It's Tuesday: 5 Things About the World of Magazines and Media - Issue #34
What's the difference between desert and dessert? I have to confess that as a young junior high student, I had a big problem with that on one of my term papers and Mr. Mackler was not generous in giving me the benefit of the doubt.
Over the past decade we've seen a lot of stories written about food deserts. Now we're starting to see write ups about news deserts.
I bring this up because of piece by writer Clare Malone that really hit home. Technically there isn't a "news desert" here in the Chicago suburbs. However, there is no longer a decent independent source of hyper local news that will tell me what the elected officials in the eleven separate taxing bodies in my zip code are up to.
I have a feeling that for many people in larger metro areas, that is also their experience.
For the record: Facebook and Nextdoor are remarkably poor substitutes for a decent local newspaper. Unfortunately local TV news is more interested in the latest shooting.
1 New Yorker: Is There A Market for Saving Local News?
Is There a Market for Saving Local News? | The New Yorker — www.newyorker.com Jump-starting journalism in smaller, economically depressed places requires a degree of patience, and some tolerance for risk.
Writer Clare Malone outlines how hard it is to replace local news outlets once they disappear. And while there are many examples of non-profit news organizations cropping up in cities around the country, she points that many of them are in larger cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Houston where there are still legacy outlets and a concentration of wealthy citizens who will support a non-profit news source.
She asks: What about smaller cities and towns?
In the article Malone writes about her hometown of Cleveland. My former job as a publisher's representative frequently took me to the northeastern Ohio cities of Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Canton. The statistics she cited about these areas got me to get up and pace around my chilly below-grade office:
The poverty rate in Youngstown in 2019 was 65.2%
In Cleveland, 66% of resident are functionally illiterate
In some neighborhoods, the rate of functional illiteracy may be as high as 90%
According to the Pew Research Center, possibly 44% of adults in households with incomes below $30,000 don't have broadband access.
2 This is Not Your Father's Newsweek
Newsweak - by Parker Molloy - The Present Age — www.readthepresentage.com Why the once-respectable magazine published an op-ed from someone it once called an "alt-right leader who has praised white supremacist Richard Spencer."
Chicago writer Parker Malloy details the decline and fall of Newsweek Magazine. In the digital age, you can make the argument that a weekly, general interest news magazine has no business existing. As a magazine professional, I'll point out that even back in the glorious golden days, that was a rather iffy category to compete in. Newsweek was essentially the number two publication in a three magazine category (Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report).
Malloy details how the remants of this once reputable title is now operated by what seems to be a shadowy organization that publishes a lot of right-wing political rhetoric, most recently a piece by "Pizzagate" and Seth Richardson conspiracy slinger Jack Posobiec.
This was a sad piece to read. I hadn't thought about Newsweek for some time. Back in the day when I traveled almost every week, Newsweek was one of my go-to magazines at the airport. I even subscribed to it once in order to get a combo clock radio-telephone for my apartment.
3 Also Not Your Father's Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Launches an NFT Project Featuring Iconic Magazine Covers - Sports Illustrated — www.si.com Iconic Sports Illustrated magazine covers will soon be available as NFTs and will feature some of the most well-known and respected athletes of all time including Jerry Rice, Billie Jean King, Emmitt Smith, and Muhammad Ali.
I've spent some time trying to understand the appeal of NFTs, how they are made, what they are, and why some people seem to think they're worth a lot of money.
But there's a part of my brain that just thinks this a nothing but a bunch of hogwash.
What do you think?
4 What Do You Want to Know About Indie Comic Book Stores?
Comic shops - what they are, what to expect, and where to find one that fits you | GamesRadar+ — www.gamesradar.com Here's where to find comic shops and what to expect
This is a pretty basic article and I debated including it in this week's recap, but in the end a few things things decided it for me:
The first is that generally comic books are considered niche, but they really aren't and if you're in the world of media, you should pay attention to how much they influence popular culture.
And secondly, this "comics shop locator" from Diamond Comics Distributor is a fantastic example of how you should put together a locator page.
Finally: While I loved comics as a kid, they were never as big a part of my life as books or magazines or even newspapers were. So the past few years, I’ve enjoyed diving a little deeper into how the business side of the comics world works and rooted for some of the local comic publishers here in Chicago (Devils Due)
5 Pandemic Publishing Roundtable: Mr Magazine Displays the History of the World of Magazines
Mr. Magazine: Preserving the Past, Present, and Future of Magazine Media — myemail.constantcontact.com A Rollicking Ride Down Magazine Memory Lane Courtesy of BoSacks & The Precision Media Group America's Oldest e-newsletter est.1993 www.bosacks.com Join Our Mailing List BoSacks Speaks Out: I want to
One of my biggest pleasures since the pandemic began has been hosting the bi-weekly Pandemic Publishing Roundtable with Bo Sacks, Samir Husni, Linda Ruth, Sherin Pierce, and Gemma Peckham.
We've hosted more than 30 different experts from around the industry. What originally started out as a way to touch base with some friends and colleagues during lockdown has morphed into a master class about almost every single aspect of magazine publishing, book selling, printing, editing, designing, and what the future may hold in the digital world.
A few weeks ago, Samir Husni pulled out some samples from his extensive magazine collection and showed us some history that should never be forgotten.
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Now, back to work! The week is young and the potential is boundless. Since you started reading this, several C-Suite executives got together to discuss the latest revision to the SaaS contract. You should probably try to head them off before it's too late.
Have a great week!