Mr. Magazine

Few weeks ago I wrote about the difference between the single copy edition of Redbook and that of the subscription edition. For some time now the magazine has been changing the word SEX on the newsstands to LOVE on the subscribers covers. The May issue goes one-step further. The subscribers, who Redbook assumes they are so stressed that they need to “stop your STRESS 21 smart strategies,” while the magazine asks their counterparts on the nation’s stands “get 10 minutes? say yes, oh yes! to sex.” I have given up trying to come up with explanations for this type of cover treatment, but the only thing I know for sure, it seems to me it is very misleading and very unethical to trick people in buying the magazine knowing that if they subscribe they will kiss SEX goodbye on the covers of REDBOOK. Mind you, it is only the cover that changes…all the say yes, oh yes! to sex is all inside of both editions.

Age maybe nothing but a number, but in the case of Rolling Stone it is a journey from “Vietnam to Iraq. From search and destroy to shock and awe.” The magazine’s first of three anniversary issues reaches the stands this week sporting a stunning cover design by no other than Chip Kidd who among his many works is the design of a complete issue of Francis Coppola’s Zeotrope magazine (see it below). When people ask me to name a magazine that stood the test of time and was able to grow with its audience, Rolling Stone always tops my list. Yet, this issue exceeds all my expectations on what a great magazine can do. If you never bought Rolling Stone in your life, now it is the time to grab this issue. It is worth every penny from the $6.95 cover price. To quote the editors “Rolling Stone will continue to do its part by standing for honest and hard reporting in the media and maintaining a dialogue with its readers that reflects our democracy and a belief in the wisdom of the people.” I say Amen to that.

My friend Rex Hammock alerted me to a news story in the Financial Times where reporter Joshua Chaffin writes, “In the history of US magazine launches, the high point may have been August 1999, when Tina Brown’s magazine debuted.” I guess his definition of history is the 1990s or 1999 to be specific. He goes on to write, “These days, new magazine launches — let alone big-budget events — are few and far between.” Well, if he just bothered and checked the facts he will find out that we publish now-a-days more magazines than we did at any other period of the history of American magazines. Even if you exclude the specials and one shots, here are some of the numbers of new magazine launches going back to 1984. Keep in mind these are all new magazine launches with at least four time launch frequency. Starting in 1984 the numbers are 134, 203, 299, 300, 284, starting in 1990 the numbers are 325, 363, 443, 417, 458, 510, 535,459, 518,360 and starting in 2000 the numbers are 333, 301, 290, 454, 473, 350, and 332 in 2006. There is no need to explain any of these numbers. I think they speak for themselves. I hope reporters, especially those in the print media, stop promoting the myth of print is dead and no one is doing anything in print any more…. Just give the story due diligence and go visit a newsstands first or a post office and then tell me print is dead…

So can ink on paper and pixels on a screen live happily ever after. Well, here is an example of a publication that shows that when pixels on the screen marry the ink on paper, the result will be the creation of a community that interacts with each other and that have connectivity and usefulness second to none. To take from the words of its founders: There are magazines, and then there are magazines and then there’s JPG. And they couldn’t be more right. JPG took the mold of an industry model and completely smashed it, proving that technology is not the enemy to print as all the prophets of doom and gloom preach. Read my interview with founder Derek Powazek here.

It never ceases to amaze me how much we love numbers and lists. You give me a list and I am reading it from number one to number 399. You tell me there is 101 (somehow, odd numbers always work better than even) ideas to improve my home, and I start reading. But the questions that I always ask myself are the following: When those numbers exceed a certain amount, let’s say a 1001, how many continue reading or care? What is your limit? And, further more, have you ever taken a magazine to task to proof to you that the numbers on the cover are in there? Take for example the new issue of Women’s Health. The May issue sports a cover line that says, “2263 Amazing New Health, Sex, Fitness & Nutrition Tips.” Well, what are you waiting, go grab a copy of the May issue and start counting. It will be interesting to see how much more time you are going to spend with the magazine doing that. It may become addictive, you will fall in love with the magazine, and they will gain a reader forever…