"The mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect."
Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Essayist, Poet and Author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894)
These Publishers Should Go Digital
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2124805,00.html
Cape Town - Newspapers hoping to retain their readers and survive in the technological age must venture into the online and cellphone spheres, a World Association of Newspapers (WAN) meeting heard on Tuesday.
Speakers at a workshop said the newspaper was a dying breed but could avoid extinction by modernising its approach and extending its digital reach.
"We have to learn that online is where the action is, and we have to move our journalistic resources there," Mario Garcia, chief executive of the United States-based Garcia Media Group, told delegates to the WAN's 60th world newspaper congress and 14th world editors' forum being held in Cape Town.
He described the new path of news, starting with an e-mail or cellphone alert of a breaking story, followed by reading it online and ending in its publishing in a newspaper the following day.
In such a scenario, he said, there was little point in newspapers repeating the news hours after it first broke. They would have to learn to present readers with new, forward-looking story angles.
"Nowadays, you have to assume that the reader knows more than you do," he said.
'Circulations going down'
Martha Stone, director of the WAN's "shaping the future of the newspaper" programme, told delegates the time has come for news organisations to cross-train journalists to tell a story in print, radio, television or online.
"Many newspapers experience today their circulations going down, but their reach into the market place with the internet is surging," she said.
Leonard Brody, chief executive and co-founder of NowPublic.com, a website for "citizen journalism" with more than 90 000 contributors in ordinary people worldwide, believed the monopoly of traditional media was being challenged by camera phones and other technology enabling anyone to find news.
"We are moving very quickly into an era where everything is being recorded," he said.
On Monday, a WAN report said newspapers around the world saw a 2.3% rise in circulation in 2006 and a growth in advertising revenue despite the rise of digital media.
'The future is digital'
By Virginie Montet
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2090277,00.html
Washington - Reading your newspaper over a steaming cup of coffee will be a thing of the past in years to come as video and digital technology replace the print media of today, experts say.
"We know that broadband digital networks will be widespread and broadband wireless too," said Andrew Nachison, president of Ifocos, a media think tank.
Nachison predicted that podcasts, or video messaging, as well as blogs, books and internet sites will become accessible via wireless and mobile video services as the technology evolves.
"It's pretty obvious that digital connection is going to be like oxygen to our culture," he said. "We are witnessing an explosion of video creation and we're entering an era where video is everywhere."
Already, studies are showing that the number of newspaper readers in the United States is dwindling as cyperspace gains ground.
One recent report by the Pew research centre in Washington found that 43% of Americans today turn to the internet for news as opposed to 17% who rely primarily on a national newspaper.
Amy Eisman, head of the school of communication at American University in Washington, said consumers in the future can expect to find their news in the palm of their hand.
Download on demand
"Video, internet, audio, entertainment, we have the feeling that more and more is going to be on handheld devices," Eisman said. "Much more wireless broadband will be available globally ... and information will be probably less text-based than visual."
Nachison agreed, adding that technological changes will allow information to converge into a single device.
"A phone, a video camera, a GPS device, a personal communicator, that's the stuff we see today," he said. "When you start to look 10 years out, that gets harder."
He said videos will become the dominant medium for information with consumers able to download them on demand via the internet or cellphones.
"We are witnessing an explosion of video creation and we're entering an era where video is everywhere," Nachison said. "People are going to make video continuously.
"It won't be a special activity, it will be a normal activity the way we type e-mail is a normal activity now," he added. "Instead of getting text alerts on our phones, we'll get little video alerts."
With that in mind, newspapers as we know them may become a thing of the past in the not so distant future, experts say.
In 2006, for example, some 18 000 jobs were eliminated in newsrooms across America, an 88% increase over 2005 when 9 453 job cuts were announced.
"Print may be dying," Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which annually publishes a report on the state of the media in America, told AFP.
"I can't tell you whether newspapers will be printing in 10 or 15 years."
At the last annual "We Media" conference in February, which looks at the state of the media and is organised by Ifocos, experts predicted that consumers in the future will have access to a small media reader that will be flexible, very thin and light-weight and can be wrapped like a newspaper except that it will be digital.
On the economic front, advertising revenues are expected to change drastically as ads on the internet are not as lucrative as those in newspapers.
"Advertising revenue of a website is about 30% of what the newspaper equivalent would be," Rosenstiel said.
"For every dollar I make from a print reader, I'm only making about 30 cents if that person becomes an online reader."
He said he expects that to be offset by an increase in the price of internet access and cable.
"The scale of news enterprises is simply going to be crushed," Nachison said. "The revenues are going to decline and that will be challenging for the economics of journalism."
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Skirt! ... From a woman's view
"It's not really a shorter skirt, I just have longer legs..."
Anna Kournikova (Russian Professional Tennis Player and Model, b.1981)
Skirt! ... From a woman's view
Leanne Kleinmann
Magazine will target issues with feminine perspective via humor, insight
By Jane Roberts
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_5570339,00.html
People in fact may be reading less, but niche publishers know there's a terrific market out there for targeted audiences.
To capitalize on one of the boldest and most lucrative, Scripps Howard Publishing Inc. this fall will begin publishing Skirt!, an upscale free monthly magazine geared to educated and empowered women here.
Leanne Kleinmann, who writes the iDivamemphis column for The Commercial Appeal, has been named executive editor.
"Skirt! is the closest thing I've seen in print to the tone of iDivamemphis -- conversational, sophisticated, edgy, provocative, never boring or predictable," she said.
Kleinmann will continue to write iDiva.
While Skirt! will be printed by The Commercial Appeal, it will be its own company with a separate sales and design staff.
Skirt! was founded in 1994 in Charleston, S.C., as a newsletter "highlighting women's issues, but in a fun way," said publisher and founder Nikki Hardin.
Men do appear in Skirt! but the prerequisite is they must be wearing a skirt, Kleinmann said.
Expect a Memphis man -- exceedingly comfortable in his own skin -- profiled in each edition, complete with hairy, muscular legs.
"I've already got a list of potential men for that feature," Kleinmann said.
If the idea is that women got into men's magazines like Forbes by looking like men, Skirt! takes another approach, saying more that irreverence is to be relished.
Today, the 100-plus page publication -- half national content and half local content -- has a circulation of 350,000 in eight markets, including Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla., Augusta, Ga., and Knoxville, where Scripps Howard bought licensing rights this spring.
By the end of the year, circulation is expected to be 1 million as markets open in Houston, Tampa, Fla., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Norfolk, Va., said Jim Currow, executive vice president of Morris Communications, which owns Skirt! and publishes 27 daily newspapers.
Besides features on how women can make a collective difference with their buying power and votes, Skirt! features ways to get involved -- from relationships to community involvement -- plus a heads-up on things going on around town.
"Memphis is ready for a publication like this; there's a void in that market," said Joe Pepe, publisher of The Commercial Appeal, which is owned by E. W. Scripps Co. "It'll be well-read and a great place for businesses that want to target women."
The magazine will be available in boutiques and salons around the destination shopping areas that draw from across the metro area.
The women's market is a rich trove for publishers. Of the 200 new magazines announced in the last quarter by Magazine Publishers of America, nearly a third are in the women's realm of style, lifestyles and fashion with titles like Executive Woman, the Forbes publication targeting the upscale life of a career woman; Kena, the lifestyle magazine for Hispanic women; and of course, self-explanatory titles like Hybrid Mom and Muslim Girl Magazine.
"The hip-Mom niche has a different approach than Redbook," said Seija Goldstein, regional media consultant in New York.
"I do not see the women's market dominating the new list of new publications, but what you do see is that the speciality niches are getting sliced and diced more finely. That certainly is true in the women's field."
Newspapers, struggling in an electronic age, are trying new products to expand their market share, said Samir Husni, head of the journalism department at University of Mississippi and a Skirt! consultant.
"Skirt! is more like a franchise. ... It's a marvelous model, and we're going to see more and more of it," he said.
The first edition will be out in September.
Anna Kournikova (Russian Professional Tennis Player and Model, b.1981)
Skirt! ... From a woman's view
Leanne Kleinmann
Magazine will target issues with feminine perspective via humor, insight
By Jane Roberts
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_5570339,00.html
People in fact may be reading less, but niche publishers know there's a terrific market out there for targeted audiences.
To capitalize on one of the boldest and most lucrative, Scripps Howard Publishing Inc. this fall will begin publishing Skirt!, an upscale free monthly magazine geared to educated and empowered women here.
Leanne Kleinmann, who writes the iDivamemphis column for The Commercial Appeal, has been named executive editor.
"Skirt! is the closest thing I've seen in print to the tone of iDivamemphis -- conversational, sophisticated, edgy, provocative, never boring or predictable," she said.
Kleinmann will continue to write iDiva.
While Skirt! will be printed by The Commercial Appeal, it will be its own company with a separate sales and design staff.
Skirt! was founded in 1994 in Charleston, S.C., as a newsletter "highlighting women's issues, but in a fun way," said publisher and founder Nikki Hardin.
Men do appear in Skirt! but the prerequisite is they must be wearing a skirt, Kleinmann said.
Expect a Memphis man -- exceedingly comfortable in his own skin -- profiled in each edition, complete with hairy, muscular legs.
"I've already got a list of potential men for that feature," Kleinmann said.
If the idea is that women got into men's magazines like Forbes by looking like men, Skirt! takes another approach, saying more that irreverence is to be relished.
Today, the 100-plus page publication -- half national content and half local content -- has a circulation of 350,000 in eight markets, including Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla., Augusta, Ga., and Knoxville, where Scripps Howard bought licensing rights this spring.
By the end of the year, circulation is expected to be 1 million as markets open in Houston, Tampa, Fla., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Norfolk, Va., said Jim Currow, executive vice president of Morris Communications, which owns Skirt! and publishes 27 daily newspapers.
Besides features on how women can make a collective difference with their buying power and votes, Skirt! features ways to get involved -- from relationships to community involvement -- plus a heads-up on things going on around town.
"Memphis is ready for a publication like this; there's a void in that market," said Joe Pepe, publisher of The Commercial Appeal, which is owned by E. W. Scripps Co. "It'll be well-read and a great place for businesses that want to target women."
The magazine will be available in boutiques and salons around the destination shopping areas that draw from across the metro area.
The women's market is a rich trove for publishers. Of the 200 new magazines announced in the last quarter by Magazine Publishers of America, nearly a third are in the women's realm of style, lifestyles and fashion with titles like Executive Woman, the Forbes publication targeting the upscale life of a career woman; Kena, the lifestyle magazine for Hispanic women; and of course, self-explanatory titles like Hybrid Mom and Muslim Girl Magazine.
"The hip-Mom niche has a different approach than Redbook," said Seija Goldstein, regional media consultant in New York.
"I do not see the women's market dominating the new list of new publications, but what you do see is that the speciality niches are getting sliced and diced more finely. That certainly is true in the women's field."
Newspapers, struggling in an electronic age, are trying new products to expand their market share, said Samir Husni, head of the journalism department at University of Mississippi and a Skirt! consultant.
"Skirt! is more like a franchise. ... It's a marvelous model, and we're going to see more and more of it," he said.
The first edition will be out in September.
National Geographic's John Griffin: Magazines Suffer From Troubles of their Own Making
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made."
Groucho Marx (American Comedian, Actor and Singer, 1890-1977)
National Geographic's John Griffin: Magazines Suffer From Troubles of their Own Making
By Tony Silber
http://www.circman.com/viewmedia.asp?prmMID=3161
In a ringing call for greater circulation transparency and rapid acceptance of two key Audit Bureau of Circulations initiatives, National Geographic Magazine Group president John Griffin Tuesday challenged magazine publishers to put "the discussion of value where it belongs-in the negotiation between buyer and seller-and take it away from the ABC board and off the front page of Ad Age."
Speaking as a keynote at the Circulation Management Conference & Expo in New York, Griffin said publishers have been spending a "stupid" amount of time dealing with the past instead of building for the future. "Because of the poor circulation practices of the past, especially the practice of counting unpaid circulation as paid, magazines have a credibility problem with the advertising community," he said. "I challenge all of us to make distribution completely transparent-to put all the sources that leave the possibility of abuse into the Verified category and to report early through Rapid Report."
Both of these initiatives were created in the last 18 months and intended to create more clarity in magazine circulation. Verified, which took effect with the audit statements ended in June 2006, allows publishers to classify non-paid circulation clearly. It covers public-place distribution and free copies intended for individual use, and was a reaction to a series of scandals where magazines over-reported paid circ. Rapid Report-adopted a year ago-allows publishers to voluntarily report their top-line circulation data on an issue-by-issue basis within weeks of the on-sale or non-paid distribution date. Acceptance of both techniques has been spotty, as publishers and advertisers both cling to the higher perceived value of circulation that can be classified as paid-even if it is sold at deep discounts.
"If you really think penny sold distribution has greater value than free-public-place distribution, argue it in the sales process," Griffin told about 250 attendees. "But don't keep categories on the ABC statement that allow for abuse and an industry focus on the minutia of distribution and not the effectiveness of advertising."
"What we don't need is more ABC Rules," Griffin added. "What we do need is transparency on distribution and faster reporting while concurrently moving to fast audience measurement."
Griffin summarized the challenge for publishers in this way:
Advertising will remain the primary source of revenue, and for large magazines, it will increase as a percentage of total revenue, as publishers are able to increase sales of digital advertising.
The demand for greater comparability between media and accountability for achieving advertising goals will continue to grow.
The demand for reporting speed will remain as advertisers buy as late as possible and evaluate effectiveness as soon as possible after an ad runs. This will always be a disadvantage for magazines, but it must be minimized. Online magazine brands will play a role here because they will not have that disadvantage.
Distribution and paid circulation are measures that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of an ad. And they are comparable to no other media.
Even newspapers are beginning to move toward audience measurement, and possibly the combined measurement of Web and print audiences. If the magazine industry doesn't change, then magazines will be comparable only to themselves. This will not happen, so audience developers need to prepare now to have their work judged on audience size and quality.
If you can fake that, you've got it made."
Groucho Marx (American Comedian, Actor and Singer, 1890-1977)
National Geographic's John Griffin: Magazines Suffer From Troubles of their Own Making
By Tony Silber
http://www.circman.com/viewmedia.asp?prmMID=3161
In a ringing call for greater circulation transparency and rapid acceptance of two key Audit Bureau of Circulations initiatives, National Geographic Magazine Group president John Griffin Tuesday challenged magazine publishers to put "the discussion of value where it belongs-in the negotiation between buyer and seller-and take it away from the ABC board and off the front page of Ad Age."
Speaking as a keynote at the Circulation Management Conference & Expo in New York, Griffin said publishers have been spending a "stupid" amount of time dealing with the past instead of building for the future. "Because of the poor circulation practices of the past, especially the practice of counting unpaid circulation as paid, magazines have a credibility problem with the advertising community," he said. "I challenge all of us to make distribution completely transparent-to put all the sources that leave the possibility of abuse into the Verified category and to report early through Rapid Report."
Both of these initiatives were created in the last 18 months and intended to create more clarity in magazine circulation. Verified, which took effect with the audit statements ended in June 2006, allows publishers to classify non-paid circulation clearly. It covers public-place distribution and free copies intended for individual use, and was a reaction to a series of scandals where magazines over-reported paid circ. Rapid Report-adopted a year ago-allows publishers to voluntarily report their top-line circulation data on an issue-by-issue basis within weeks of the on-sale or non-paid distribution date. Acceptance of both techniques has been spotty, as publishers and advertisers both cling to the higher perceived value of circulation that can be classified as paid-even if it is sold at deep discounts.
"If you really think penny sold distribution has greater value than free-public-place distribution, argue it in the sales process," Griffin told about 250 attendees. "But don't keep categories on the ABC statement that allow for abuse and an industry focus on the minutia of distribution and not the effectiveness of advertising."
"What we don't need is more ABC Rules," Griffin added. "What we do need is transparency on distribution and faster reporting while concurrently moving to fast audience measurement."
Griffin summarized the challenge for publishers in this way:
Advertising will remain the primary source of revenue, and for large magazines, it will increase as a percentage of total revenue, as publishers are able to increase sales of digital advertising.
The demand for greater comparability between media and accountability for achieving advertising goals will continue to grow.
The demand for reporting speed will remain as advertisers buy as late as possible and evaluate effectiveness as soon as possible after an ad runs. This will always be a disadvantage for magazines, but it must be minimized. Online magazine brands will play a role here because they will not have that disadvantage.
Distribution and paid circulation are measures that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of an ad. And they are comparable to no other media.
Even newspapers are beginning to move toward audience measurement, and possibly the combined measurement of Web and print audiences. If the magazine industry doesn't change, then magazines will be comparable only to themselves. This will not happen, so audience developers need to prepare now to have their work judged on audience size and quality.
Friday, June 08, 2007
BoSacks Speaks Out: The Price of Paper is on the Rise
BoSacks Speaks Out: With all the talk and emphasis on the digital future of information distribution, it's a sobering thought to remember that most of our information distribution business models still revolve around dead trees. I say sobering because the price is on the rise yet again. Did you put these increases in your budget?
I have received the following information from several sources and felt it prudent to send it out to my entire list rather then just my Paper and Pulp list. I believe that editors, marketers, publishers and all my other readers should be equally aware of the dynamics of our industry. Paper is just one of the many factors that constitute the entire puzzle of publishing, but ask your production people how much of the manufacturing budget paper takes up? I believe that you will find that it takes up more of your budget than you thought possible.
"The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it."
Adam Smith (Scottish philosopher and economist, 1723-1790)
SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2007 (RISI) - At least three more North American coated paper suppliers have told customers to expect price increases on coated freesheet (CFS) shipments next month, contacts said. Sources said Sappi, Stora Enso and West Linn were among companies hiking prices to remain competitive with NewPage, which told customers earlier this week that it would increase prices $60/ton ($3/cwt) on CFS sheets and rolls effective June 7. Additionally, sources said Stora Enso told customers the price increase would apply to orders of coated mechanical paper as well as to CFS shipments.
From Sappi:
Effective for new orders with a confirmed delivery date on or after June 7, 2007,
Sappi Fine Paper North America is increasing prices US $4.00 (CAN $4.25) per
cwt on the following sheet products:
1. HannoArt sheets (all basis weights and finishes)
2. Magno sheets (all basis weights and finishes)
3. Private label sheet and sheeter roll programs
Effective for new orders entered on or after June 7, 2007, with a confirmed
delivery date of July 8, 2007, or later, Sappi Fine Paper North America is
increasing prices US$3.00 (CAN $3.25) per cwt on the following web products:
1. Aero web (all basis weights and finishes)
2. Opus web (all basis weights and finishes)
3. Somerset web (all basis weights and finishes)
4. Flo web (all basis weights and finishes)
From NewPage
SAN FRANCISCO, June 6, 2007 (RISI) - US coated paper supplier NewPage told its customers today that it would hike the price of various grades of coated freesheet sheets and rolls by $60/ton next month.
The increase is effective June 7 on orders with a confirmed delivery date of July 2, or July 16 depending on the product. In a letter to customers Newpage cited rapidly increasing chemical, energy and transportation costs and the need to achieve sustainable earnings levels.
From StoraEnso:
Please be advised that Stora Enso will increase transaction price 7% on the following
coated and uncoated web products.Effective with orders placed June 15 and all shipments July 1, this increase applies to:
PolarisPress (all versions)
SolarisPress
StellaPress
TerraPress
CapriPress (all versions)
ConsoPress (all versions)
MagniPress (all versions)
SuperiorPress
ExoPress
Lux Cream
Lux
Classic
Effective with orders placed June 15 and all shipments July 13, this increase applies to:
Arbor Web Plus
Arbor Web
Productolith
LumiArt
Orion
Excellence
MediaSet
NovaPress
All Private Label products
The 7% increase applies to all gloss finish products. For all other finishes, recycle fiber
content and covers, apply the appropriate differentials from the new gloss price.
From West Linn:
This letter is to advise you that West Linn Paper Company will be increasing prices on all Sonoma®, Capistrano®, Nature Web®, Nature Plus® and any other related private label products by $3.00 per cwt (US). The price increase will be effective on orders placed as of June 7, 2007, and on any existing orders shipping on or after July 2, 2007, regardless of order date.
I have received the following information from several sources and felt it prudent to send it out to my entire list rather then just my Paper and Pulp list. I believe that editors, marketers, publishers and all my other readers should be equally aware of the dynamics of our industry. Paper is just one of the many factors that constitute the entire puzzle of publishing, but ask your production people how much of the manufacturing budget paper takes up? I believe that you will find that it takes up more of your budget than you thought possible.
"The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it."
Adam Smith (Scottish philosopher and economist, 1723-1790)
SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2007 (RISI) - At least three more North American coated paper suppliers have told customers to expect price increases on coated freesheet (CFS) shipments next month, contacts said. Sources said Sappi, Stora Enso and West Linn were among companies hiking prices to remain competitive with NewPage, which told customers earlier this week that it would increase prices $60/ton ($3/cwt) on CFS sheets and rolls effective June 7. Additionally, sources said Stora Enso told customers the price increase would apply to orders of coated mechanical paper as well as to CFS shipments.
From Sappi:
Effective for new orders with a confirmed delivery date on or after June 7, 2007,
Sappi Fine Paper North America is increasing prices US $4.00 (CAN $4.25) per
cwt on the following sheet products:
1. HannoArt sheets (all basis weights and finishes)
2. Magno sheets (all basis weights and finishes)
3. Private label sheet and sheeter roll programs
Effective for new orders entered on or after June 7, 2007, with a confirmed
delivery date of July 8, 2007, or later, Sappi Fine Paper North America is
increasing prices US$3.00 (CAN $3.25) per cwt on the following web products:
1. Aero web (all basis weights and finishes)
2. Opus web (all basis weights and finishes)
3. Somerset web (all basis weights and finishes)
4. Flo web (all basis weights and finishes)
From NewPage
SAN FRANCISCO, June 6, 2007 (RISI) - US coated paper supplier NewPage told its customers today that it would hike the price of various grades of coated freesheet sheets and rolls by $60/ton next month.
The increase is effective June 7 on orders with a confirmed delivery date of July 2, or July 16 depending on the product. In a letter to customers Newpage cited rapidly increasing chemical, energy and transportation costs and the need to achieve sustainable earnings levels.
From StoraEnso:
Please be advised that Stora Enso will increase transaction price 7% on the following
coated and uncoated web products.Effective with orders placed June 15 and all shipments July 1, this increase applies to:
PolarisPress (all versions)
SolarisPress
StellaPress
TerraPress
CapriPress (all versions)
ConsoPress (all versions)
MagniPress (all versions)
SuperiorPress
ExoPress
Lux Cream
Lux
Classic
Effective with orders placed June 15 and all shipments July 13, this increase applies to:
Arbor Web Plus
Arbor Web
Productolith
LumiArt
Orion
Excellence
MediaSet
NovaPress
All Private Label products
The 7% increase applies to all gloss finish products. For all other finishes, recycle fiber
content and covers, apply the appropriate differentials from the new gloss price.
From West Linn:
This letter is to advise you that West Linn Paper Company will be increasing prices on all Sonoma®, Capistrano®, Nature Web®, Nature Plus® and any other related private label products by $3.00 per cwt (US). The price increase will be effective on orders placed as of June 7, 2007, and on any existing orders shipping on or after July 2, 2007, regardless of order date.
BoSacks Speaks Out: Selling Ads on the Front Page
BoSacks Speaks Out: Is it just me, or is the selling of prime real estate on your front cover a betrayal of principles? Whose principles you might ask? Good question. And I don't claim to have the answer. No really, as hard as it is to believe, this time I only have questions.
There are many reasons to be in the publishing business, and surely one of the top two is to make money. I accept that fully, and that is one of the reasons I went into the business in the first place. That being said there should, it seems to me, be some room left over for publishers to exhibit principles, patience, strength of character and display some sound business practices.
Now why do you think the industry is having accountability problems? Could it be because we have long ago abandoned strong principles, reasonable patience, a modicum of character and any resemblance of sound business practices? Well, yes, I think it could.
The selling of the front cover is just one more step in the pitfalls of publishing greed and continuing the downward spiraling loss of integrity.
What's with you guys? Somebody strap a 2x4 to the publisher's spine. What will you sell next - your grandmother? And if you do, will that be an off-rate card sale too?
The reason we are in this mess and have lost our integrity has nothing to do with the Internet. These problems are all self-made. The problem is that somewhere in the past we as an industry sold our affections to the lowest bidder like a street walker. And once down that road, it is very hard to regain your personal integrity or the respect of your past John's.
"Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions."
The Bible
Fashion Paper Joins Bottom-of-the-Front-Page Club
By PATRICIA WINTERS LAURO
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/business/media/07adco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
With today's issue, Women's Wear Daily, the longtime chronicler of the fashion world, becomes the latest newspaper to sell a piece of valuable real estate: advertising space on its front page.
Women's Wear Daily is running a front-page advertisement, a slim banner promoting a bracelet by Cartier.
A slim banner, about an inch-and-a-half wide, runs across the bottom of the cover and promotes Cartier's Love bracelet, a popular gold band. Not only is the image a familiar one - particularly to fashion-oriented readers of Women's Wear - but the sight of a strip ad on the face of a daily paper is becoming increasingly common, too.
Indeed, the latest debates in journalism seem no longer to be about whether or not it is prudent or ethical to run ads in places they haven't historically appeared, but how to do so in a way that makes the most of the property being sold.
"Women's Wear Daily has had a heritage of creativity when it comes to advertising, and this is moving it to an entirely new place, " said Daniel Lagani, president of the Fairchild Fashion Group, the unit of Advance Publications that owns the paper. "We are making our best real estate available for our best advertisers."
The paper, he said, is following the leads of other newspapers that have opened their cover pages to ads in recent months. The trend was apparent just yesterday in New York, where the free daily Metro New York had a strip ad for Avalon Communities, a rental housing chain, while its rival, amNew York, another free paper, had a so-called cover-wrap - an overleaf featuring the paper's logo and advertising content by a sponsor, in this case, Starbucks. The New York Observer, meanwhile, which recently switched to a tabloid format, arrived on newsstands with a banner ad for Wempe watches and jewelry.
·
So many newspapers are now running advertising on either the front page or the front pages of sections within the newspaper that the phenomenon was labeled "A Fading Taboo" in the headline of an article in the June/July issue of The American Journalism Review. Among the papers that have started accepting front-page ads are The San Francisco Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Hartford Courant, the article said. Papers that now run ads on section fronts include The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Journalists lament the trend as a potential sign that the boundaries between editorial and advertising content are weakening, and because the advertisements reduce the amount of prime space for news and feature articles. But front-page ads seem destined to stay, given the declines in advertising and circulation that newspapers have endured in the Internet age. Prominent ads command premium prices.
Edward Nardoza, editor in chief of Women's Wear Daily, said that while journalists would prefer commercial-free front pages forever, ads are acceptable there as long as they are well conceived and pose no ethical conflicts. "We've come to terms that it's part of doing business today," Mr. Nardoza said. "I can't stress enough that it will have no effect at all on the independence of our editorial coverage or our decision-making process. There will be a strict delineation of all editorial material."
Most readers do not find front-page ads intrusive, said Gilbert Bailon, president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the publisher and editor of Al Día, a Spanish language newspaper in Texas.
"People are bombarded with advertising every day, from their cellphones to the Internet and every other way - seeing a front page ad strip isn't going to move the earth," he said. "I think some hard-core readers won't like it, but they get adjusted very quickly."
·
Timing, and not desperation, led Women's Wear Daily to its decision to introduce a front-page ad, Mr. Lagani of Fairchild said. The paper did run smaller black-and-white ads called tombstones at the bottom of the front page until the 1970s, for companies like Jantzen and Peter Pan Fashions. In 2000, it ran some cover-wraps with ads for Gucci. The new front-page banners will be limited, Mr. Lagani said, to prevent overexposure.
"In the case of Women's Wear Daily, business has never been better," he said. "This is simply a smart business decision."
He would not say how much the Cartier ads cost, but said the paper charged a premium for the prime space and required a commitment to a package that included a full-page ad inside the paper and a series of ads on the Women's Wear Web site.
The Web site component was a draw for Cartier, which strives to be a trendsetter among luxury retailers on the Web, said Frédéric de Narp, president and chief executive of Cartier North America. Cartier advertises on Yahoo, MSN.com and other sites, and the ads on wwd.com link to Cartier's own site, where the company plays up its designation of June 8 as "love day." On that day, Cartier will give 10 percent of sales of the Love collection to charity.
Mr. Bailon of Al Día, who started accepting front-page ads shortly after starting the paper four years ago, said that journalists should look on the bright side of the trend. "Every company has to find new ways to develop revenue, and this is an opportunity," he said. "If this is the new way, then you have to give a serious look."
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Meet the Future Leaders of the Magazine World
Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done."
Vance Packard (American Writer, 1914-1996)
Meet the Future Leaders of the Magazine World
Soon the Top Publishers Will All Need New Chiefs; Here Are the Candidates
By Nat Ives
Published: June 04, 2007
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Ann S. Moore isn't leaving her post as Time Inc. Chairman-CEO until 2009, but the company has already started courting at least one possible successor: Susan Lyne, president-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
It's springtime for succession planning at the big magazine companies. The top executives at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (Jack Kliger, 60), Conde Nast Publications (Chuck Townsend, 63) and Hearst Magazines (Cathie Black, 63) are all older than Ms. Moore, who turned 57 last week, and certainly advanced enough for prudent companies to look ahead. And while it's too early to call any races, each company is eyeing its stable of options.
Who will become magazines' next leadership class represents a fascinating question, not just because the grading and grooming have already begun -- making the process a decent spectator sport. Their makeup is also a big deal because, after a few years in which publishers have had to make many tough decisions, the next batch of CEOs will have to confront challenges the business probably can't even anticipate.
"One of our top priorities is succession planning," said a spokeswoman at Time Inc. "One of Ann's primary concerns is making sure there are a number of smart, competent, versatile and well-trained executives in the management ranks."
There are also well-trained executives outside the ranks -- even outside magazines -- to consider. Aside from Ms. Lyne, for example, it's easy to see the appeal of someone such as Beth Comstock, now president-integrated media at NBC Universal, to any magazine company trying to move definitively beyond the printed page. Then there are folks such as Dennis Publishing's Stephen Colvin, who launched Maxim just as multimedia strategies were exploding, giving him experience building multimedia brands from the ground up.
The publishers declined to discuss any contenders or forthcoming C-suite scenarios. Ms. Lyne, through a spokeswoman, would not confirm any overtures. But based on conversations with industry executives and partners, here's a look at likely contenders for the top slots at the publishing giants.
Time Inc.
At Time Inc., the country's biggest magazine publisher, the clear heir apparent is John Squires, the company's only senior exec VP. But other executives, such as Exec VP Michael Klingensmith are well-regarded, too.
Barring any unforeseen developments, the decision will rest with Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner's president-chief operating officer and the expected successor to Chairman-CEO Richard D. Parsons in May 2008. Mr. Bewkes already had a hand in snatching Randy Falco from NBC Universal Television Group to run AOL last November. And Mr. Bewkes isn't necessarily going to honor the standing of an "heir apparent."
"Jeff Bewkes is going to put in a guy who he knows," said one longtime industry player, echoing the sentiment of several others.
Mr. Bewkes will probably consult with Patricia Fili-Krushel, Time Warner exec VP-administration, who helped with Mr. Falco's hire. Several people familiar with Ms. Fili-Krushel, former CEO of WebMD Health and ABC Television Network, said she may wind up a candidate herself. "She doesn't have magazine experience," one said, "but in today's multimedia world, I'm not sure it's necessary."
Hachette
Mr. Kliger, Hachette's chairman-CEO, signed a five-year contract extension in early 2004, so he could leave his post as early as two years from now. And like Time Inc., Hachette has a leader-in-waiting in Philippe Guelton, exec VP-chief operating officer since April 2003.
In addition to being French, an asset with French parent Lagardère, Mr. Guelton has seen the sort of international assignments that often suggest grooming. He moved to Japan in 1997 as VP-HFM Asia and managing director of Hachette Filipacchi Japan.
But Mr. Guelton was installed by Gerald de Roquemaurel, chairman of Hachette Filipacchi Medias, parent of the U.S. division. Mr. de Roquemaurel was removed last September amid disappointing results.
"I am not so sure that Philippe Guelton is a lock," said a former Hachette executive, suggesting the company has chosen a new path.
Hearst
Hearst is probably the publisher whose future is hardest to make out. Cathleen P. Black, president of Hearst Magazines, said through a spokeswoman: "I absolutely love my role at Hearst and hope to be here for a very long time." The spokeswoman declined to discuss Ms. Black's contract.
But whenever she does depart, contenders for her post include Michael A. Clinton, the well-regarded exec VP-chief marketing officer and publishing director, and John P. Loughlin, exec VP-general manager. There's also a chance for Steven R. Swartz, exec VP at Hearst Newspapers since 2001. Not only is he familiar with Hearst Corp.'s upper management, he was founding editor of SmartMoney magazine in 1991 and became the title's CEO.
Conde Nast
When Charles H. Townsend succeeded Steven T. Florio as Conde Nast president-CEO in January 2004, he committed to at least five years and probably 10. He's had a good run so far, but his minimum stay is up in 2009 -- and the high-power, high-gloss private publisher has plenty of candidates ready to step up.
They include David Carey, president of Conde Nast Business Group; Richard Beckman, president of Conde Nast Media Group; John Bellando, chief operating officer and former chief financial officer; and Mitchell B. Fox, group president-publishing director.
Several insiders and observers rated Mr. Carey as the odds-on favorite, particularly if Portfolio magazine is a success. Mr. Carey also commands respect within the company and among other publishers, too, which matters because Conde Nast wants to retain the talent it's got.
But another person wondered whether Mr. Carey's talent for detail might complicate his ability to think big. "Every time something is broken, they give it to Richard to fix," this person said. "When a publisher is struggling, they assign Richard to work with him. ... He is their go-to, not just for obvious, highly visible rainmaking, but for problems, too."
Others knocked any Beckman ascent, calling him a polarizing figure within the company. "Beckman is the Hillary Clinton," one said. "Too many negatives."
Mr. Fox scores low on inspiring loyalty but resembles Mr. Townsend, who wasn't very well-known at the company before he got the top job. "Mitch doesn't do politics that much or that well," an observer said. "But remember, Chuck sat in the background for years."
Vance Packard (American Writer, 1914-1996)
Meet the Future Leaders of the Magazine World
Soon the Top Publishers Will All Need New Chiefs; Here Are the Candidates
By Nat Ives
Published: June 04, 2007
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Ann S. Moore isn't leaving her post as Time Inc. Chairman-CEO until 2009, but the company has already started courting at least one possible successor: Susan Lyne, president-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
It's springtime for succession planning at the big magazine companies. The top executives at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (Jack Kliger, 60), Conde Nast Publications (Chuck Townsend, 63) and Hearst Magazines (Cathie Black, 63) are all older than Ms. Moore, who turned 57 last week, and certainly advanced enough for prudent companies to look ahead. And while it's too early to call any races, each company is eyeing its stable of options.
Who will become magazines' next leadership class represents a fascinating question, not just because the grading and grooming have already begun -- making the process a decent spectator sport. Their makeup is also a big deal because, after a few years in which publishers have had to make many tough decisions, the next batch of CEOs will have to confront challenges the business probably can't even anticipate.
"One of our top priorities is succession planning," said a spokeswoman at Time Inc. "One of Ann's primary concerns is making sure there are a number of smart, competent, versatile and well-trained executives in the management ranks."
There are also well-trained executives outside the ranks -- even outside magazines -- to consider. Aside from Ms. Lyne, for example, it's easy to see the appeal of someone such as Beth Comstock, now president-integrated media at NBC Universal, to any magazine company trying to move definitively beyond the printed page. Then there are folks such as Dennis Publishing's Stephen Colvin, who launched Maxim just as multimedia strategies were exploding, giving him experience building multimedia brands from the ground up.
The publishers declined to discuss any contenders or forthcoming C-suite scenarios. Ms. Lyne, through a spokeswoman, would not confirm any overtures. But based on conversations with industry executives and partners, here's a look at likely contenders for the top slots at the publishing giants.
Time Inc.
At Time Inc., the country's biggest magazine publisher, the clear heir apparent is John Squires, the company's only senior exec VP. But other executives, such as Exec VP Michael Klingensmith are well-regarded, too.
Barring any unforeseen developments, the decision will rest with Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner's president-chief operating officer and the expected successor to Chairman-CEO Richard D. Parsons in May 2008. Mr. Bewkes already had a hand in snatching Randy Falco from NBC Universal Television Group to run AOL last November. And Mr. Bewkes isn't necessarily going to honor the standing of an "heir apparent."
"Jeff Bewkes is going to put in a guy who he knows," said one longtime industry player, echoing the sentiment of several others.
Mr. Bewkes will probably consult with Patricia Fili-Krushel, Time Warner exec VP-administration, who helped with Mr. Falco's hire. Several people familiar with Ms. Fili-Krushel, former CEO of WebMD Health and ABC Television Network, said she may wind up a candidate herself. "She doesn't have magazine experience," one said, "but in today's multimedia world, I'm not sure it's necessary."
Hachette
Mr. Kliger, Hachette's chairman-CEO, signed a five-year contract extension in early 2004, so he could leave his post as early as two years from now. And like Time Inc., Hachette has a leader-in-waiting in Philippe Guelton, exec VP-chief operating officer since April 2003.
In addition to being French, an asset with French parent Lagardère, Mr. Guelton has seen the sort of international assignments that often suggest grooming. He moved to Japan in 1997 as VP-HFM Asia and managing director of Hachette Filipacchi Japan.
But Mr. Guelton was installed by Gerald de Roquemaurel, chairman of Hachette Filipacchi Medias, parent of the U.S. division. Mr. de Roquemaurel was removed last September amid disappointing results.
"I am not so sure that Philippe Guelton is a lock," said a former Hachette executive, suggesting the company has chosen a new path.
Hearst
Hearst is probably the publisher whose future is hardest to make out. Cathleen P. Black, president of Hearst Magazines, said through a spokeswoman: "I absolutely love my role at Hearst and hope to be here for a very long time." The spokeswoman declined to discuss Ms. Black's contract.
But whenever she does depart, contenders for her post include Michael A. Clinton, the well-regarded exec VP-chief marketing officer and publishing director, and John P. Loughlin, exec VP-general manager. There's also a chance for Steven R. Swartz, exec VP at Hearst Newspapers since 2001. Not only is he familiar with Hearst Corp.'s upper management, he was founding editor of SmartMoney magazine in 1991 and became the title's CEO.
Conde Nast
When Charles H. Townsend succeeded Steven T. Florio as Conde Nast president-CEO in January 2004, he committed to at least five years and probably 10. He's had a good run so far, but his minimum stay is up in 2009 -- and the high-power, high-gloss private publisher has plenty of candidates ready to step up.
They include David Carey, president of Conde Nast Business Group; Richard Beckman, president of Conde Nast Media Group; John Bellando, chief operating officer and former chief financial officer; and Mitchell B. Fox, group president-publishing director.
Several insiders and observers rated Mr. Carey as the odds-on favorite, particularly if Portfolio magazine is a success. Mr. Carey also commands respect within the company and among other publishers, too, which matters because Conde Nast wants to retain the talent it's got.
But another person wondered whether Mr. Carey's talent for detail might complicate his ability to think big. "Every time something is broken, they give it to Richard to fix," this person said. "When a publisher is struggling, they assign Richard to work with him. ... He is their go-to, not just for obvious, highly visible rainmaking, but for problems, too."
Others knocked any Beckman ascent, calling him a polarizing figure within the company. "Beckman is the Hillary Clinton," one said. "Too many negatives."
Mr. Fox scores low on inspiring loyalty but resembles Mr. Townsend, who wasn't very well-known at the company before he got the top job. "Mitch doesn't do politics that much or that well," an observer said. "But remember, Chuck sat in the background for years."
Last newspaper reporter fired
"The printed press does not show the reporter asking the question. What is peculiar to television is that the intrusiveness is part of the story."
Unknown
Last newspaper reporter fired
By Bill Shein
Berkshire Eagle
Tuesday, May 29
SOUTH EGREMONT
"I refuse to believe the headlines that the future of news organizations is bleak. We face a dim future only if we refuse to change and do something about it." - Los Angeles Times editor Jim O'Shea, in a recent memo announcing the elimination of 57 more newsroom jobs.
A DAY in the very near future.
In what Wall Street cheered as a long-overdue and welcome cost-cutting measure, the very last newspaper reporter in America was fired yesterday, capping years of newsroom cuts and officially eliminating basic newsgathering as a journalistic function.
The reporter, Ted "Inky Fingers" Mandersoll, worked for a west-coast metropolitan paper where recent staff cuts and battles between editors and corporate honchos have repeatedly made headlines.
"Well, I held on for as long as I could," a dejected Mandersoll said as he stood on a street corner holding a sign, "Will collect facts, investigate wrongdoing, and protect the public interest - for food."
That the very last newspaper reporter in America stayed on the job as long as he did is widely considered to be remarkable. For the last three months, Mandersoll was paid no salary, instead earning a dollar for each "qualified lead" produced via dating-service and mortgage-refinancing ads that accompanied the online version of his news stories. He averaged just $17 per month.
Lars von Weilsch, president and CEO of MegaInfoNews, thanked Mandersoll for his 24 years of service.
"Ted Mandersoll's award-winning stories about corporate malfeasance, government corruption, and non-celebrity-related matters are no longer relevant, but we do wish him well in his pension-less future," von Weilsch said, noting that retirement security for working people is now far less important than achieving ever-increasing profits.
He said that Mandersoll will receive valuable "outplacement assistance," including role-playing games where unemployed reporters learn to ask, "So, you gonna finish that?" Mandersoll will also receive tips about how to negotiate with creditors and then, when all hope is lost and bankruptcy inevitable, how to "slip out of town under cover of darkness."
With no reporters to pay, America's media organizations are likely to invest even more resources in upbeat, news-free, advertiser-friendly features. An informal canvass of senior media executives revealed a wide variety of ideas for The New American Newspaper, including:
A syndicated "MySpace Profile of the Day."
A colorful "American Idol" daily feature, with online tie-ins and contests.
Puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.
Dramatically expanded auto-trader sections, some of which may approach 1,000 advertising-heavy pages a day.
Page after page of "advertorials" promoting the products and services offered by the subsidiaries and "marketing partners" of the giant conglomerates that control America's major media outlets.
Lots of full-page advertisements touting the latest "scientific breakthroughs" in weight loss, air filtration, arch support, hair removal, hair growth, collectible coins, porcelain dolls, and those commemorative plates that are sure to increase in value by several tenths of a percent in the coming centuries.
A new, glitzy "Global Celebrity Wire" to replace in-depth coverage of irrelevant matters like foreign affairs, war, genocide, and other downers that don't put readers in a consuming mood.
Editorial pages replaced entirely by a daily version of the "Ask the White House" feature now seen only on the White House Web site.
Reaction to the firing of the last newspaper reporter in America was swift. While media reformers used phrases like "we're doomed" and "so long, democracy!" to describe the development, others were more upbeat.
"We're excited about the opportunity to provide America's newspaper readers with the unfiltered truth - directly from the mouths of administration spokespeople," said Tony Snow, the White House spokesman.
Snow joked that President Bush "might even start reading the newspaper" now that it will feature nothing but "bias-free, fact-free, content-free, wholly irrelevant material."
Ironically, the White House reporters who normally laugh at Snow's jokes didn't make a sound, because, well, there aren't any reporters left.
Unknown
Last newspaper reporter fired
By Bill Shein
Berkshire Eagle
Tuesday, May 29
SOUTH EGREMONT
"I refuse to believe the headlines that the future of news organizations is bleak. We face a dim future only if we refuse to change and do something about it." - Los Angeles Times editor Jim O'Shea, in a recent memo announcing the elimination of 57 more newsroom jobs.
A DAY in the very near future.
In what Wall Street cheered as a long-overdue and welcome cost-cutting measure, the very last newspaper reporter in America was fired yesterday, capping years of newsroom cuts and officially eliminating basic newsgathering as a journalistic function.
The reporter, Ted "Inky Fingers" Mandersoll, worked for a west-coast metropolitan paper where recent staff cuts and battles between editors and corporate honchos have repeatedly made headlines.
"Well, I held on for as long as I could," a dejected Mandersoll said as he stood on a street corner holding a sign, "Will collect facts, investigate wrongdoing, and protect the public interest - for food."
That the very last newspaper reporter in America stayed on the job as long as he did is widely considered to be remarkable. For the last three months, Mandersoll was paid no salary, instead earning a dollar for each "qualified lead" produced via dating-service and mortgage-refinancing ads that accompanied the online version of his news stories. He averaged just $17 per month.
Lars von Weilsch, president and CEO of MegaInfoNews, thanked Mandersoll for his 24 years of service.
"Ted Mandersoll's award-winning stories about corporate malfeasance, government corruption, and non-celebrity-related matters are no longer relevant, but we do wish him well in his pension-less future," von Weilsch said, noting that retirement security for working people is now far less important than achieving ever-increasing profits.
He said that Mandersoll will receive valuable "outplacement assistance," including role-playing games where unemployed reporters learn to ask, "So, you gonna finish that?" Mandersoll will also receive tips about how to negotiate with creditors and then, when all hope is lost and bankruptcy inevitable, how to "slip out of town under cover of darkness."
With no reporters to pay, America's media organizations are likely to invest even more resources in upbeat, news-free, advertiser-friendly features. An informal canvass of senior media executives revealed a wide variety of ideas for The New American Newspaper, including:
A syndicated "MySpace Profile of the Day."
A colorful "American Idol" daily feature, with online tie-ins and contests.
Puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.
Dramatically expanded auto-trader sections, some of which may approach 1,000 advertising-heavy pages a day.
Page after page of "advertorials" promoting the products and services offered by the subsidiaries and "marketing partners" of the giant conglomerates that control America's major media outlets.
Lots of full-page advertisements touting the latest "scientific breakthroughs" in weight loss, air filtration, arch support, hair removal, hair growth, collectible coins, porcelain dolls, and those commemorative plates that are sure to increase in value by several tenths of a percent in the coming centuries.
A new, glitzy "Global Celebrity Wire" to replace in-depth coverage of irrelevant matters like foreign affairs, war, genocide, and other downers that don't put readers in a consuming mood.
Editorial pages replaced entirely by a daily version of the "Ask the White House" feature now seen only on the White House Web site.
Reaction to the firing of the last newspaper reporter in America was swift. While media reformers used phrases like "we're doomed" and "so long, democracy!" to describe the development, others were more upbeat.
"We're excited about the opportunity to provide America's newspaper readers with the unfiltered truth - directly from the mouths of administration spokespeople," said Tony Snow, the White House spokesman.
Snow joked that President Bush "might even start reading the newspaper" now that it will feature nothing but "bias-free, fact-free, content-free, wholly irrelevant material."
Ironically, the White House reporters who normally laugh at Snow's jokes didn't make a sound, because, well, there aren't any reporters left.
Ditch the Flags; Kids Don't Care Where You Come From
"Join in the new game that's sweeping the country. It's called "Bureaucracy" Everybody stands in a circle. The first person to do anything loses."
Unknown
Ditch the Flags; Kids Don't Care Where You Come From
Internet-Oriented Youth Don't Know, or Bother, About Country of Origin
By Beth Snyder Bulik
http://adage.com/print?article_id=117083
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- You may be proud to be American (or Korean, or Swedish), but you won't impress the kids by bragging about it.
Photo Illustration: John Kuczala
Not only are young consumers unable to identify the country of origin for their favorite brands, but they also don't seem to care.
Once upon a time, it made sense to proudly announce a product's country of origin in your advertising. Many car buyers were proud to buy American. Technofiles knew the best electronics equipment came from Japan. And people of a certain stripe will always argue that Belgium makes the best beer. Even today, big brands like Chevrolet spend tens of millions a year reminding us that they're as homemade as apple pie and rally monkeys.
Indifference
But attitudes are changing. According to a recent study from Anderson Analytics, most college consumers aren't sure where their favorite products come from -- and may not even care. In an increasingly global world of brands and media, is a product's country of origin even relevant anymore? The younger demographic seems to vote a fairly definitive no.
"They don't care about country of origin because of the way their world has been defined," said Ted Morris, senior VP-global alliances at BrandIntel. "Being online transcends geography. ... Point of origin is becoming less relevant."
The recent Anderson Analytics study of college students bears out the same sentiments. "For the most part, this next generation of educated American consumers either have no clue where the brands they use come from or simply assume everything comes from the United States, Japan or Germany," said Tom Anderson, managing partner.
For instance, only 4.4% of college students surveyed knew that Nokia is Finnish, while 53.6% guessed the brand was Japanese. Lego, LG, Samsung and Adidas faced similar problems, with fewer than 10% of students knowing the respective countries of origins as Denmark, Korea, Korea, and Germany, instead guessing, also respectively: U.S., U.S., Japan, and U.S. Not surprisingly, retail brand Ikea did well with this crowd -- likely because their stylish but cheap furniture is a college staple -- with 31.2% correctly guessing Sweden. But even then, another 23.6% thought the brand was from the U.S.
Less discerning
Part of the problem with the younger group is a lack of consumer experience. As Jupiter Research analyst Emily Riley pointed out, young consumers tend to have less disposable income and are trend buyers.
"As consumers age, we see value for quality become more of a concern and that's when things like geographic associations come into play," she said. "Teens may be too young to even know those, and are probably too young to care."
Interestingly, though, the same kids had definite ideas about which countries produce the highest-quality goods overall: Japan was first at 81.8%, followed by the U.S. at 78.5%, Germany at 77.1%, Italy at 73.9% and the U.K. at 66.1%.
Linking to one's home base seems to work better for some products than for others. In the Anderson Analytics study, college students rated tech products like cellphones as roughly of the same quality, whether they knew the correct country of origin or not.
Recognizing luxury
But that was not the case for luxury goods -- or, interestingly, for cars. Hermès scored 23% higher with students who correctly identified it as a French rather than a U.K. brand. Similarly, Lexus got 13% more low ratings from students who thought it was a U.S. brand than it did from those who knew it was Japanese. In other words, younger consumers today believe Japanese cars are better quality than their American counterparts -- a notion that might've been considered almost heresy several decades ago.
When it comes to your country's reputation, Mr. Anderson said, "You need to know if it's good, bad or indifferent. If it's good, play it up. If it's bad, just let it slide. If it's indifferent, you can decide whether to use it or not."
Of course there are multiple reasons for flag waving. In the auto industry, for example, companies such as Honda and Toyota tout the fact that many of their cars are "made in America," not to make claims regarding quality, but to show an older generation of Americans that the manufacturers have a stake in the "local" economy.
On the other hand, brands such as General Motors' Chevy are laying claim to a long, proud heritage in the U.S. Chevy spends big to do so. "American Revolution," its umbrella campaign for cars and trucks, began in late 2003. In September 2006, it began marketing its 2007 Silverado truck with the patriotic "Our Country, Our Truck" campaign set to John Mellencamp's song "Our Country." GM spent $77 million in measured media during October and November 2006 on Silverado, according to TNS.
Not like the old days
Such efforts help to move metal by speaking to older buyers who grew up during the "us vs. them" mentality of the Cold War. But, said Jonathan Paisner, brand director at CoreBrands, the flag waving and patriotism used in the Chevy ads likely don't strike the same note for young people.
"This younger generation has a more cynical perspective on things like patriotism, and that [marketing approach] can strike this group as heavy-handed or an old-world approach. ... That can be kind of a dangerous star to hitch yourself to."
Global thinking and online community also has smoothed out the image of countries that may have faired poorly reputation-wise with older demos.
That also means that a less-positive country association could change over time, although analysts agree it's a slow process.
"It's definitely not a fixed thing. It used to be that 'Made in America' was great and 'Made in Japan' was crap and now, if you're talking about electronics, I'd say it's almost the opposite," Mr. Paisner said. "It takes a long time -- you definitely have to prove yourself."
Unknown
Ditch the Flags; Kids Don't Care Where You Come From
Internet-Oriented Youth Don't Know, or Bother, About Country of Origin
By Beth Snyder Bulik
http://adage.com/print?article_id=117083
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- You may be proud to be American (or Korean, or Swedish), but you won't impress the kids by bragging about it.
Photo Illustration: John Kuczala
Not only are young consumers unable to identify the country of origin for their favorite brands, but they also don't seem to care.
Once upon a time, it made sense to proudly announce a product's country of origin in your advertising. Many car buyers were proud to buy American. Technofiles knew the best electronics equipment came from Japan. And people of a certain stripe will always argue that Belgium makes the best beer. Even today, big brands like Chevrolet spend tens of millions a year reminding us that they're as homemade as apple pie and rally monkeys.
Indifference
But attitudes are changing. According to a recent study from Anderson Analytics, most college consumers aren't sure where their favorite products come from -- and may not even care. In an increasingly global world of brands and media, is a product's country of origin even relevant anymore? The younger demographic seems to vote a fairly definitive no.
"They don't care about country of origin because of the way their world has been defined," said Ted Morris, senior VP-global alliances at BrandIntel. "Being online transcends geography. ... Point of origin is becoming less relevant."
The recent Anderson Analytics study of college students bears out the same sentiments. "For the most part, this next generation of educated American consumers either have no clue where the brands they use come from or simply assume everything comes from the United States, Japan or Germany," said Tom Anderson, managing partner.
For instance, only 4.4% of college students surveyed knew that Nokia is Finnish, while 53.6% guessed the brand was Japanese. Lego, LG, Samsung and Adidas faced similar problems, with fewer than 10% of students knowing the respective countries of origins as Denmark, Korea, Korea, and Germany, instead guessing, also respectively: U.S., U.S., Japan, and U.S. Not surprisingly, retail brand Ikea did well with this crowd -- likely because their stylish but cheap furniture is a college staple -- with 31.2% correctly guessing Sweden. But even then, another 23.6% thought the brand was from the U.S.
Less discerning
Part of the problem with the younger group is a lack of consumer experience. As Jupiter Research analyst Emily Riley pointed out, young consumers tend to have less disposable income and are trend buyers.
"As consumers age, we see value for quality become more of a concern and that's when things like geographic associations come into play," she said. "Teens may be too young to even know those, and are probably too young to care."
Interestingly, though, the same kids had definite ideas about which countries produce the highest-quality goods overall: Japan was first at 81.8%, followed by the U.S. at 78.5%, Germany at 77.1%, Italy at 73.9% and the U.K. at 66.1%.
Linking to one's home base seems to work better for some products than for others. In the Anderson Analytics study, college students rated tech products like cellphones as roughly of the same quality, whether they knew the correct country of origin or not.
Recognizing luxury
But that was not the case for luxury goods -- or, interestingly, for cars. Hermès scored 23% higher with students who correctly identified it as a French rather than a U.K. brand. Similarly, Lexus got 13% more low ratings from students who thought it was a U.S. brand than it did from those who knew it was Japanese. In other words, younger consumers today believe Japanese cars are better quality than their American counterparts -- a notion that might've been considered almost heresy several decades ago.
When it comes to your country's reputation, Mr. Anderson said, "You need to know if it's good, bad or indifferent. If it's good, play it up. If it's bad, just let it slide. If it's indifferent, you can decide whether to use it or not."
Of course there are multiple reasons for flag waving. In the auto industry, for example, companies such as Honda and Toyota tout the fact that many of their cars are "made in America," not to make claims regarding quality, but to show an older generation of Americans that the manufacturers have a stake in the "local" economy.
On the other hand, brands such as General Motors' Chevy are laying claim to a long, proud heritage in the U.S. Chevy spends big to do so. "American Revolution," its umbrella campaign for cars and trucks, began in late 2003. In September 2006, it began marketing its 2007 Silverado truck with the patriotic "Our Country, Our Truck" campaign set to John Mellencamp's song "Our Country." GM spent $77 million in measured media during October and November 2006 on Silverado, according to TNS.
Not like the old days
Such efforts help to move metal by speaking to older buyers who grew up during the "us vs. them" mentality of the Cold War. But, said Jonathan Paisner, brand director at CoreBrands, the flag waving and patriotism used in the Chevy ads likely don't strike the same note for young people.
"This younger generation has a more cynical perspective on things like patriotism, and that [marketing approach] can strike this group as heavy-handed or an old-world approach. ... That can be kind of a dangerous star to hitch yourself to."
Global thinking and online community also has smoothed out the image of countries that may have faired poorly reputation-wise with older demos.
That also means that a less-positive country association could change over time, although analysts agree it's a slow process.
"It's definitely not a fixed thing. It used to be that 'Made in America' was great and 'Made in Japan' was crap and now, if you're talking about electronics, I'd say it's almost the opposite," Mr. Paisner said. "It takes a long time -- you definitely have to prove yourself."
A Private Dow Jones?
"I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years."
Warren Buffett
Mergers & Acquisitions
A Private Dow Jones?
www.Forbes.com
Could Dow Jones & Co. go the way of Tribune?
It would be an ironic fate for the company that shares its name with America's leading stock market barometer, but the union that represents about 2,000 Dow Jones employees may try to take the company private.
The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees has retained Ownership Associates of Cambridge, Mass., to organize a bid that would counter the $5 billion, $60-a-share offer News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch put on the table for the company (see: "Game Over?").
IAPE and Ownership Associates have reached out to a short list of about 10 potential partners, including supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, who's agreed to join the effort, and billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who hasn't yet responded, according to IAPE President Steve Yount. Buffett said earlier that he wasn't interested in Dow Jones.
One possible option would be to take the company private through an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, Yount said. Depending on how the ESOP were structured, it could accomplish three different objectives: remove Murdoch from the picture, keep the Bancroft family invested in the company and shield Dow Jones from the pressures of the public markets. The union has said it fears Murdoch would meddle in the journalism at the company.
But scrounging up enough financial might to counter Murdoch's determination and considerable resources would appear to be an awfully tall order.
"If this was just about money, then I think we're in trouble,'' Yount acknowledged. But he added that "I have not gotten the impression from the Bancroft family that this is just about money. They have a legacy to protect."
Real estate mogul Sam Zell's highly leveraged buyout of Tribune involves increasing Tribune's debt to more than $13 billion, which will necessitate selling off key assets. But at least Tribune has assets to sell, such as the Chicago Cubs, which the company is already shopping around, and TV station holdings.
By contrast, Dow Jones is far closer to a media pure-play than Tribune and doesn't have much to sell that would make attractive, standalone assets separate from the rest of the company. The value of Barron's, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch.com and, of course, The Wall Street Journal Online are buttressed to varying degrees by their ties to the Journal.
Burkle makes for an interesting--and in some ways, uninspiring--partner. He made millions from grocery chain mergers and acquisitions and his Los Angeles holding company Yucaipa has investments in a wide range of other industries.
But Burkle has been decidedly less successful in his recent pursuit of newspapers. He led a failed effort last year to acquire 12 newspapers from McClatchy that the newspaper company had acquired from Knight-Ridder. Burkle worked with Ownership Associates to come up with a buyout proposal that would have involved an ESOP.
Later in the year, Burkle expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times from Tribune and subsequently joined forces with developer-philanthropist Eli Broad--surely another billionaire that IAPE has contacted--to submit a bid for the entire company. But the pair lost out in April to Zell. Burkle and representatives for Yucaipa would not comment.
IAPE's Yount said the union's hiring of Ownership Associates on Friday was prompted by a May 31 statement by the Bancroft family, which it was willing to consider strategic alternatives for the company and that it planned to hold talks with Murdoch. The family began meetings with the News Corp. chief began this week.
"I believe and the union believes that the unquestioned integrity of The Wall Street Journal would be called into question because of the track record of News Corp. and how it has handled its other properties,'' he said, adding that the "overwhelming majority" of the union membership "understands and shares the concerns of a News Corp. takeover."
removeXmlTagContents( "name.given" ); removeXmlTagContents( "name.family" );
Newspapers flourish in Internet age
Web posted at: 6/5/2007 8:53:8
Source ::: AFP
CAPE TOWN · Newspapers around the world saw a 2.3 per cent rise in circulation in 2006 and a growth in advertising revenue despite the rise of digital media, a report by a global industry body said yesterday.
Sales have increased 9.5 per cent in the last five years, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) said in a report, while advertising revenues in paid dailies rose 3.8 per cent last year and 15.8 per cent since 2002.
When adding free dailies into the mix, global circulation grew 4.6 per cent last year and 14.8 per cent since 2002.
"Newspapers are alive and well and exhibiting enormous innovation and energy to maintain their place as the news media of preference for hundreds of millions of people daily," WAN's CEO Timothy Balding said.
"As the digital tide gathers strength, it is remarkable that the press in print continues to be the media of preference for the majority of readers who want to remain informed," Balding added as the report was released at WAN's annual meeting in Cape Town.
The report said North America was the only continent to show a decline in newspaper sales, with the United States registering a 1.9 per cent drop in daily circulation last year and just over five percent in the past five years.
On the other end of the scale, South Africa saw sales grew by 8.2 percent last year and 43 per cent since 2002.
"Newspapers in developing markets continue to increase circulation by leaps and bounds, and in mature markets are showing remarkable resilience against the onslaught of the digital media," said Balding.
Warren Buffett
Mergers & Acquisitions
A Private Dow Jones?
www.Forbes.com
Could Dow Jones & Co. go the way of Tribune?
It would be an ironic fate for the company that shares its name with America's leading stock market barometer, but the union that represents about 2,000 Dow Jones employees may try to take the company private.
The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees has retained Ownership Associates of Cambridge, Mass., to organize a bid that would counter the $5 billion, $60-a-share offer News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch put on the table for the company (see: "Game Over?").
IAPE and Ownership Associates have reached out to a short list of about 10 potential partners, including supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, who's agreed to join the effort, and billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who hasn't yet responded, according to IAPE President Steve Yount. Buffett said earlier that he wasn't interested in Dow Jones.
One possible option would be to take the company private through an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, Yount said. Depending on how the ESOP were structured, it could accomplish three different objectives: remove Murdoch from the picture, keep the Bancroft family invested in the company and shield Dow Jones from the pressures of the public markets. The union has said it fears Murdoch would meddle in the journalism at the company.
But scrounging up enough financial might to counter Murdoch's determination and considerable resources would appear to be an awfully tall order.
"If this was just about money, then I think we're in trouble,'' Yount acknowledged. But he added that "I have not gotten the impression from the Bancroft family that this is just about money. They have a legacy to protect."
Real estate mogul Sam Zell's highly leveraged buyout of Tribune involves increasing Tribune's debt to more than $13 billion, which will necessitate selling off key assets. But at least Tribune has assets to sell, such as the Chicago Cubs, which the company is already shopping around, and TV station holdings.
By contrast, Dow Jones is far closer to a media pure-play than Tribune and doesn't have much to sell that would make attractive, standalone assets separate from the rest of the company. The value of Barron's, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch.com and, of course, The Wall Street Journal Online are buttressed to varying degrees by their ties to the Journal.
Burkle makes for an interesting--and in some ways, uninspiring--partner. He made millions from grocery chain mergers and acquisitions and his Los Angeles holding company Yucaipa has investments in a wide range of other industries.
But Burkle has been decidedly less successful in his recent pursuit of newspapers. He led a failed effort last year to acquire 12 newspapers from McClatchy that the newspaper company had acquired from Knight-Ridder. Burkle worked with Ownership Associates to come up with a buyout proposal that would have involved an ESOP.
Later in the year, Burkle expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times from Tribune and subsequently joined forces with developer-philanthropist Eli Broad--surely another billionaire that IAPE has contacted--to submit a bid for the entire company. But the pair lost out in April to Zell. Burkle and representatives for Yucaipa would not comment.
IAPE's Yount said the union's hiring of Ownership Associates on Friday was prompted by a May 31 statement by the Bancroft family, which it was willing to consider strategic alternatives for the company and that it planned to hold talks with Murdoch. The family began meetings with the News Corp. chief began this week.
"I believe and the union believes that the unquestioned integrity of The Wall Street Journal would be called into question because of the track record of News Corp. and how it has handled its other properties,'' he said, adding that the "overwhelming majority" of the union membership "understands and shares the concerns of a News Corp. takeover."
removeXmlTagContents( "name.given" ); removeXmlTagContents( "name.family" );
Newspapers flourish in Internet age
Web posted at: 6/5/2007 8:53:8
Source ::: AFP
CAPE TOWN · Newspapers around the world saw a 2.3 per cent rise in circulation in 2006 and a growth in advertising revenue despite the rise of digital media, a report by a global industry body said yesterday.
Sales have increased 9.5 per cent in the last five years, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) said in a report, while advertising revenues in paid dailies rose 3.8 per cent last year and 15.8 per cent since 2002.
When adding free dailies into the mix, global circulation grew 4.6 per cent last year and 14.8 per cent since 2002.
"Newspapers are alive and well and exhibiting enormous innovation and energy to maintain their place as the news media of preference for hundreds of millions of people daily," WAN's CEO Timothy Balding said.
"As the digital tide gathers strength, it is remarkable that the press in print continues to be the media of preference for the majority of readers who want to remain informed," Balding added as the report was released at WAN's annual meeting in Cape Town.
The report said North America was the only continent to show a decline in newspaper sales, with the United States registering a 1.9 per cent drop in daily circulation last year and just over five percent in the past five years.
On the other end of the scale, South Africa saw sales grew by 8.2 percent last year and 43 per cent since 2002.
"Newspapers in developing markets continue to increase circulation by leaps and bounds, and in mature markets are showing remarkable resilience against the onslaught of the digital media," said Balding.
THEIR 15 MINS. ARE UP
"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself"
Andy Warhol
THEIR 15 MINS. ARE UP
By KEITH J. KELLY
http://www.nypost.com/
May 30, 2007 -- POLO-playing Peter Brant, the real estate developer and art collector who bought Interview magazine with his then-wife Sandra from the Andy Warhol estate in 1989, has decided to put the mini-publishing empire up for sale.
In addition to Interview, Brant Publications also includes The Magazine Antiques and Art in America.
The company recently retained Allen & Co. to "explore strategic alternatives," sources say, which is the publishing industry's lingo that investment bankers use when they put a media property up for sale to the highest bidder.
Under Warhol's direction, the monthly magazine was a pioneer in chronicling both pop and underground cultures from a downtown perspective. The Brants had become art collectors who were fascinated with original Warhols and soon had befriended the man himself.
Two years after Warhol's death, Brant and wife agreed to buy full ownership of the magazines from the estate for $12 million - but it ended in bitterness. Their new company was eventually sued by the estate, which claimed after Brant paid the first $4 million up front, he backed out on the remainder and never paid the $7.2 million balance. The case was eventually settled.
More complications arose when Peter divorced Sandra. Sandra is the president and CEO and is still involved in the day-to-day operations. Peter remains the chairman of the jointly held company, but is listed below his ex-wife on the corporate masthead.
The biggest complication was Peter's 1990 conviction for tax evasion, which resulted in some hefty fines and a 90-day jail sentence.
But since getting out of the slammer, he has not slowed down. He eventually nabbed a trophy wife, former Victoria's Secret model Stephanie Seymour, and continued developing real estate - notably bringing polo to Greenwich, Conn., with the founding of the Greenwich Polo Club.
Neither of the Brants could be reached for comment yesterday.
Several industry executives confirmed the magazines are being shopped, however.
A spokesman for the magazine said only this: "Sandra Brant, president & CEO, and Ingrid Sischy, editor-in-chief, are as devoted as ever to Interview and excited about its future."
Defection;
It may get a little harder for the Condé Nast Portfolio folks to deny that there is unrest among the troops now that a second high-profile writer on the expensive glossy start-up has turned tail and run back home.
Betsy Morris, who quit Fortune when Eric Pooley was the top editor, has been lured back to the Time Inc.-owned magazine, now that new Managing Editor Andy Serwer and boss John Huey, editor-in-chief of Time Inc. are mounting a counteroffensive.
Morris resigned from her senior writer job yesterday and expected to be named to her old job at Fortune as early as today. She is the second high-profile defection from Editor-in-Chief Joanne Lipman's staff. Earlier, Laurie Cohen quit even before the launch took place to return to The Wall Street Journal, where she and Lipman were once colleagues.
Morris, who continued to work from Atlanta, could not be reached at presstime.
But unlike some of the stars who were upset when their stories did not make the cut for the first issue, Morris was in the starting lineup with a story on auto-scion Bill Ford and the future of the troubled car company.
She had been part of a tight-knit staff at Fortune when Huey was its editor in the mid-1990s.
Lipman confirmed the loss, but denied there was anything to worry about. "We wish Betsy well. She had a good run here." (One story is a good run?)
Asked if there were rumblings of discontent, she said, "Not even remotely. We have a remarkable degree of stability. Start-ups are thrilling and exciting, but they are not for everybody."
She also said they are still hiring. They just nabbed former Time Asia editor Karl Taro Greenfeld to join as a contributing editor.
Faking it
It's now week six for the Fake News coverage in Janice Min's Us Weekly, which each week tries to eviscerate some of its esteemed competition in the celebrity arena by showing what it calls faux news items that played out on the covers of other magazines.
In the issue that is to hit later this week, Min again goes after Life & Style for its incessant - and so far false - cover coverage that Angelina Jolie was losing Brad Pitt to old flame and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston.
It also scores against Life & Style's big sister, In Touch, for a story saying that Oprah Winfrey was consoling Brad and for alternating stories on a big fight between Brad and Angelina, to be followed by coverage of a big reunion six months later. The competitors are firing back, in particular, pointing to the cover of the current Us with a picture of Janet Jackson.
The cover story is on Janet's amazing 60-lb. weight loss and her ability to keep the weight off. But some of Us' rivals claim that recent paparazzi photos show Jackson gaining weight again and insist that the photo on the cover might be 2 years old or doctored in some way.
Arnold Turner, the photographer of the shot, insisted yesterday that the cover photo is indeed from the recent shoot he did with Jackson in The Bahamas. "I photographed Janet Jackson for the June 4 issue of Us Weekly on May 7. The shoot was specifically done for the cover story. The photo is consistent with all of the countless other photo and video images that were taken of her during the Atlantis' grand opening celebration, including her concert on May 11 and various other activities throughout that week."
Min does concede, however, there may have been a little "cosmetic touchup" for Jackson on the cover.
"The proportions of her body were not altered," said Min through a spokesman. "As is commonplace in the industry, there are superficial cosmetic touchups that occur on every cover."
She acknowledged that nobody is blameless when it comes to making errors - sometimes big ones - such as Us reporting the wrong sex prior to the birth of the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes baby.
"We strive for 100-percent accuracy, and when we make mistakes, we issue corrections," said Min. "They continue with a fictional plot line," she asserted, saying rivals will run two or three stories about a break-up that never happened.
At least one celebrity publicist, who did not want to be identified, said that there is a definite food chain among the celebrity weeklies, with People on top, followed by Us Weekly then In Touch, followed by Star, National Enquirer and Life & Style all jockeying for the last slots.
"There are times when they (Us Weekly) get it wrong, and there are times when I have issues with them, but when I need to have a conversation with them, they at least listen at some level," he said.
Andy Warhol
THEIR 15 MINS. ARE UP
By KEITH J. KELLY
http://www.nypost.com/
May 30, 2007 -- POLO-playing Peter Brant, the real estate developer and art collector who bought Interview magazine with his then-wife Sandra from the Andy Warhol estate in 1989, has decided to put the mini-publishing empire up for sale.
In addition to Interview, Brant Publications also includes The Magazine Antiques and Art in America.
The company recently retained Allen & Co. to "explore strategic alternatives," sources say, which is the publishing industry's lingo that investment bankers use when they put a media property up for sale to the highest bidder.
Under Warhol's direction, the monthly magazine was a pioneer in chronicling both pop and underground cultures from a downtown perspective. The Brants had become art collectors who were fascinated with original Warhols and soon had befriended the man himself.
Two years after Warhol's death, Brant and wife agreed to buy full ownership of the magazines from the estate for $12 million - but it ended in bitterness. Their new company was eventually sued by the estate, which claimed after Brant paid the first $4 million up front, he backed out on the remainder and never paid the $7.2 million balance. The case was eventually settled.
More complications arose when Peter divorced Sandra. Sandra is the president and CEO and is still involved in the day-to-day operations. Peter remains the chairman of the jointly held company, but is listed below his ex-wife on the corporate masthead.
The biggest complication was Peter's 1990 conviction for tax evasion, which resulted in some hefty fines and a 90-day jail sentence.
But since getting out of the slammer, he has not slowed down. He eventually nabbed a trophy wife, former Victoria's Secret model Stephanie Seymour, and continued developing real estate - notably bringing polo to Greenwich, Conn., with the founding of the Greenwich Polo Club.
Neither of the Brants could be reached for comment yesterday.
Several industry executives confirmed the magazines are being shopped, however.
A spokesman for the magazine said only this: "Sandra Brant, president & CEO, and Ingrid Sischy, editor-in-chief, are as devoted as ever to Interview and excited about its future."
Defection;
It may get a little harder for the Condé Nast Portfolio folks to deny that there is unrest among the troops now that a second high-profile writer on the expensive glossy start-up has turned tail and run back home.
Betsy Morris, who quit Fortune when Eric Pooley was the top editor, has been lured back to the Time Inc.-owned magazine, now that new Managing Editor Andy Serwer and boss John Huey, editor-in-chief of Time Inc. are mounting a counteroffensive.
Morris resigned from her senior writer job yesterday and expected to be named to her old job at Fortune as early as today. She is the second high-profile defection from Editor-in-Chief Joanne Lipman's staff. Earlier, Laurie Cohen quit even before the launch took place to return to The Wall Street Journal, where she and Lipman were once colleagues.
Morris, who continued to work from Atlanta, could not be reached at presstime.
But unlike some of the stars who were upset when their stories did not make the cut for the first issue, Morris was in the starting lineup with a story on auto-scion Bill Ford and the future of the troubled car company.
She had been part of a tight-knit staff at Fortune when Huey was its editor in the mid-1990s.
Lipman confirmed the loss, but denied there was anything to worry about. "We wish Betsy well. She had a good run here." (One story is a good run?)
Asked if there were rumblings of discontent, she said, "Not even remotely. We have a remarkable degree of stability. Start-ups are thrilling and exciting, but they are not for everybody."
She also said they are still hiring. They just nabbed former Time Asia editor Karl Taro Greenfeld to join as a contributing editor.
Faking it
It's now week six for the Fake News coverage in Janice Min's Us Weekly, which each week tries to eviscerate some of its esteemed competition in the celebrity arena by showing what it calls faux news items that played out on the covers of other magazines.
In the issue that is to hit later this week, Min again goes after Life & Style for its incessant - and so far false - cover coverage that Angelina Jolie was losing Brad Pitt to old flame and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston.
It also scores against Life & Style's big sister, In Touch, for a story saying that Oprah Winfrey was consoling Brad and for alternating stories on a big fight between Brad and Angelina, to be followed by coverage of a big reunion six months later. The competitors are firing back, in particular, pointing to the cover of the current Us with a picture of Janet Jackson.
The cover story is on Janet's amazing 60-lb. weight loss and her ability to keep the weight off. But some of Us' rivals claim that recent paparazzi photos show Jackson gaining weight again and insist that the photo on the cover might be 2 years old or doctored in some way.
Arnold Turner, the photographer of the shot, insisted yesterday that the cover photo is indeed from the recent shoot he did with Jackson in The Bahamas. "I photographed Janet Jackson for the June 4 issue of Us Weekly on May 7. The shoot was specifically done for the cover story. The photo is consistent with all of the countless other photo and video images that were taken of her during the Atlantis' grand opening celebration, including her concert on May 11 and various other activities throughout that week."
Min does concede, however, there may have been a little "cosmetic touchup" for Jackson on the cover.
"The proportions of her body were not altered," said Min through a spokesman. "As is commonplace in the industry, there are superficial cosmetic touchups that occur on every cover."
She acknowledged that nobody is blameless when it comes to making errors - sometimes big ones - such as Us reporting the wrong sex prior to the birth of the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes baby.
"We strive for 100-percent accuracy, and when we make mistakes, we issue corrections," said Min. "They continue with a fictional plot line," she asserted, saying rivals will run two or three stories about a break-up that never happened.
At least one celebrity publicist, who did not want to be identified, said that there is a definite food chain among the celebrity weeklies, with People on top, followed by Us Weekly then In Touch, followed by Star, National Enquirer and Life & Style all jockeying for the last slots.
"There are times when they (Us Weekly) get it wrong, and there are times when I have issues with them, but when I need to have a conversation with them, they at least listen at some level," he said.
The Biggest Niche
"You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
George W. Bush
The Biggest Niche
By William Powers, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
http://nationaljournal.com/powers.htm#
XM Satellite Radio just announced it's launching a 24-hour channel entirely devoted to the presidential campaign. Called POTUS '08, it will offer coverage of campaign events, fundraising, and polls, as well as interviews, archival audio from past campaigns, and contributions from what XM calls "nontraditional media outlets" such as bloggers and podcasters.
Mainstreamers have put up countless political blogs for ticktock coverage, but they also have the institutional experience, and the brand names, to clear their throats when the time comes and impose some order on the chaos.
First reaction on hearing this news: Whoa, 24 hours! This campaign is getting bigger every day. Presidential politics is taking over the universe.
Or is it? I'm an XM listener and a fan, to the extent that you can be a "fan" of a service that embraces everything from The G. Gordon Liddy Show to Boneyard, a music channel devoted to "hair bands." In fact, specialization is the name of the game in satellite radio, which is a kind of metaphor for all digital media. So, just as the Liddy show is for Liddy people and Boneyard is for the hair-band nation, POTUS '08 will inevitably be for those who live and breathe the campaign. Who does that except political professionals, journalists, and junkies in the Barcalounger demo?
Second reaction to the new channel: This campaign is getting smaller and smaller. Politics is all horse race now, insiders only. The "commons" is dead! Adios, democracy.
Which take reflects what's really happening right now to political coverage? Neither, and POTUS '08 is a nice chance to clear up a few misconceptions about the new world of political news.
First, while it's true that there is more coverage than ever, nobody has time to absorb it all. As I wrote here last week, one effect of the content explosion is that the campaign no longer arrives as one big picture that everyone takes in together. Instead, we all get whatever little pieces of it float across our screens -- headlines, e-mailed YouTube clips, bits of this and that.
It's the modern paradox: The bigger the content pie grows, the smaller each slice becomes. In fact, it isn't all that modern. The media were totally niche-ified in the 19th century, when newspapers came in every possible political flavor and voters followed the news through whatever rag matched their own sensibility.
POTUS '08 won't be ideological, but it's clearly a niche, a campaign-specific version of what C-SPAN has always been, a specialty item on a very long menu of channels. In fact, C-SPAN will be providing some of the content for this new channel, whose self-consciously jargonistic name plays to the junkie sensibility.
If niche fare has all the mojo these days, it's not the whole story. No matter how microtargeted the campaign media get -- and who knows, a 24-hour Tom Tancredo channel could be just around the corner -- every presidential election inevitably becomes a very macro event. There will be two major-party nominees, and in the final few months none of the minutiae that now obsess the insiders will matter.
The news outlets that thrive long-term, and consistently pull in audience, will be the ones that can go both large and small. This is not an easy trick, and the best-positioned to do it may be the unfashionable oldsters -- the big newspapers and TV networks that are consciously going in both directions. Those mainstreamers have put up countless political blogs for ticktock coverage, but they also have the institutional experience, and the brand names, to clear their throats when the time comes and impose some order on the chaos.
I spend all kinds of time in my own little content pods -- preprogrammed XM stations, the blogs I go back to repeatedly. But a point arrives in every campaign when you crave coverage and commentary from media people who take the opposite of the niche approach.
I've devoted whole columns to making fun of the old network-anchorman model. But looking ahead to this campaign, I find myself craving exactly that paleolithic kind of coverage, and I don't think I'm alone. ABC's Charlie Gibson is riding high right now because he's doing something akin to what the late, great Peter Jennings did on the same network: calmly scanning the landscape from the big chair, taking it all in, and intelligently making sense of it -- for everyone.
-- William Powers is a columnist for National Journal magazine,
George W. Bush
The Biggest Niche
By William Powers, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
http://nationaljournal.com/powers.htm#
XM Satellite Radio just announced it's launching a 24-hour channel entirely devoted to the presidential campaign. Called POTUS '08, it will offer coverage of campaign events, fundraising, and polls, as well as interviews, archival audio from past campaigns, and contributions from what XM calls "nontraditional media outlets" such as bloggers and podcasters.
Mainstreamers have put up countless political blogs for ticktock coverage, but they also have the institutional experience, and the brand names, to clear their throats when the time comes and impose some order on the chaos.
First reaction on hearing this news: Whoa, 24 hours! This campaign is getting bigger every day. Presidential politics is taking over the universe.
Or is it? I'm an XM listener and a fan, to the extent that you can be a "fan" of a service that embraces everything from The G. Gordon Liddy Show to Boneyard, a music channel devoted to "hair bands." In fact, specialization is the name of the game in satellite radio, which is a kind of metaphor for all digital media. So, just as the Liddy show is for Liddy people and Boneyard is for the hair-band nation, POTUS '08 will inevitably be for those who live and breathe the campaign. Who does that except political professionals, journalists, and junkies in the Barcalounger demo?
Second reaction to the new channel: This campaign is getting smaller and smaller. Politics is all horse race now, insiders only. The "commons" is dead! Adios, democracy.
Which take reflects what's really happening right now to political coverage? Neither, and POTUS '08 is a nice chance to clear up a few misconceptions about the new world of political news.
First, while it's true that there is more coverage than ever, nobody has time to absorb it all. As I wrote here last week, one effect of the content explosion is that the campaign no longer arrives as one big picture that everyone takes in together. Instead, we all get whatever little pieces of it float across our screens -- headlines, e-mailed YouTube clips, bits of this and that.
It's the modern paradox: The bigger the content pie grows, the smaller each slice becomes. In fact, it isn't all that modern. The media were totally niche-ified in the 19th century, when newspapers came in every possible political flavor and voters followed the news through whatever rag matched their own sensibility.
POTUS '08 won't be ideological, but it's clearly a niche, a campaign-specific version of what C-SPAN has always been, a specialty item on a very long menu of channels. In fact, C-SPAN will be providing some of the content for this new channel, whose self-consciously jargonistic name plays to the junkie sensibility.
If niche fare has all the mojo these days, it's not the whole story. No matter how microtargeted the campaign media get -- and who knows, a 24-hour Tom Tancredo channel could be just around the corner -- every presidential election inevitably becomes a very macro event. There will be two major-party nominees, and in the final few months none of the minutiae that now obsess the insiders will matter.
The news outlets that thrive long-term, and consistently pull in audience, will be the ones that can go both large and small. This is not an easy trick, and the best-positioned to do it may be the unfashionable oldsters -- the big newspapers and TV networks that are consciously going in both directions. Those mainstreamers have put up countless political blogs for ticktock coverage, but they also have the institutional experience, and the brand names, to clear their throats when the time comes and impose some order on the chaos.
I spend all kinds of time in my own little content pods -- preprogrammed XM stations, the blogs I go back to repeatedly. But a point arrives in every campaign when you crave coverage and commentary from media people who take the opposite of the niche approach.
I've devoted whole columns to making fun of the old network-anchorman model. But looking ahead to this campaign, I find myself craving exactly that paleolithic kind of coverage, and I don't think I'm alone. ABC's Charlie Gibson is riding high right now because he's doing something akin to what the late, great Peter Jennings did on the same network: calmly scanning the landscape from the big chair, taking it all in, and intelligently making sense of it -- for everyone.
-- William Powers is a columnist for National Journal magazine,
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Mr. Magazine Vs. MPA in Number of New launches
"President Reagan has noted that there are too many economic pundits and forecasters and has decided on an excess prophets tax"
Unknown
Mr. Magazine Vs. MPA in Number of New launches
Early May numbers show a healthy month in launches
By Samir Husni
http://mrmagazine.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/early-may-numbers-show-a-healthy-month-in-launches/
My early numbers for May show a total of 81 new magazines launched during last month. That brings the total number of launches this year to 283 so far which is still short 84 titles from the 367 total of the same period last year. Although it is too soon to say that this may be the beginning of the reverse of the decline in number of launches, it is however the highest number of launches this year (20 more than the previous high of 61 in January). Keep in mind that all the numbers used in Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines (Volume 22 out now, you can order here) and Mr. Magazine website are numbers based on real physical possession of the magazines and not launch announcements or preview issues. To ensure your new magazine is included in the Guide or considered for review on our website, please send a copy of your first issue to: Samir Husni, Department of Journalism, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.
-----------------------------------------------------
105 magazines launched in Q1: MPA
By Lauren Bell
http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/print-production/41264.html
The Magazine Publishers of America said 105 new magazines were published in the first quarter of 2007.
They represent a 4 percent increase in magazine launches over the same period last year.
Of the new titles launched or announced, 22 served affluent readers; seven focused on kids and teenagers; and six were on home and shelter. Twelve of the new titles were geared toward sports and recreation. Six new titles were created for African-American readers, and four magazines targeted the Hispanic market.
Titles launched by MPA members include Condé Nast Publications' Portfolio; Disney and ESPN's E Sports Parent N, Forbes' Forbes Life Executive Women and Hachette Filipacchi's Ty Pennington Style. Also launched by MPA members this year were Hearst Corp.'s 210SA, Rodale's Men's Health Living, Taunton Press' Be Sew Stylish, and Time Inc.'s Project Y, Your Look.
Unknown
Mr. Magazine Vs. MPA in Number of New launches
Early May numbers show a healthy month in launches
By Samir Husni
http://mrmagazine.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/early-may-numbers-show-a-healthy-month-in-launches/
My early numbers for May show a total of 81 new magazines launched during last month. That brings the total number of launches this year to 283 so far which is still short 84 titles from the 367 total of the same period last year. Although it is too soon to say that this may be the beginning of the reverse of the decline in number of launches, it is however the highest number of launches this year (20 more than the previous high of 61 in January). Keep in mind that all the numbers used in Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines (Volume 22 out now, you can order here) and Mr. Magazine website are numbers based on real physical possession of the magazines and not launch announcements or preview issues. To ensure your new magazine is included in the Guide or considered for review on our website, please send a copy of your first issue to: Samir Husni, Department of Journalism, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.
-----------------------------------------------------
105 magazines launched in Q1: MPA
By Lauren Bell
http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/print-production/41264.html
The Magazine Publishers of America said 105 new magazines were published in the first quarter of 2007.
They represent a 4 percent increase in magazine launches over the same period last year.
Of the new titles launched or announced, 22 served affluent readers; seven focused on kids and teenagers; and six were on home and shelter. Twelve of the new titles were geared toward sports and recreation. Six new titles were created for African-American readers, and four magazines targeted the Hispanic market.
Titles launched by MPA members include Condé Nast Publications' Portfolio; Disney and ESPN's E Sports Parent N, Forbes' Forbes Life Executive Women and Hachette Filipacchi's Ty Pennington Style. Also launched by MPA members this year were Hearst Corp.'s 210SA, Rodale's Men's Health Living, Taunton Press' Be Sew Stylish, and Time Inc.'s Project Y, Your Look.
Israeli printing technology could deliver 1,000 pages a minute
Not everybody knows everything, so use everything you know."
Unknown
Israeli printing technology could deliver 1,000 pages a minute
By Stuart Winer
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp? enZone=Technology&enDisplay=view&enPage=Blank Page&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Articles^l167 3
Imagine a bookstore that prints your purchases while you settle the bill or a personalized newspaper that contains only the news you want to read. Such expedient printing may soon become a reality using a new Israeli technology that will enable printing 1,000 pages a minute at affordable prices.
Two researchers from The College of Judea and Samaria - Moshe and Nissim Einat - have developed a revolutionary printing technique called Jetrix, which enables simultaneous high- speed printing of an entire page of text. The technology combines printing and Liquid Crystal Technology (LCD) methods to make a page-sized printing array that emits ink instead of light.
"We are reducing the limitations of printing heads," explains Moshe Einat, senior lecturer at the college's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Einat's inspiration for rethinking print methods came from flat-screen display technologies. In the past display screens used a cathode ray tube to 'scan' the picture across the screen similar to the way a printer fills a page with text. With LCDs a screen-sized array of light emitting diodes creates the displayed picture and simultaneously changes to display each new image. Einat posed the question whether the same concept could not be applied to a printed page?
"If you can do it with light, why not with ink?" he asked.
Early printers used a continuous jet of ink to print on pages but were later replaced by modern Drop On Demand (DOD) printers in which a traveling head of tiny nozzles squirts ink at the page. The dots combine to produce the desired print. Current printers use a single print head that scans across the page but mechanical and physical limitations present a range of barriers that cap print speeds.
Combining a multitude of ink nozzles together into larger print heads is complex and fraught with technical difficulties. Einat's solution is a matrix of printer heads fed by multiple ink chambers. With a matrix as large as the page, each head is fired only once per page allowing a much longer relaxation time and negating the need for a scanning head.
The key to the new technology is the way ink is fed to the print head. The Jetrix print head has no manifold and is comprised of segments containing micro- reservoirs of ink each connected to just a few nozzles. Each segment only provides ink to a few local nozzles making the segments autonomous.
With no direct connection between the different segments the matrix size can be increased without limit creating a print head as large as the paper.
"You can make a matrix of as many segments as you want," Einat told ISRAEL21c. The result is simultaneous printing of the entire matrix on the page. Released from the limitations of relaxation times and mechanical scanning high print speeds can be achieved without a loss in quality.
In Einat's view, the idea is more than just an innovation; it marks a turning point in core technology for printers. In the past print speed was limited by the rate at which ink could be transferred from the ink source to the page. The Jetrix head removes that barrier and the limiting factor will now become another part of the print process, such as the rate at which paper can be supplied to or output from the printer, or the time it takes the ink to dry on the pages.
So far Einat has made a matrix of 12 x 12 centimeters that demonstrated the theory is sound and that the capillary action is fast enough to keep the nozzles supplied with ink. Despite its size the prototype matrix contains 57,600 nozzles, so small that the delicate capillaries and nozzles were created with the same processes used to manufacture computer chips. The print head works only in black and white but Einat is confident that it can be adapted for color printing too.
Development has cost $140,000 funded by Israel's Industry and Trade Ministry and 'angel money'. Costs are kept low because much of the technology is based on existing LCD know-how, a fact that will also keep down the costs for full-size working printers. Current top of the range printers used to print bank statements and utility bills are able to print over a thousand pages a minute but the room-sized printers can cost over $100,000 a piece.
Einat predicts that a simple printer using his technology should be far more affordable, and even within the budget of home users. Such flexible and expedient printing has a wide range of applications.
"Anything that is printed today can be done with it," Einat says.
Rapid printing could lead to a variety of 'on demand' printing products. Bookstores could print books as the customer waits, and at 1,000 pages a minute, the wait wouldn't be very long. Printing on demand would make significant savings for publishers that today often see 40 percent of books remain on the shelves in stores.
'They could print right there in the shop, fresh off the press,' says Einat who also envisions vending machines at airports printing books for travelers as they wait to board a flight.
The print method may also give a new lease of life to newspapers and magazines that are losing customers to Internet-based media. A press could run off thousands of personalized newspapers that contain only the news topics that interest each individual reader.
The Jetrix print head was first presented publicly at the Global Entrepolis Singapore in 2006 and since then has been generating broad interest from the print industry. Several global printer companies are keeping a keen eye on developments with the expectation of a full-working printer. In the meantime Einat plans to build an even larger prototype before moving on to a full-size working printer.
Should the technology prove itself, it may also expand into other industries. Einat theorizes that the same principle could be used to print microcircuits, which would revolutionize that industry, although he concedes that at the moment, that is still a long way off.
Unknown
Israeli printing technology could deliver 1,000 pages a minute
By Stuart Winer
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp? enZone=Technology&enDisplay=view&enPage=Blank Page&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Articles^l167 3
Imagine a bookstore that prints your purchases while you settle the bill or a personalized newspaper that contains only the news you want to read. Such expedient printing may soon become a reality using a new Israeli technology that will enable printing 1,000 pages a minute at affordable prices.
Two researchers from The College of Judea and Samaria - Moshe and Nissim Einat - have developed a revolutionary printing technique called Jetrix, which enables simultaneous high- speed printing of an entire page of text. The technology combines printing and Liquid Crystal Technology (LCD) methods to make a page-sized printing array that emits ink instead of light.
"We are reducing the limitations of printing heads," explains Moshe Einat, senior lecturer at the college's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Einat's inspiration for rethinking print methods came from flat-screen display technologies. In the past display screens used a cathode ray tube to 'scan' the picture across the screen similar to the way a printer fills a page with text. With LCDs a screen-sized array of light emitting diodes creates the displayed picture and simultaneously changes to display each new image. Einat posed the question whether the same concept could not be applied to a printed page?
"If you can do it with light, why not with ink?" he asked.
Early printers used a continuous jet of ink to print on pages but were later replaced by modern Drop On Demand (DOD) printers in which a traveling head of tiny nozzles squirts ink at the page. The dots combine to produce the desired print. Current printers use a single print head that scans across the page but mechanical and physical limitations present a range of barriers that cap print speeds.
Combining a multitude of ink nozzles together into larger print heads is complex and fraught with technical difficulties. Einat's solution is a matrix of printer heads fed by multiple ink chambers. With a matrix as large as the page, each head is fired only once per page allowing a much longer relaxation time and negating the need for a scanning head.
The key to the new technology is the way ink is fed to the print head. The Jetrix print head has no manifold and is comprised of segments containing micro- reservoirs of ink each connected to just a few nozzles. Each segment only provides ink to a few local nozzles making the segments autonomous.
With no direct connection between the different segments the matrix size can be increased without limit creating a print head as large as the paper.
"You can make a matrix of as many segments as you want," Einat told ISRAEL21c. The result is simultaneous printing of the entire matrix on the page. Released from the limitations of relaxation times and mechanical scanning high print speeds can be achieved without a loss in quality.
In Einat's view, the idea is more than just an innovation; it marks a turning point in core technology for printers. In the past print speed was limited by the rate at which ink could be transferred from the ink source to the page. The Jetrix head removes that barrier and the limiting factor will now become another part of the print process, such as the rate at which paper can be supplied to or output from the printer, or the time it takes the ink to dry on the pages.
So far Einat has made a matrix of 12 x 12 centimeters that demonstrated the theory is sound and that the capillary action is fast enough to keep the nozzles supplied with ink. Despite its size the prototype matrix contains 57,600 nozzles, so small that the delicate capillaries and nozzles were created with the same processes used to manufacture computer chips. The print head works only in black and white but Einat is confident that it can be adapted for color printing too.
Development has cost $140,000 funded by Israel's Industry and Trade Ministry and 'angel money'. Costs are kept low because much of the technology is based on existing LCD know-how, a fact that will also keep down the costs for full-size working printers. Current top of the range printers used to print bank statements and utility bills are able to print over a thousand pages a minute but the room-sized printers can cost over $100,000 a piece.
Einat predicts that a simple printer using his technology should be far more affordable, and even within the budget of home users. Such flexible and expedient printing has a wide range of applications.
"Anything that is printed today can be done with it," Einat says.
Rapid printing could lead to a variety of 'on demand' printing products. Bookstores could print books as the customer waits, and at 1,000 pages a minute, the wait wouldn't be very long. Printing on demand would make significant savings for publishers that today often see 40 percent of books remain on the shelves in stores.
'They could print right there in the shop, fresh off the press,' says Einat who also envisions vending machines at airports printing books for travelers as they wait to board a flight.
The print method may also give a new lease of life to newspapers and magazines that are losing customers to Internet-based media. A press could run off thousands of personalized newspapers that contain only the news topics that interest each individual reader.
The Jetrix print head was first presented publicly at the Global Entrepolis Singapore in 2006 and since then has been generating broad interest from the print industry. Several global printer companies are keeping a keen eye on developments with the expectation of a full-working printer. In the meantime Einat plans to build an even larger prototype before moving on to a full-size working printer.
Should the technology prove itself, it may also expand into other industries. Einat theorizes that the same principle could be used to print microcircuits, which would revolutionize that industry, although he concedes that at the moment, that is still a long way off.
Google's Book Search available in publisher sites
"Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time"
Edwin P. Whipple (American author and lecturer 1819-1886)
Google's Book Search available in publisher sites
For the first time, the Book Search engine will be available outside of google.com, and publishers can tailor searches so that only their own books will show up as results
By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/06/01/Google-Book-Search-available-in-publisher-sites_1.html
Google is making its controversial Book Search engine available to publishers interested in putting it on their Web sites.
This is the first time Google's Book Search service has been available outside of its main site in the Google.com domain.
This co-branded search program benefits Google because the search engine will now be available more broadly. Meanwhile, publishers benefit by offering an additional search service to their Web site visitors.
Publishers can tailor the index of their search engine so that only books published by them show up in the query results, Google said Friday. As in the main Book Search site, these result pages give users the option to link to online shops that sell the listed books.
Interestingly, one of the publishers that put Book Search on its Web site is The McGraw-Hill Companies. Along with other major publishers, McGraw-Hill is suing Google for copyright infringement over Google's ongoing project to scan millions of copyright books without permission.
Although McGraw-Hill's position may seem at first contradictory, it stems from the fact that Google's Book Search service has two main pieces.
One focuses on securing formal partnerships with publishers, obtaining their permission to scan books and giving them control over how much of those books can be displayed by Google for free.
McGraw-Hill is one of about 10,000 publishers that participate in this partner program with Google that have collectively made available about 1 million titles for scanning so far, said Tom Turvey, director of Google Book Search partnerships. About 50 publishers have embedded Book Search in their sites already, and many more are in line to do so, Turvey said. McGraw-Hill didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Simultaneously, McGraw-Hill objects to the other portion of the Book Search operation, in which Google partners with major academic libraries to scan large portions of their collections. Those library scanning operations often involve copyrighted books, which Google is digitally copying without obtaining permission from publishers and authors.
U.S. Book Sales Increases Will Slow, Report Says
By Heather Burke
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601205&sid=a3K0Wiv14iD8
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. book sales will increase less than 4 percent annually during each of the next five years as the publishing industry competes with the Internet and other media, a study found.
Sales climbed 3.1 percent to $35.7 billion in 2006, according to the Book Industry Study Group Inc. Titles sold rose 0.5 percent to 3.1 billion, the New York-based trade group said in the 2007 edition of Book Industry Trends, released today.
Publishers increasingly vie for readers with the Internet, cable television and other media. U.S. book sales will be buoyed this year by Scholastic Corp.'s ``Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,'' the seventh and final book of the series, which comes out July 21. The novels have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide and made author J.K. Rowling a billionaire.
``Book sales are slowing down, although not dramatically,'' said Edward Atorino, a media analyst with Benchmark Co. in New York. ``Part of the slowdown will be from the lack of `Harry Potter' and competition from electronic communications.''
Book sales at publishers including Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc., are forecast to climb 3.9 percent to $37.1 billion in 2007, the report said. The annual sales gain is projected to decline almost each year through 2011, when publishers may report a 2.7 percent increase in revenue.
Juvenile trade hardcover sales probably will jump 9 percent in 2007 to $1.83 billion, then dip 0.4 percent in 2008.
School Books
Workbooks and textbooks for elementary and high school students may post some of the biggest sales gains, climbing about 7 percent annually for the next three years. Sales of such books climbed 1 percent to $4.75 billion in 2006.
Educational sales may increase because more states plan to buy new textbooks in reading, math and other subjects through 2009, said Atorino.
The BISG study was compiled using financial data from publicly traded companies, analyst reports, industry group information, statistical data, government reports and book industry experts.
A May 22 report by the Association of American Publishers found sales fell 0.3 percent to $24.2 billion in 2006. The group uses Census data and sales figures from 81 publishers to compile its estimates.
Edwin P. Whipple (American author and lecturer 1819-1886)
Google's Book Search available in publisher sites
For the first time, the Book Search engine will be available outside of google.com, and publishers can tailor searches so that only their own books will show up as results
By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/06/01/Google-Book-Search-available-in-publisher-sites_1.html
Google is making its controversial Book Search engine available to publishers interested in putting it on their Web sites.
This is the first time Google's Book Search service has been available outside of its main site in the Google.com domain.
This co-branded search program benefits Google because the search engine will now be available more broadly. Meanwhile, publishers benefit by offering an additional search service to their Web site visitors.
Publishers can tailor the index of their search engine so that only books published by them show up in the query results, Google said Friday. As in the main Book Search site, these result pages give users the option to link to online shops that sell the listed books.
Interestingly, one of the publishers that put Book Search on its Web site is The McGraw-Hill Companies. Along with other major publishers, McGraw-Hill is suing Google for copyright infringement over Google's ongoing project to scan millions of copyright books without permission.
Although McGraw-Hill's position may seem at first contradictory, it stems from the fact that Google's Book Search service has two main pieces.
One focuses on securing formal partnerships with publishers, obtaining their permission to scan books and giving them control over how much of those books can be displayed by Google for free.
McGraw-Hill is one of about 10,000 publishers that participate in this partner program with Google that have collectively made available about 1 million titles for scanning so far, said Tom Turvey, director of Google Book Search partnerships. About 50 publishers have embedded Book Search in their sites already, and many more are in line to do so, Turvey said. McGraw-Hill didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Simultaneously, McGraw-Hill objects to the other portion of the Book Search operation, in which Google partners with major academic libraries to scan large portions of their collections. Those library scanning operations often involve copyrighted books, which Google is digitally copying without obtaining permission from publishers and authors.
U.S. Book Sales Increases Will Slow, Report Says
By Heather Burke
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601205&sid=a3K0Wiv14iD8
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. book sales will increase less than 4 percent annually during each of the next five years as the publishing industry competes with the Internet and other media, a study found.
Sales climbed 3.1 percent to $35.7 billion in 2006, according to the Book Industry Study Group Inc. Titles sold rose 0.5 percent to 3.1 billion, the New York-based trade group said in the 2007 edition of Book Industry Trends, released today.
Publishers increasingly vie for readers with the Internet, cable television and other media. U.S. book sales will be buoyed this year by Scholastic Corp.'s ``Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,'' the seventh and final book of the series, which comes out July 21. The novels have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide and made author J.K. Rowling a billionaire.
``Book sales are slowing down, although not dramatically,'' said Edward Atorino, a media analyst with Benchmark Co. in New York. ``Part of the slowdown will be from the lack of `Harry Potter' and competition from electronic communications.''
Book sales at publishers including Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc., are forecast to climb 3.9 percent to $37.1 billion in 2007, the report said. The annual sales gain is projected to decline almost each year through 2011, when publishers may report a 2.7 percent increase in revenue.
Juvenile trade hardcover sales probably will jump 9 percent in 2007 to $1.83 billion, then dip 0.4 percent in 2008.
School Books
Workbooks and textbooks for elementary and high school students may post some of the biggest sales gains, climbing about 7 percent annually for the next three years. Sales of such books climbed 1 percent to $4.75 billion in 2006.
Educational sales may increase because more states plan to buy new textbooks in reading, math and other subjects through 2009, said Atorino.
The BISG study was compiled using financial data from publicly traded companies, analyst reports, industry group information, statistical data, government reports and book industry experts.
A May 22 report by the Association of American Publishers found sales fell 0.3 percent to $24.2 billion in 2006. The group uses Census data and sales figures from 81 publishers to compile its estimates.
Monday, June 04, 2007
BoSacks Readers Speak Out: on Time Inc, Dow Jones, Mr. Magazine, MRI and Dignity
"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."
Howard Aiken (American computer engineer and mathematician 1900-1973)
BoSacks Readers Speak Out: on Time Inc, Dow Jones, Mr. Magazine, MRI and Dignity
www.bosacks.com
Re: Time Inc. Waves to Gossip Sites on Its Way to the Bank
Ann Moore's arrogance is truly stunning! "Get out of the way. The People editors are coming." Does Ms. Moore think that 71 page views per website visitor is a GOOD thing? To me, that says that some people have a LOT of time on their hands. Once again, will someone please identify the advertisers who want to reach an audience that does nothing more intellectually stimulating than spend that much time at People.com? I think Ann Moore has been in her Time Inc. job too long, and there is a real need for a reenergized leader to better manage the company before it is too late. I'll bet Don Logan would not have even acknowledged celebrity news. He had too much class for that.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing)
Re: Dow Jones Desperately needs Murdoch? Oh, please!
What i find so funny about the generally negative response that Murdoch has gotten from the media elite is that he is far more astute about digital media than they are. The man finds niches that are underserved or un-served and goes after them relentlessly. It was dumb to start another broadcast network, because they already had three. Why start another news channel? We already have CNN and MSNBC. Cartoons in prime time? That was out when the Flintstones were cancelled... and then we got Homer Simpson.
This move to get WSJ is more like a shot across the bow to NBC who has put its CNBC eggs in the Dow Jones basket. If Murdoch owns Dow Jones or WSJ, NBC is left without a partner for CNBC as Rupert gets a gem that he can use to build Fox Business News. I think many in the media hate Murdoch because he keeps outFOXing his critics (pun intended).
(Submitted by an Industry Analyst)
Re: Dow Jones Desperately needs Murdoch? Oh, please!
Mudoch doesn't want to buy the Journal for respectibility. He wants to get people who own data (database business) and who have managed to create web properties that bring in significant cash because they are so good at what they do. It's not that they need him, but that he needs them. Buying MySpace may have been smart - or not, as enough time hasn't gone by to see. But whether a wise or foolish purchase, it was only that: a purchase of something that became a fad. The WSJ online is an *engineered* phenomenon, and the vast majority of the web hasn't figured out how to accomplish something similar.
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: Magazines Feeling Postal Pinch
Could the USPS do a better job of driving us all out of business if they tried? Now that I think of it and based on performance, if that were their goal they would very likely be much less efficient and effective in accomplishing it. It is a relatively straightforward matter to defend oneself from the overt intentions of government, and government sponsored monopolies. It is the unintended effects, springing from their innate ineptitude, that will get you.
(Submitted by a Printer)
Re: Mag Sag: Readership Growing Older
Wait until 2009 when all the special deals go away, ie. using up leftover air miles on discontinued credit cards and airline bonus miles. My wife and I have been getting these types of subscriptions going on 2 years and we will not renew any of them.
(Submitted by a Paper Person)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
I'm with you, Bo, that "Handguns" figure is a load of crapola. I use 2
readers per 1 copy for my "readership" figures, based on my own survey data
of MY readers. I actually prefer just to give advertisers my printrun figures.
Anything higher is ... well, I already used that word, didn't I?
(Submitted by a Publisher)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
Even if it's true that that the statistics say that Handgun Magazine gets 47.1 readers per copy, it ain't so.
You are correct. But I probably read my copy of the magazine (That's a shooting enthusiast pun!) 47.1 times. That should count for something.
(Submitted by a Printer)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
If you think about it, magazines must be playing with the definition of "read." So, a magazine on the rack at a store that gets flipped through by, say, 15 people but not purchases has been "read" 15 times. Or they over-estimate library/public use copies. But the lack of questioning on the part of this article is disturbing. Forget 47.15 readers a month - even BH&G's claim of 5 readers per copy seems lunacy.
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: MORT SLASHES MAGAZINE STAFF
Question: U.S. News is a closely held private company, so how does the
New York Post know that it "loses millions of dollars a year"?
Answer: It got a tip from Vice President Gephardt.
I have never seen a P&L for U.S. News, but I would be surprised if it is
losing millions. It certainly isn't losing as much money as the New York
Post.
(Submitted by a Publishing Director)
Re: THE DEATH OF PRINT NEWS is inevitable
Bob, this is the freshest, most intelligent article I've read in a very long time on the new publishing model of how to adjust to print's decline and online's rise and what the media companies need to do to make it work.
(Submitted by a weekly senior production operations manager)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
I find it curious that some people wish to hold the circulation reporting of a magazine to a higher standard than they apply to the content it reports. Funny world.
(Submitted by a Printer)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
Samir gets it right when he says "(celebrity) magazines are more like Prozac for the readers", but Janice Min is also right in trying to maintain a semblence of editorial integrity in a publishing category with very low standards for truth and objectivity. If there is a problem, it is that people reading the made-up stories and fabrications are not smart, or cynical, enough to understand that "just because you read it in a newspaper doesn't necessarily mean it is true." Bonnie Fuller, Min's predecessor at US and now the mud slinging honcho at AMI's Star, is at the other (lower) end of the integrity spectrum. (Min also has the discipline and understanding of editorial closing deadlines, unlike Ms. Fuller, and Janice always meets them, which is why her newsstand sales have soared during her last three years at US. Titles distributed on time ALWAYS sell better than titles that are late, regardless of the category.)
Intentional fabrication of stories and bogus cover lines may trick the reader for a while, but when a publication has lost editorial integrity, then it's Game Over time. Readers either keep buying for the sheer entertainment value, like watching a soap opera, or else they're just not very bright. Either way, can someone tell me which advertisers want to reach the consumers in either category? Not a sustainable business model, in my opinion.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing and Distribution)
Re: Tab Wars: Breaking News or Faking News?
Bo, In the "Tab Wars" article, for "Professor" Husni to dismiss the responsibility of journalism in celebrity reporting and suggest we should all be happy with some type of "gossip" grouping disclaimer that lets publishers say anything about stars for the purpose of entertainment is perhaps the most wrong headed thing I have ever heard him say. Mr. Husni shows no respect for truth and fosters the destructively cynical view that's all one big entertainment. Wonder how he would react if it were his life or family being misreported about for the purpose of selling crappy magazines! Worse, we should question this position for a University journalism program.
Bravo to Us for having the guts to call out its smarmy competitors, if they want to copy People and Us let it start with practices of integrity. If magazines want to have internal "gossip" columns with disclaimers about truth, well fine, if that's the best we can do. Is Us just saving it's own hide? You bet, and why shouldn't it? Is this honest competition? Ironically it is a lesson Us learned from People long ago.
Do we take ourselves too seriously in publishing? Ever ask yourself the consequence of the opposite. Here's something serious, Samir Husni disgraced himself in this article and I've had just about enough from this guy who's never contributed a damn thing to the magazine article except his own self aggrandizing. "Mr. Magazine?" Perhaps, he paid for that title it was not awarded and he obviously won't ever be confused as "Mr. Journalism," or "Mr. Integrity" for that matter.
(Submitted by a Senior Publishing Director)
Re: Tab Wars: Breaking News or Faking News?
There's a big difference between pleasing your customers and pandering to them. If you don't have enough self respect to do your work correctly, you customers will start to lose respect, and the next step is that they'll find something else to do. Perhaps I'm misremembering, but aren't some of the biggest gossip rags having large financial troubles? If it's insulting to a reader to assume he or she can't figure out when titles are full of crap, isn't it doubly insulting to peddle that crap?
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
Bob, Magazine editors rarely, if ever, refer to another magazine in their pages. This is a short-sighted because magazine readers read more than one magazine and are making comparisons all the time between magazines. (We know they read multiple magazines because most magazine subscriptions are sold via direct mail to readers of other magazines.) So I think it's great that US is providing their own take on how magazines in their category stack up. It will make for good reading.
My favorite instance of one magazine referring to another is when Spy started a column in its magazine of letters to the New Yorker. The New Yorker didn't have its own letters column, so Spy provided that forum for New Yorker readers. It was fun and provocative editorial material. PS - I LOVE the Weekly World News.
(Submitted by a Publisher)
Re: Parsons: 'Not an Advocate' of Selling Time Inc
So Richard Parsons is "not an advocate" of selling Time Inc. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked at Time Inc for more than ten years at the end of the hey-day...through the 1980's, when Ray Cave was editing a first class, respected, timely (no pun intended) and newsworthy magazine. It was a great time, very satisfying, and continued until Robber Baron Steve Ross (remember him?) did his financial tricks and let the Wall Street Fox in with the chickens. I think that thirty years from now, business historians will look back on American industry (not just Time Inc., or publishing and printing, but everything) and write that management decisions that were made by companies in response to pressure to meet Wall Street targets effectively destroyed American Business. Greed is good, or that's what they thought in the 1990's with Time Warner and AOL Time Warner. It was great to have been part of a class act in publishing. Sort of like being lucky enough to take the Queen Mary I on the last transatlantic crossing from London to New York. End of an era, never to be repeated.
(Submitted by a Senior Manufacturing Publishing Director)
Howard Aiken (American computer engineer and mathematician 1900-1973)
BoSacks Readers Speak Out: on Time Inc, Dow Jones, Mr. Magazine, MRI and Dignity
www.bosacks.com
Re: Time Inc. Waves to Gossip Sites on Its Way to the Bank
Ann Moore's arrogance is truly stunning! "Get out of the way. The People editors are coming." Does Ms. Moore think that 71 page views per website visitor is a GOOD thing? To me, that says that some people have a LOT of time on their hands. Once again, will someone please identify the advertisers who want to reach an audience that does nothing more intellectually stimulating than spend that much time at People.com? I think Ann Moore has been in her Time Inc. job too long, and there is a real need for a reenergized leader to better manage the company before it is too late. I'll bet Don Logan would not have even acknowledged celebrity news. He had too much class for that.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing)
Re: Dow Jones Desperately needs Murdoch? Oh, please!
What i find so funny about the generally negative response that Murdoch has gotten from the media elite is that he is far more astute about digital media than they are. The man finds niches that are underserved or un-served and goes after them relentlessly. It was dumb to start another broadcast network, because they already had three. Why start another news channel? We already have CNN and MSNBC. Cartoons in prime time? That was out when the Flintstones were cancelled... and then we got Homer Simpson.
This move to get WSJ is more like a shot across the bow to NBC who has put its CNBC eggs in the Dow Jones basket. If Murdoch owns Dow Jones or WSJ, NBC is left without a partner for CNBC as Rupert gets a gem that he can use to build Fox Business News. I think many in the media hate Murdoch because he keeps outFOXing his critics (pun intended).
(Submitted by an Industry Analyst)
Re: Dow Jones Desperately needs Murdoch? Oh, please!
Mudoch doesn't want to buy the Journal for respectibility. He wants to get people who own data (database business) and who have managed to create web properties that bring in significant cash because they are so good at what they do. It's not that they need him, but that he needs them. Buying MySpace may have been smart - or not, as enough time hasn't gone by to see. But whether a wise or foolish purchase, it was only that: a purchase of something that became a fad. The WSJ online is an *engineered* phenomenon, and the vast majority of the web hasn't figured out how to accomplish something similar.
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: Magazines Feeling Postal Pinch
Could the USPS do a better job of driving us all out of business if they tried? Now that I think of it and based on performance, if that were their goal they would very likely be much less efficient and effective in accomplishing it. It is a relatively straightforward matter to defend oneself from the overt intentions of government, and government sponsored monopolies. It is the unintended effects, springing from their innate ineptitude, that will get you.
(Submitted by a Printer)
Re: Mag Sag: Readership Growing Older
Wait until 2009 when all the special deals go away, ie. using up leftover air miles on discontinued credit cards and airline bonus miles. My wife and I have been getting these types of subscriptions going on 2 years and we will not renew any of them.
(Submitted by a Paper Person)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
I'm with you, Bo, that "Handguns" figure is a load of crapola. I use 2
readers per 1 copy for my "readership" figures, based on my own survey data
of MY readers. I actually prefer just to give advertisers my printrun figures.
Anything higher is ... well, I already used that word, didn't I?
(Submitted by a Publisher)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
Even if it's true that that the statistics say that Handgun Magazine gets 47.1 readers per copy, it ain't so.
You are correct. But I probably read my copy of the magazine (That's a shooting enthusiast pun!) 47.1 times. That should count for something.
(Submitted by a Printer)
Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: MRI Audience Numbers
If you think about it, magazines must be playing with the definition of "read." So, a magazine on the rack at a store that gets flipped through by, say, 15 people but not purchases has been "read" 15 times. Or they over-estimate library/public use copies. But the lack of questioning on the part of this article is disturbing. Forget 47.15 readers a month - even BH&G's claim of 5 readers per copy seems lunacy.
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: MORT SLASHES MAGAZINE STAFF
Question: U.S. News is a closely held private company, so how does the
New York Post know that it "loses millions of dollars a year"?
Answer: It got a tip from Vice President Gephardt.
I have never seen a P&L for U.S. News, but I would be surprised if it is
losing millions. It certainly isn't losing as much money as the New York
Post.
(Submitted by a Publishing Director)
Re: THE DEATH OF PRINT NEWS is inevitable
Bob, this is the freshest, most intelligent article I've read in a very long time on the new publishing model of how to adjust to print's decline and online's rise and what the media companies need to do to make it work.
(Submitted by a weekly senior production operations manager)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
I find it curious that some people wish to hold the circulation reporting of a magazine to a higher standard than they apply to the content it reports. Funny world.
(Submitted by a Printer)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
Samir gets it right when he says "(celebrity) magazines are more like Prozac for the readers", but Janice Min is also right in trying to maintain a semblence of editorial integrity in a publishing category with very low standards for truth and objectivity. If there is a problem, it is that people reading the made-up stories and fabrications are not smart, or cynical, enough to understand that "just because you read it in a newspaper doesn't necessarily mean it is true." Bonnie Fuller, Min's predecessor at US and now the mud slinging honcho at AMI's Star, is at the other (lower) end of the integrity spectrum. (Min also has the discipline and understanding of editorial closing deadlines, unlike Ms. Fuller, and Janice always meets them, which is why her newsstand sales have soared during her last three years at US. Titles distributed on time ALWAYS sell better than titles that are late, regardless of the category.)
Intentional fabrication of stories and bogus cover lines may trick the reader for a while, but when a publication has lost editorial integrity, then it's Game Over time. Readers either keep buying for the sheer entertainment value, like watching a soap opera, or else they're just not very bright. Either way, can someone tell me which advertisers want to reach the consumers in either category? Not a sustainable business model, in my opinion.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing and Distribution)
Re: Tab Wars: Breaking News or Faking News?
Bo, In the "Tab Wars" article, for "Professor" Husni to dismiss the responsibility of journalism in celebrity reporting and suggest we should all be happy with some type of "gossip" grouping disclaimer that lets publishers say anything about stars for the purpose of entertainment is perhaps the most wrong headed thing I have ever heard him say. Mr. Husni shows no respect for truth and fosters the destructively cynical view that's all one big entertainment. Wonder how he would react if it were his life or family being misreported about for the purpose of selling crappy magazines! Worse, we should question this position for a University journalism program.
Bravo to Us for having the guts to call out its smarmy competitors, if they want to copy People and Us let it start with practices of integrity. If magazines want to have internal "gossip" columns with disclaimers about truth, well fine, if that's the best we can do. Is Us just saving it's own hide? You bet, and why shouldn't it? Is this honest competition? Ironically it is a lesson Us learned from People long ago.
Do we take ourselves too seriously in publishing? Ever ask yourself the consequence of the opposite. Here's something serious, Samir Husni disgraced himself in this article and I've had just about enough from this guy who's never contributed a damn thing to the magazine article except his own self aggrandizing. "Mr. Magazine?" Perhaps, he paid for that title it was not awarded and he obviously won't ever be confused as "Mr. Journalism," or "Mr. Integrity" for that matter.
(Submitted by a Senior Publishing Director)
Re: Tab Wars: Breaking News or Faking News?
There's a big difference between pleasing your customers and pandering to them. If you don't have enough self respect to do your work correctly, you customers will start to lose respect, and the next step is that they'll find something else to do. Perhaps I'm misremembering, but aren't some of the biggest gossip rags having large financial troubles? If it's insulting to a reader to assume he or she can't figure out when titles are full of crap, isn't it doubly insulting to peddle that crap?
(Submitted by a Writer)
RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: Shred Of Dignity
Bob, Magazine editors rarely, if ever, refer to another magazine in their pages. This is a short-sighted because magazine readers read more than one magazine and are making comparisons all the time between magazines. (We know they read multiple magazines because most magazine subscriptions are sold via direct mail to readers of other magazines.) So I think it's great that US is providing their own take on how magazines in their category stack up. It will make for good reading.
My favorite instance of one magazine referring to another is when Spy started a column in its magazine of letters to the New Yorker. The New Yorker didn't have its own letters column, so Spy provided that forum for New Yorker readers. It was fun and provocative editorial material. PS - I LOVE the Weekly World News.
(Submitted by a Publisher)
Re: Parsons: 'Not an Advocate' of Selling Time Inc
So Richard Parsons is "not an advocate" of selling Time Inc. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked at Time Inc for more than ten years at the end of the hey-day...through the 1980's, when Ray Cave was editing a first class, respected, timely (no pun intended) and newsworthy magazine. It was a great time, very satisfying, and continued until Robber Baron Steve Ross (remember him?) did his financial tricks and let the Wall Street Fox in with the chickens. I think that thirty years from now, business historians will look back on American industry (not just Time Inc., or publishing and printing, but everything) and write that management decisions that were made by companies in response to pressure to meet Wall Street targets effectively destroyed American Business. Greed is good, or that's what they thought in the 1990's with Time Warner and AOL Time Warner. It was great to have been part of a class act in publishing. Sort of like being lucky enough to take the Queen Mary I on the last transatlantic crossing from London to New York. End of an era, never to be repeated.
(Submitted by a Senior Manufacturing Publishing Director)
10 obvious things about the future of newspapers you need to get through your head
"All the great things have been denied and we live in an intricacy of new and local mythologies, political, economic, poetic, which are asserted with an ever-enlarging incoherence."
Wallace Stevens (American Poet whose work explores the interaction of reality and what man can make of reality in his mind. 1879-1955)
10 obvious things about the future of newspapers you need to get through your head
Posted by Ryan Sholin
http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/06/02/10-obvious-things-about-the-future-of-newspapers-you-need-to-get-through-your-head/
1. It's not Google's fault. Get over it, professor. Blaming search engines is like blaming the library. "Oh no, please don't let readers actually find stories from my newspaper and then click through to my site to read them, anything but that!" Forget it.
2. It's not Craig's fault. Newspaper classifieds suck and they have for years. Either develop simple database applications with photos and maps to let your users actually find what they're looking for, or partner with a good third-party vertical who can. Anything less is a waste of your time.
3. Your major metro newspaper could probably use some staff cuts. If you're not writing about local news, your paper's readers are probably getting what you do from somewhere else. Get over it. CNN and ESPN are not new, and nytimes.com wasn't far behind. Write local. There are plenty of cooks and painters and poets in your neighborhood. Go out and meet them.
4. It's time to stop handwringing and start training. If your editors are still writing navelgazers about the cataclysmic changes in the business instead of starting training programs to teach some new tricks to you and that guy in the cubicle next door, that's a problem. Stop whining and move on.
5. You don't get to charge people for archives and you certainly don't want to charge people for daily news content. Pulling your copy behind walls where it can't be seen by readers on the wider Web. Search rules. Don't hide from it.
6. Reporters need to do more than write. The new world calls for a new skillset, and you and Mr. Notebook need to make some new friends, like Mr. Microphone and Mr. Point & Shoot.
7. Bloggers aren't an uneducated lynch mob unconcerned by facts. They're your readers and your neighbors and if you play your cards right, your sources and your community moderators. If you really play it right, bloggers are the leaders of your networked reporting projects. Get over the whole bloggers vs. journalists thing, which has been pretty much settled since long before you stopped calling it a "Web blog" in your stories.
8. You ignore new delivery systems at your own peril. RSS, SMS, iPhone, e-paper, Blackberry, widgets, podcasts, vlogs, Facebook, Twitter - these aren't the competition, these are your new carriers. Learn how to deliver your content across every new technology that comes into view on the horizon, and be there when new devices go into mass production.
9. J-schools can either play a critical role in training the next generation of journalists, or they can fade into irrelevancy. Teach multimedia, interactivity and data, or watch your students become frustrated and puzzled as they try to get jobs with five clips and a smile.
10. Okay, here comes the big one: THE GLASS IS HALF FULL. There is excellent work being done in the new world of online journalism and it's being done at newspapers like the Washington Post and the Lawrence Journal-World and the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Petersburg Times and the Bakersfield Californian and all sorts of papers of all sizes. You don't need millions of dollars or HD cameras or years of training to make it happen; all you need is the right frame of mind. So let's stop writing and groaning about how things used to be different, and let's start building our own piece of the new world of newspapers brick by brick, story by story.
Wallace Stevens (American Poet whose work explores the interaction of reality and what man can make of reality in his mind. 1879-1955)
10 obvious things about the future of newspapers you need to get through your head
Posted by Ryan Sholin
http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/06/02/10-obvious-things-about-the-future-of-newspapers-you-need-to-get-through-your-head/
1. It's not Google's fault. Get over it, professor. Blaming search engines is like blaming the library. "Oh no, please don't let readers actually find stories from my newspaper and then click through to my site to read them, anything but that!" Forget it.
2. It's not Craig's fault. Newspaper classifieds suck and they have for years. Either develop simple database applications with photos and maps to let your users actually find what they're looking for, or partner with a good third-party vertical who can. Anything less is a waste of your time.
3. Your major metro newspaper could probably use some staff cuts. If you're not writing about local news, your paper's readers are probably getting what you do from somewhere else. Get over it. CNN and ESPN are not new, and nytimes.com wasn't far behind. Write local. There are plenty of cooks and painters and poets in your neighborhood. Go out and meet them.
4. It's time to stop handwringing and start training. If your editors are still writing navelgazers about the cataclysmic changes in the business instead of starting training programs to teach some new tricks to you and that guy in the cubicle next door, that's a problem. Stop whining and move on.
5. You don't get to charge people for archives and you certainly don't want to charge people for daily news content. Pulling your copy behind walls where it can't be seen by readers on the wider Web. Search rules. Don't hide from it.
6. Reporters need to do more than write. The new world calls for a new skillset, and you and Mr. Notebook need to make some new friends, like Mr. Microphone and Mr. Point & Shoot.
7. Bloggers aren't an uneducated lynch mob unconcerned by facts. They're your readers and your neighbors and if you play your cards right, your sources and your community moderators. If you really play it right, bloggers are the leaders of your networked reporting projects. Get over the whole bloggers vs. journalists thing, which has been pretty much settled since long before you stopped calling it a "Web blog" in your stories.
8. You ignore new delivery systems at your own peril. RSS, SMS, iPhone, e-paper, Blackberry, widgets, podcasts, vlogs, Facebook, Twitter - these aren't the competition, these are your new carriers. Learn how to deliver your content across every new technology that comes into view on the horizon, and be there when new devices go into mass production.
9. J-schools can either play a critical role in training the next generation of journalists, or they can fade into irrelevancy. Teach multimedia, interactivity and data, or watch your students become frustrated and puzzled as they try to get jobs with five clips and a smile.
10. Okay, here comes the big one: THE GLASS IS HALF FULL. There is excellent work being done in the new world of online journalism and it's being done at newspapers like the Washington Post and the Lawrence Journal-World and the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Petersburg Times and the Bakersfield Californian and all sorts of papers of all sizes. You don't need millions of dollars or HD cameras or years of training to make it happen; all you need is the right frame of mind. So let's stop writing and groaning about how things used to be different, and let's start building our own piece of the new world of newspapers brick by brick, story by story.
Glamorous Smoking Ads in Fashion Mags Leave Bad Taste for Some
"While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men, especially if it is about women, is called theory, or idea, or fact."
Andrea Dworkin
Glamorous Smoking Ads in Fashion Mags Leave Bad Taste for Some
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,277040,00.html
NEW YORK - Not long ago, fax machines and e-mail inboxes at Vogue, the world's premier fashion magazine, were briefly assaulted with thousands of angry letters. Not about the latest gorgeously photographed fashion trends or beauty products in its influential pages, but about a single, colorful ad: for Camel No. 9 cigarettes.
"If you draw income from the advertisement of tobacco," Heidi Thompson of Freeport, Ill., wrote in one letter, "you are as guilty as big tobacco companies in selling the health and future of so many of our youth in order to pad your bank accounts."
The letters were part of a grass roots campaign by an anti-smoking group to get Vogue to drop ads for the new, prettily packaged Camels, which they and others feel are targeted to younger women and teenagers.
But it isn't just Vouge. Pick up nearly any fashion magazine this month -- Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Lucky -- and you'll see a colorful cigarette ad mixed in with articles on beauty, fitness, nutrition and glowing skin.
You won't find them in a number of other countries. A European Union law, for example, bans tobacco print ads on grounds they glamorize smoking and promote it among young people.
But in the United States, where TV and radio ads were banned long ago and billboards more recently, print ads are the final frontier in tobacco advertising, aside from store displays and the like. And to anti-smoking groups, their presence, though waning, is especially tasteless in fashion magazines and others aimed at young women -- at a time when lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.
"Research out there shows that young people are susceptible to advertising," says Ellen Vargyas, counsel for the American Legacy Foundation, established in the wake of the 1998 settlement between the states and the tobacco industry. "I wish the publications themselves would look hard at what they're doing. Readers look to them to see what's cool, and what's trendy -- and they see cigarettes."
Her organization sponsored a major tobacco report issued last week by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. The report, which called on Congress and the president to give the FDA power to regulate tobacco, also had a recommendation for print ads: that they be restricted to black and white text only -- no images.
That would certainly thwart the impact of the Camel No. 9 campaign, whose ads use shiny paper, sophisticated colors like teal and fuschia, and accents of lace to achieve a sense of feminine chic. Those ads have provoked accusations, including from a group of U.S. senators, that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Camels, is trying to lure teens and younger women to smoke. (The company says it seeks only to sway established adult smokers.)
But they've also aroused anger at the magazines printing the ads. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says volunteers around the country sent Vogue more than 8,000 protest e-mails or faxes earlier this month. It says it got no response, other than a couple of scribbled notes faxed back on letters that had been addressed to editor Anna Wintour. "Will you stop? You're killing trees!" read one note shown to The AP.
A spokeswoman for Conde Nast Publications, which publishes Vogue, said neither Wintour nor publisher Thomas Florio were available for an interview. "Vogue does carry tobacco advertising. Beyond that we have no further comment," said the spokeswoman, Maurie Perl. She also said no one at Glamour, Lucky or W, also Conde Nast publications, would be available. Editors at Essence magazine, which also carries tobacco ads and is owned by Time Inc., also declined comment.
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, says that while print ads are on the decline, he's still concerned about fashion magazines, and especially the iconic Vogue, because "they have far more impact on teenage girls than almost any other written media. And that's the reason the tobacco industry is in these magazines."
Magazine analyst Samir Husni says it's "oddly hypocritical" for magazines to run articles about health issues, including cancer, and then have tobacco ads nearby. "What they're saying is that they value their ad customers more than their million or two million readers," says Husni, of the University of Mississippi. "Country after country is banning cigarette ads in magazines."
Tobacco companies spent $13.1 billion on promotional spending in 2005, the last year for which there were figures, according to a recent report by the Federal Trade Commission. Most of that went into price discounts for consumers. On magazine ads, they spent $17.2 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Magazine Publishers of America.
A number of magazines refuse to accept tobacco ads: just a few are Men's Health, Self, and Money, according to a list provided by the Tobacco-Free Periodicals Project.
But most fashion magazines do. In current June issues, for example, Lucky, Vogue and Glamour have Pall Mall ads in bright orange. Harper's Bazaar advertises American Spirit and Camel No. 9 in an issue that interviews Cate Edwards, daughter of Elizabeth Edwards, about her mother's fight against advanced breast cancer.
One possible contributing factor for the continued presence of tobacco ads in fashion magazines: the stubborn prevalence of smoking in the fashion world, particularly among models.
"All the girls smoke," says Michael Vollbracht, creative director at Bill Blass. "I was doing a fashion show, and all these beautiful young things were smoking outside. They looked at me like I was an old fuddy-duddy."
One prominent player in the fashion industry says it's "jarring" to think that fashion magazines print tobacco ads -- but confesses she flips by them without noticing.
"I'll bet if you told a lot of people there are cigarette ads in fashion magazines, they'd say, 'you're kidding,"' says Nian Fish, creative director and senior vice president at KCD, which produces shows for top fashion houses.
Both she and Vollbracht feel that the fashion industry itself shouldn't have to address alone a much broader social issue.
"We're a capitalist society, aren't we?" Vollbracht said. "We have to take it up with our government. The fashion industry can only do so much."
Andrea Dworkin
Glamorous Smoking Ads in Fashion Mags Leave Bad Taste for Some
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,277040,00.html
NEW YORK - Not long ago, fax machines and e-mail inboxes at Vogue, the world's premier fashion magazine, were briefly assaulted with thousands of angry letters. Not about the latest gorgeously photographed fashion trends or beauty products in its influential pages, but about a single, colorful ad: for Camel No. 9 cigarettes.
"If you draw income from the advertisement of tobacco," Heidi Thompson of Freeport, Ill., wrote in one letter, "you are as guilty as big tobacco companies in selling the health and future of so many of our youth in order to pad your bank accounts."
The letters were part of a grass roots campaign by an anti-smoking group to get Vogue to drop ads for the new, prettily packaged Camels, which they and others feel are targeted to younger women and teenagers.
But it isn't just Vouge. Pick up nearly any fashion magazine this month -- Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Lucky -- and you'll see a colorful cigarette ad mixed in with articles on beauty, fitness, nutrition and glowing skin.
You won't find them in a number of other countries. A European Union law, for example, bans tobacco print ads on grounds they glamorize smoking and promote it among young people.
But in the United States, where TV and radio ads were banned long ago and billboards more recently, print ads are the final frontier in tobacco advertising, aside from store displays and the like. And to anti-smoking groups, their presence, though waning, is especially tasteless in fashion magazines and others aimed at young women -- at a time when lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.
"Research out there shows that young people are susceptible to advertising," says Ellen Vargyas, counsel for the American Legacy Foundation, established in the wake of the 1998 settlement between the states and the tobacco industry. "I wish the publications themselves would look hard at what they're doing. Readers look to them to see what's cool, and what's trendy -- and they see cigarettes."
Her organization sponsored a major tobacco report issued last week by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. The report, which called on Congress and the president to give the FDA power to regulate tobacco, also had a recommendation for print ads: that they be restricted to black and white text only -- no images.
That would certainly thwart the impact of the Camel No. 9 campaign, whose ads use shiny paper, sophisticated colors like teal and fuschia, and accents of lace to achieve a sense of feminine chic. Those ads have provoked accusations, including from a group of U.S. senators, that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Camels, is trying to lure teens and younger women to smoke. (The company says it seeks only to sway established adult smokers.)
But they've also aroused anger at the magazines printing the ads. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says volunteers around the country sent Vogue more than 8,000 protest e-mails or faxes earlier this month. It says it got no response, other than a couple of scribbled notes faxed back on letters that had been addressed to editor Anna Wintour. "Will you stop? You're killing trees!" read one note shown to The AP.
A spokeswoman for Conde Nast Publications, which publishes Vogue, said neither Wintour nor publisher Thomas Florio were available for an interview. "Vogue does carry tobacco advertising. Beyond that we have no further comment," said the spokeswoman, Maurie Perl. She also said no one at Glamour, Lucky or W, also Conde Nast publications, would be available. Editors at Essence magazine, which also carries tobacco ads and is owned by Time Inc., also declined comment.
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, says that while print ads are on the decline, he's still concerned about fashion magazines, and especially the iconic Vogue, because "they have far more impact on teenage girls than almost any other written media. And that's the reason the tobacco industry is in these magazines."
Magazine analyst Samir Husni says it's "oddly hypocritical" for magazines to run articles about health issues, including cancer, and then have tobacco ads nearby. "What they're saying is that they value their ad customers more than their million or two million readers," says Husni, of the University of Mississippi. "Country after country is banning cigarette ads in magazines."
Tobacco companies spent $13.1 billion on promotional spending in 2005, the last year for which there were figures, according to a recent report by the Federal Trade Commission. Most of that went into price discounts for consumers. On magazine ads, they spent $17.2 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Magazine Publishers of America.
A number of magazines refuse to accept tobacco ads: just a few are Men's Health, Self, and Money, according to a list provided by the Tobacco-Free Periodicals Project.
But most fashion magazines do. In current June issues, for example, Lucky, Vogue and Glamour have Pall Mall ads in bright orange. Harper's Bazaar advertises American Spirit and Camel No. 9 in an issue that interviews Cate Edwards, daughter of Elizabeth Edwards, about her mother's fight against advanced breast cancer.
One possible contributing factor for the continued presence of tobacco ads in fashion magazines: the stubborn prevalence of smoking in the fashion world, particularly among models.
"All the girls smoke," says Michael Vollbracht, creative director at Bill Blass. "I was doing a fashion show, and all these beautiful young things were smoking outside. They looked at me like I was an old fuddy-duddy."
One prominent player in the fashion industry says it's "jarring" to think that fashion magazines print tobacco ads -- but confesses she flips by them without noticing.
"I'll bet if you told a lot of people there are cigarette ads in fashion magazines, they'd say, 'you're kidding,"' says Nian Fish, creative director and senior vice president at KCD, which produces shows for top fashion houses.
Both she and Vollbracht feel that the fashion industry itself shouldn't have to address alone a much broader social issue.
"We're a capitalist society, aren't we?" Vollbracht said. "We have to take it up with our government. The fashion industry can only do so much."
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