It's Tuesday: When Magazine Worlds Collide - Issue #59
What happens when a longstanding company with a history, culture, a place rooted in a community is acquired by another company? What happens when the headquarters leaves the community, when staff is laid off, when the “mission” changes?
I confess that I took my very first job in the magazine business because the alternative was, well, a random marketing job with a random consumer product goods company. Or a bank. Or I went on for that law degree that I really didn’t want. So I went into the magazine business because that was something I really liked.
And I fell in love with that business.
The process of putting together a magazine is really a labor of love. Magazines are cool. They are made for enthusiasts. They entertain. Enlighten. Educate. Exhilarate. They are personal. And the magazine business is personal.
It’s been fascinating to watch what happens when some of the legacy group publishers are picked up by PE firms or “digital first” companies. I've watched it both up close and from the sidelines multiple times in this decade on both the B2C and B2B categories.
What happens with the cultures of the two organizations? Their history? Their skillsets? Do they merge together and set a new path? Or will they fail to meld together and instead clash and fall apart?
If nothing else, this is usually one fascinatingly bumpy but hopefully fun ride. If this happens to you, strap in, stay focused, be ready to state your case for what you think is the best path forward.
1___Dotdash Meredith reports losses, slower transition amid rapid pullback of ad spending
Dotdash Meredith reports losses, slower transition amid 'rapid pullback' of ad spending — www.desmoinesregister.com Executives remained upbeat about the combination of online publisher Dotdash with formerly Des Moines-based magazine publisher Meredith
I’m not too surprised that Dotdash is taking longer than expected to “transition” the print side of the Meredith company. From experience, I have witnessed the disconnect “digital first” companies experience when they acquire a print magazine company. The business models are so different and the new owners may not completely get what it is they've just acquired (Don’t @me, I’m just stating my experience and opinion).
Have these executives underestimated the value of the print (and the digital) employees of the company they are now responsible for? I wonder if they get the amount of detail it takes to reach and offer valuable content to their readers - who are their paying customers and who showed up because they are just as passionate about what the magazine is about, as the editors and employees of the magazine.
Publishing is a very personal business. Business itself doesn’t have to be personal, but I find it is more successful when it is personal.
2___E&P: Journalists continue to lean on Twitter as fewer Americans use it as a news source
Journalists continue to lean on Twitter as fewer Americans use it as a news source: The great and horrible Twitter — www.editorandpublisher.com
While Twitter remains a powerful tool for journalism, especially when it comes to breaking news, the audience for our reporting on Twitter is shockingly small.
According to the article, fewer than 13% of all Americans get their news from Twitter. This lags far behind other social media platforms. However, journalists and opinion makers spend a lot of time on Twitter.
It's actually one of the reasons I like the platform. I can find a ton of journalists and writers.
3___The Fix: Bundling Ideas for News Publishers
Bundling ideas for news publishers. Make your subscription more valuable, generate more revenue - The Fix — thefix.media If you are going to create a bundle, do it right – and, as Netflix did before, choose what people want to consume the most.
The NY Times invested in games, cooking, product reviews. WaPo offers family subs and the ability to "gift" articles that would otherwise be behind a paywall.
From a magazine publisher’s perspective, especially one that works with regional publishers, I don’t understand why newspapers that own city or state magazines don’t bundle the magazine into the newspaper subscriptions and the newspaper into a magazine subscription. As an example, I still subscribe to The Chicago Tribune because I want some local news and despite the depredations of its vulture capitalist owner, it’s still probably the best source of local area news. But what I really want is a subscription to Chicago Magazine and that is, for my family, anyway, one subscription too many. But if it came with my Chicago Tribune sub?
4___Google Dedicates $15M to Ad Campaign with Local News Media
Google Dedicates $15M To Digital, Print Ad Campaign To Run With Local News Media 08/17/2022 — www.mediapost.com Google Dedicates $15M To Digital, Print Ad Campaign To Run With Local News Media - 08/17/2022
Well...that seems...hopeful? I really don't know what to say or think about this. So please read and form your own opinion. And share it with me if you please.
5___How B&N has changed the way it does business - A Twitter thread
Kathleen Schmidt on Twitter: "It seems to me that publishers need to do a better job explaining to authors how B&N orders work and what constitutes as marketing. Many conflicting tweets from authors." / Twitter — twitter.com “It seems to me that publishers need to do a better job explaining to authors how B&N orders work and what constitutes as marketing. Many conflicting tweets from authors.”
Let me first request that if you're not happy with what you read in this thread, please don't bother the author.
I happen to agree that "political Twitter" is a horrid hot mess and best avoided. "Covid-19" Twitter debates are also to be avoided and I recently discovered that "reality TV Twitter" is something to step away from.
On the other hand, book Twitter, author Twitter, writer Twitter is really worthwhile.
This thread, and a few equally interesting follow-up threads try to explain some of the changes a visitor to a B&N store might notice as they peruse the racks of the sole remaining large chain bookstore here in the US.
In case you're wondering, things are also a bit different on the magazine side of the chain.
Will all these new initiatives work? Maybe. What I do know is that the chain seems to be on very solid managerial footing and I personally feel confident about their future.
And Now The Moment of Magazine Zen
That's all there is this week. Get back to work! Well, after you wander down the hall to see if there's any snacks left in the break room? You work from home? I think your snack cubby is calling you. Go see what they have for you.
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That's it! May you week be full of short meetings, short emails, even shorter voice mails (from your Boomer supervisors).
Have a great week!