‘Catchup’ Post:

There were several items I noticed while away from the rexblog. Here are just some of them:

No holiday for Husni: Peter Carlson of the WP covered the demise of Vanguarde Publishing, including this quote from Samir Husni that tore people away from the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving morning:

Yesterday, Clinkscales did not return calls seeking comment on the demise of his magazine empire. But Samir Husni — a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi and an expert on the magazine industry — attributed Vanguarde’s downfall to hubris by Clinkscales, a man Husni once called “the smartest magazine publisher I’ve ever met.”

“Keith grew too big too fast too soon,” Husni said yesterday. “Keith was focused on trying to build an empire instead of building the magazines. He should have started with one title and made that a success, but he wanted an instant empire.”

At least Samir did not call him a turkey.

Magazine entrepreneur quote of the week: According to an article on Dallas-based Star-Telegram.com, Bill Lovelady writes, edits and delivers Youth Sports Today, a monthly magazine packed with photographs of 5- to 14-year-old athletes. About 10,000 people a month flip through the pages, which promote the concept that sports are good for kids.

At the bottom of the story is this insight:

Lovelady said that his job takes more time and pays less money than any job he’s had, but that he enjoys it more. “You are never going to get rich doing this, but it is incredibly satisfying,” he said. “It is worth doing.”

Couldn’t have said it better, myself.

Good news, Bad news #1: Last Thursday and Friday were good news, bad news for Media Magnate Lord Conrad Black, Hollinger International ceo who is doing his part to make Enron executives look like pikers. Who cares if the WSJ runs one of those front page profiles (subscription required) revealing how far down in the cookie jar your hand is jammed when a 1,300-page book you write gets a rave review in the NYT with money-quotes (for cover blurbs) like this:

(Black’s book,
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT Champion of Freedom is) one of the best one-volume biographies of Roosevelt yet…it tells the remarkable story of Roosevelt’s life with an engaging eloquence and with largely personal and mostly interesting opinions about the people and events he is describing.

And the even better news is that a few years in prison will give him a lot more free time for his writing.

Good news, Bad news #2: Wal-mart had its biggest revenue day in history on Friday, $1.52 billion. And that doesn’t even count the DVD player they could have sold to Patricia Van Lester, who was trying to purchase it as a gift for her mother but got knocked unconscious and trampled on by other shoppers. According to a report by a TV station in Orange City, Fla., “When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the woman lying on top of the DVD player among shoppers who seemed to not even notice the unconscious woman on the floor, according to a witness.” Also, their sales perhaps could have been a little higher if only that “big fight and ensuing mayhem” hadn’t broken out among shoppers at a Wal-mart in Maryland who wanted in on that $29 DVD player action, also.(via Drudge Report) (Side note: Dave Barry sent me a “shout out” for these two Wal-mart items.)

Attention Nashville Shoppers:
Stay number one by
shopping at the
rexblog holiday store.
Click for 944 gift ideas.

Happy Thanksgiving (Back on Monday): It’s not often that one can take credit personally for something that is recognized nationally. Therefore, it is with pride that I to point to this newstory that reports a statistic for which I am personally responsible. Joking aside, the fact that Nashville is the number one online shopping city in America is perhaps being misinterpreted by the analysts responsible for the study. In Nashville’s case, I would argue that the lack of quality “offline” retail options is a significant factor in why its online shoppers purchase more via the Internet. (via NashvillePost.com)

Making money on the web: One of those “truths” you hear from magazine publishers has been, “you can’t make money on the web,” especially if you “give-away” content. However, if you want to see an example of how a print medium used the web make lots of money, check out this Editory & Publisher profile of The Onion. (via paidContent.org)

What hath we wrote? I’ve decided this is that last time I am going to post a link to an article regarding the G+J circulation-cooking scandal until Daniel Brewster announces that he is stepping down “to pursue other opportunities.” Frankly, that is the only possible next news in this regrettable event. The article, “What Hath Gruner+Jahr Wrought,” is a “news analysis” by Mediapost’s Ross Fadner that rehashes what’s been covered on this weblog for the past two weeks: Here and here and here and here and here.

Deja vued again: New York magazine’s Michael Wolff has written an extremely blogged column called, “The New Old Thing,” about the strangely familiar feeling of Internet boomtimes that’s taking place these days.

Quote:

Is
it 1994, which means it’s just getting started again? Or is it 1995 and
the Google IPO is Netscape, which means a year of pure mania before the
first dip? Indeed, if this online Christmas season is as good as many
people think it’s going to be, if the Google IPO goes out at maximum or
even undreamed-of levels—sheesh, we could see dot-com ads back by the
Super Bowl. Or is it all speeded-up—some new version of Internet time,
with boom and bust compressed? Real boom or cruel boomlet?

Today, my friend Tony Silber of m10 Report has an interview with Wolff
regarding the “new boom’s” impact on magazines. In addition to Wolff’s
insight, I like the approach Tony takes with this piece. Rather that
structure it as a Q&A format, he uses the “as told to” model.

Nearly two years ago, I posted a long blog piece
regarding a concept I heard futurist Paul Saffo describe in 1995 that
he dubbed, “micro-myopia.” The concept, described on that previoius
blog post, helps to explain what Wolff is now sensing.

Even more prescient, however, is Saffo’s 1998 interview with PBS
in which he predicted that most of the then-booming start-ups would
fail, but that the longterm effect of “information technology” would be
what Wolff is now having his eureka moment about.

I guess that’s why they call them futurists.

Unfortunate: Adage is reporting that Vanguarde Media, publisher of Savoy, Heart & Soul and Honey magazines, is ceasing publication immediately and will file for bankruptcy.

In lovemark: Marketing buzzword early-warning signal. When you identify with a brand soooo much that you wrap your indentity up in it (not that I would or anything), you’ve elevated it to lovemark status. “>Even magazines can be (or attempt to be) lovemarks. (via Gawker.)

Math-challenged reporter: The world does not need another politically-oriented weblog so for the past two years I have successfully resisted all urges (with a couple exceptions) to comment on my views about domestic or geopolitical issues.

However, I’m going off-topic to post a quote from an AP story about the Senate passage of the Medicare legislation this morning to illustrate how the political leanings of a writer can cause them to completely mis-represent the point.

Here is the quote from the AP story:

While Frist and others called it a bipartisan vote, the tally fell largely along party lines. Forty-two Republicans, 11 Democrats and an independent backed the legislation. Nine conservative Republicans joined 35 Democrats in opposition.

I assume the unidentified reporter has covered the Senate before so they would know that when 11 Democrats vote with the opposing party and 9 Republicans bolt from their President and Senate Leader to vote with Democrats, the phrase “largely along party lines” is not an accurate analysis of the vote.

In other words, 20% of Democrats voted with the majority of Republicans and almost 20% of Republicans voted with the majority of Democrats.

While “largely along party lines” may be factually correct, it is still bad math and, yes, helps perpetuate the belief that reporters write with thinly veiled bias.

I link, you decide: During my travels last week, I skipped some magazine-related news that was, well, marginal. However, one of these items, a story about a 77-year-old library patron who was so angered by the cover of a gay magazine that he ripped the cover off, now has a follow-up story on the AP wire. (Side question regarding nuanced reporting: Does the reporter seem to be suggesting something with his specific reference to the patron taking the cover home with him? With a couple of more sentences, this article could make it onto theonion.com)

Carr loading: I’m glad it’s not just me who was thinking that the NYT’s business section seems overloaded with articles by David Carr. Gawker also noticed.

17: The NYT’s David Carr previews what Hearst will be doing with Seventeen Magazine starting next week. I had to link to it due to his description of the new design and approach as, “bracingly retro and surprisingly demure.” Sounds like some people I know.

Intelligent mammals: Mediapost’s Larry Dobrow profiles Blue Dolphin, the self-dubbed “Magazine Superstore.” According to Blue Dolphin president Don Nicholas, the website is selling around 10,000 subscriptions per week and if the holiday season goes well could drive past the 600,000-subscription mark for the year.

Wow. How do they do that? This article raises more questions to me than it answers. How do they generate that volume? (By comparison, the rexblog magazine store will soon drive past the 11 subscriptions level for 2003.) Do these sales come all via the Blue Dolphin brand or by providing back-office fulfillment services and affiliate programs to others? Amazing numbers, but I’m going to have to admit that Blue Dolphin is not exactly a household name even at my magazine-geek house.

Samiranator: I knew Professor Husni was a favorite of reporters who cover the media. I didn’t realize they are now covering where he goes each day for lunch (scroll to bottom).

An ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of Child: With an earthquake-metophor-headline and an atomic-bomb-metaphor opening paragraph, this story in Monday’s NYT by David Carr keeps the G+J circulation-cooking scandal alive. Carr reports that not only is the harried Diane Potter leaving, but that Child magazine publisher Kate Kelly Smith is leaving to become publisher of Rodale’s Prevention magazine. (Despite inclusion of earthquake and atomic bomb metaphors, Carr eschews the rats jumping off a sinking ship one.)

Harried Potter: Last week, on November 13, I pointed to a Keith Kelly article in the NY Post that was headlined, “Brewster’s Fortunes Look Less Rosie After Trail Loss”. That link will likely die soon, but in it, Kelly reports the obvious speculation of job insecurity for Dan Brewster, who pursued the ridiculous lawsuit against Rosie, oversaw the circulation-cooking scandal and engineered the purchase of two magazines for what is acknowledged to be, well, inflated prices.

Today, Diane Potter, senior vice president and director of consumer marketing at G+J, offered her resignation “because she believes it in the best interests of the company,” according to the AP. One doesn’t have to be a herder to know a scapegoat when you see one.

As I serve as editor and publisher of a magazine that competes directly with a G+J title, I feel somewhat awkward in commending Ms. Potter for doing the right thing. However, I do for she is. To have previously displayed such a cavalier attitude towards the importance of circulation integrity and the audit process was not only a disservice to G+J USA but to the entire magazine industry.

I will stop my comments there, but I’m sure it is apparent that I think there are others at G+J USA who should do the right thing.