Magazines

Here Media CEO Paul Colichman laid out a new marketing plan for his company's gay publications The Advocate and Out, in a recent letter to readers.

After revealing that four members of The Advocate's editorial team were let go in order to make room for new staffers who can work across Here Media's many platforms -- print, online and broadcast TV -- Colichman announced a new plan to send The Advocate's subscribers a copy of Out every month as well:

"The recent closures of Gourmet, Portfolio, Genre, and other magazines have shown the weaknesses of the print publication model. The rising costs of paper, printing, and postage have become a major problem. Therefore, we plan to greatly reduce these costs by jointly marketing The Advocate and Out magazines. We will fulfill Advocate subscriptions via joint delivery with Out. Advocate subscribers will continue to receive their monthly magazine along with a copy of Out at no extra charge. This move will also allow us to continue to offer Out at affordable subscription prices, either as a stand-alone title or with the choice to receive The Advocate as well. The strategy preserves our ability to deliver the same high-quality print magazines while allocating additional resources to editorial content."

continued...

The expected cuts at Time Inc. started this week, with layoffs at Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly and, Essence and Essence.com. The company has shuttered FSB, resulting in more staff cuts, and is seeking volunteers for buyouts at People, Time and Fortune -- which could lose as many as 40 staffers.

As Time Inc. prepares to shed upwards of 280 jobs, we wanted to take a closer look at these layoffs. Could they have been avoided? What do they mean for the future of Time Inc.'s publications?

We asked Jim Gaines, who spent most of his career at Time Inc., to shed a little light on the situation. Gaines, who is currently the editor-in-chief of FLYPmedia, formerly served as Time Inc.'s corporate editor and was once managing editor at People, Time and Life magazines. Here's what he had to say:

FishbowlNY: Is there any way Time Inc. could have avoided these layoffs, as well as those last year? What could the company have done differently over the years?

Jim Gaines: I'm not sure anybody, even Time Inc., could have avoided the drastic altering of the media landscape that we have seen in the recent past. It's a fundamental disruption for which no one was adequately prepared. Certainly, there were moments when all of us in the media industry should have realized the tremendous opportunities that exist within digital media. Hindsight is great. BUT there is no major publishing business that is not facing what Time Inc. faces today.

continued...

Well there's an idea: If you aren't already a print magazine, why bother getting into that whole terrible market? Instead, create an online magazine focused at a digital product...something Wired might have thought to do if Conde Digital could support it.

And with that, eBay launches The Inside Source, "for inspired shoppers featuring insights and stories based on what more than 89 million active users are searching for, buying and selling on eBay." And you don't just have to be a journalist to join: Some of eBay's biggest customers will also get articles.

continued...

Abigail Pesta has been named editor-at-large of Marie Claire, one of Hearst Corporation's women's titles. Pesta had previously been deputy editor at the glossy, after a switch from Glamour magazine, where she also served in an editorial capacity.

Pesta was smart to make the move, as Glamour is owned by Condé Nast, which has delivered so many cutbacks recently that they barely have any staff left to promote. And while Hearst has had to make some concessions last year and earlier this year (cutting Good Housekeeping staffers, cutting back permalancers, and the folding of CosmoGirl), it has saved the publisher from any big losses so far this year, at least in comparison to many of its competitors.

Pesta's new role will involve "additional writing and traveling for the magazine," which sounds like a pretty stellar way to make a living, if you ask us.

Earlier: We Hear: Layoffs at Good Housekeeping, Hearst To Cut Permalancers

The latest incarnation of revived hip-hop magazine Vibe may be debuting with a controversial cover model, Chris Brown, but its new owner's plans for the pub seem pretty sound.

Today, mediabistro.com got a chance to pick the brain of Leonard Burnett, co-CEO and group publisher of Uptown Media Group, part of the group that purchased Vibe earlier this year and is working to reposition and relaunch it. In an interview with David Hirschman, Burnett explained where he thought Vibe had gone wrong in the past and laid out the new publisher's plans for the future:

"Vibe thrived off of urban fashion, music, and automotive -- and then when you go into '05, '06, and '07 [the advertising] just kept deteriorating. First it was a shift over to digital [for advertisers] and then when the dollars started to even back out, the dollars that you are counting on for the print side in certain categories just started to evaporate at a much faster rate than we were able to break new categories.

The book also didn't lend itself [to these new categories]. [Vibe's] aesthetic perspective and editorial focus [originally spoke] to a very broad and important perspective of what urban music and culture meant (which really wasn't just rap, but R&B, reggae, and gospel, and anything you can move and dance to -- and even where the consumer was going with the blending of Jay-Z and Coldplay, and this sort of rap and alternative rock). We went from being the kind of Rolling Stone of urban culture to competing with The Source and XXL. These are great books, but...Rolling Stone is really the music and culture magazine that has stood the test of time -- and when you look at the breadth of what they have with the core of it being rock 'n roll, mixing the old with the new and the influx of urban, and the political scene, the fashion scene.

So now, from an editorial perspective, we are going back to an editorial discussion that was much broader than it was. It has a lot better visuals. We're going back to great photography, which was always such a big component of the editorial product. The book will be much more visual and have a better quality of paper. The consumer should look up to Vibe -- Vibe is showing them something that they don't know about, and give them something to aspire to. Not like Uptown, but something new and on the cutting edge."

Read more of Burnett's interview for more on Vibe's new digital product and the decision to hire a new editor.

Earlier: Vibe Relaunches With Maybe Not The Best Cover Celebrity

When Vibe magazine shuttered back in June, there was little hope that the publication would be revived, considering the state of the magazine industry. But revived it was, acquired by a trio that included equity firm InterMedia Partners, Uptown Media Group and Blackrock Digital that together formed the new Vibe Lifestyle Network.

In late August Jermaine Hall was named editor-in-chief, a circle completed as Hall's first job was working for the original Vibe. And he's certainly set on making his mark: His decision to put Chris Brown on the cover for the relaunched magazine's December issue (the new Vibe.com has already been up and running since August) is bound to stir up controversy. Brown's ex-girlfriend Rihanna is currently doing the talk-show circuit on the physical altercation between her and Brown before the Grammys this February, and putting the convicted R&B star on the cover of Vibe can either be seen as tone-deaf and offensive, or provocative and challenging.

continued...

As bad as the market is right now for print, niche magazines have it a little bit easier, if only because their consumer base is made up of devotees. Why else would Condé Nast be able to keep two golf magazines afloat while having to cut Gourmet? Niche markets have niche advertising, which also helps: The fashion world might be hurting overall, but the supply and demand for yachting goods has probably not taken as much of a dip in their sales records.

With that in mind, we'd like to welcome into the world the first lifestyle magazine made for nurses: Scrubs (Zach Braff not included), which will hit stores nursing apparel stores November 15, already with a paid circulation of 350,000. Says Michael Singer, CEO of Scrubs' founding sponsor Strategic Partners Inc., "Healthcare is one of the few sectors of the economy adding jobs." Ironic, no?

Scrubs also has a pretty good pedigree: its editorial director is Catherine Ettlinger, a former Elle editor and managing editor at Mademoiselle.

By the way, we highly suggest you check out Scrubsmag.com, which has articles like "The First Date Checklist for Nurses" and "Top 10 Signs Your Patient May Be a Drug Seeker."

Full press release, after the jump.

continued...

Gourmet, now a casualty of the great Condé Nast reorganization of 2009, is being mourned by the foodie community -- and probably will be missed for quite some time.

But for its former employees, the magazine was more than a place for lush photos of culinary treats and luxe recipes; it was home. As the staffers packed up the office and said goodbye to the magazine, departing associate art director Kevin Demaria snapped some photos of the sad scene. Lovingly done, the images are a commentary on the indescribable feelings of recently laid off employees, especially when the magazine where they have worked is ceasing to exist completely. It may be cliché, but in this case a picture is worth a thousand words.

View them all on Demaria's blog.

Earlier: One Last Gourmet Party

Esquire might be testing out augmented reality, but it's not the only magazine trying to get its readers to interact with the magazine online and off.

Indie music pub Death + Taxes has paired with Mobot -- a visual image search company -- to create an interactive version of its November/December issue, on newsstands next week. Mobot's technology can be activated by readers to create an interactive experience with 10 stories in the issue.

This is how it works: take a photo with the camera on your phone of a page from one of the interactive stories and text or email the image to D+T. In response, you'll get access to additional content available for download. For example, take a photo of guitarist Marnie Stern and you'll unlock this video of her playing.

Mobot has used its technology for advertisements before, but this time the project is completely edit-driven. And the whole project is funded by Scion, with no additional cost going to the readers. The technology may only reach D+T's small audience (it has circulation of 54,000 with 135,000 total readers), but it may not be long until we see some bigger titles testing out this interactive option or something similar.

Related: Esquire Continues To Bring Multimedia to Print Issues

Last September, Esquire raised eyebrows with its release of an "E-ink" 75th anniversary cover, which featured a digital display on the front of the Hearst publication, as well as a digitized ad for Ford on the inside cover. Cheap gimmick or the future of print journalism?

Well, at least it wasn't a one-time trick. A year later, Esquire is back with another attempt at bringing technology into print, instead of the other way around.

continued...