every penny you will spend. A great return on the investment. Thank you Lisa and José for a great convention.

There are more magazines than you think was the headline on the e-mail from William C. Lamparter, president of the Print Com consulting group that conducted a study on the future of magazines for PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization. Mr. Lamparter reminded me and everyone who cares to listen to reality that both my numbers and those of the Magazine Publishers of America are both incomplete. Welcomed news indeed. I am happy to reprint the entire e-mail in the space that follows. There is a wealth of information in this e-mail and there is a lot of comfort that the magazine industry is well, alive and kicking. Enjoy.

They Are Both Incomplete
There Are More Magazines Than You Think
There are more magazines and more new titles appearing each year than most reports indicate, including those emanating from the Magazine Publishers of America and Samir Husni, Mr. Magazine, according to the results of a recently completed study of “Magazine Printing & Publishing in North America” by PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization.MPA focuses only on the “big dogs” and Mr. Magazine does not delve into the business-to-business, custom and educational titles, says William C. Lamparter, President of the PrintCom consulting Group that conducted the study for PRIMIR.
The study identified a total of 26,140 titles of all types and frequencies published in North America during 2006. Of this total 16,050 were U.S. consumer magazines and 7,270 were classified as U.S. business magazines. All of these titles were published on a regular frequency for at least a year or in the case of annuals, had published their second edition.
This is the largest and most inclusive number of titles ever specifically identified and demonstrates the breadth, depth, and health of the magazine industry, Lamparter said.During 2006, 1,200 new consumer titles were born in the U.S. including 900 consumer titles identified by Dr. Husni, who was a member of the PRIMIR/PrintCom magazine research study team, as well as 300 titles in the consumer educational, affinity and custom publishing segments. Of the new consumer titles, almost two-thirds are annuals including annual specials, while almost a third are issued four or more times a year. Fifty-five new business magazine titles were added in the U.S. to bring the 2006 U.S. new title count to 1,255, according to the PRIMIR study. One hundred and ten new consumer titles and five business titles were added in Canada during 2006. These all inclusive new title counts point a more accurate picture of the health of the magazine business than the more limited view of consumer only, opined Lamparter.
By 2011, the study forecasts that the number of titles of all types will continue to grow to over 25,000 in the U.S. and 3,000 in Canada for a total number of North American titles of over 28,000. However, the study forecasts a 10% decline in total pages included in all North American magazines by 2011. The forecast is for titles up — page count down.
For information about the study, contact:
Jackie Bland, Managing Director
PRIMIR/NPES
1899 Preston White Drive
Reston, VA 20191
Phone: 703-264-7200
E-mail: info@primir.org