Roughly a year removed from blasting magazine circulation metrics in his remarks as chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America at the 2005 American Magazine Conference, Hachette president and CEO Jack Kliger was defiant in his spin on the industry's spate of magazine closings at this year's pow-wow:

We should be willing to eliminate unproductive products without fearing that thinning the herd means we are signaling our industry's demise. Because closing a magazine is no more a sign of the death of the industry than the cancellation of a TV series means the shutdown of a network, or a haircut is a sign that you're going bald. Most of the time, it's quite the opposite.

Kliger, whose Hachette Filipacchi shuttered the print version of Elle Girl earlier this year, clearly hasn't seen Bruce Willis recently.

Still, the message of his talking points was clear: "Let's take full advantage of the power of our brands. And let's use technology to go 'beyond the page.'"

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage: