It's Wednesday: Five things about the world of magazine media - Issue #14
We're in the middle of a super dry season here in flyover country. That means that many trees are drought stricken and already starting to lose their leaves.
Because of what I'm seeing, all this past week I kept trying to come up with some sort of literary connection between the return of unsold magazines, and fall leaves blowing on the wind.
If you work in the world of print magazines, you can probably see where I was trying to go, but I just couldn't get there.
Fall is almost here and if you live in an area with deciduous trees, you may, like me, be bracing for the endless sound of leaf blowers.
Here's my solution: Put your phone on "Do Not Disturb," head out to the woods, get far away from the city and suburbs, and enjoy beauty of the changing seasons.
#1 Let's keep talking about Substack: Jane Friedman educates us about the hype and the reality.
I Like Substack. But the PR Is Getting Ridiculous. • Jane Friedman — www.janefriedman.com Substack makes it easy for non-tech people to harness the power of email newsletters, and that's a good thing. Just beware the hype.
I thought this article was an excellent follow-up to last week's story by Substack writer Simon Owen about what it would take to be a "middle class" Substack writer. And, I heartily agree, the PR is ridiculous. But that's how we cover things these days.
What's that you say? The lads up in the C-Suite think we should pivot to newsletters? Oh, wait. We did that back in '15.
#2 From Editor & Publisher: What will be left of Tribune Publishing now that Alden Capital owns it
The shadow of hedge fund and corporate ownership leaves newsrooms in fear they’ll be picked clean | Editor and Publisher — www.editorandpublisher.com This summer, Alden Global Capital acquired Tribune Publishing and its titles, from small community newspapers to major metro titles like its flagship, The Chicago Tribune, and The Baltimore Sun. It wasn’t the first newspaper acquisition for this hedge fund firm, nor is it the only firm of its kind eyeing the nation’s newspapers. But this acquisition was profound, making Alden Global Capital the owner, in effect, of more than 200 newspapers across the land.
Ever since I moved to Illinois, I've been a fan and occasional subscriber and/or newsstand purchaser of the Tribune owned Chicago Magazine. I still reluctantly subscribe to the now Alden owned Chicago Tribune newspaper (I've got you, for the moment, Rex Hupke!).
Chicago Magazine still puts out what I think is one of the very best city magazines. How long will that continue? Is Alden bleeding this property dry? Let's hope not.
FYI, here's an example of how to do a city magazine cover the right way!
#3 Washington Post: Facebook got six times more clicks than factual news during the 2020 election
Misinformation on Facebook got six times more clicks than factual news during the 2020 election, study says — www.washingtonpost.com News publishers on Facebook that trafficked in misinformation in the months preceding and immediately following the 2020 election got six times the number of likes and shares as pages that publish factual news, according to a forthcoming peer-reviewed study by New York University and the Université Grenoble Alpes.
"No!" all the fan boys crowed back in the aughts. "We don't need no stinking gate keepers to vouch for our media!" they shrilled and cried. "And it should be FREE!" the screamed.
And here we are. Cool, huh?
#4 Fare thee well, Marie Claire. This decade has not been kind to you.
Marie Claire quietly ends US print edition after 27 years — nypost.com Women's magazine Marie Claire is ending its US print edition after 27 years, The Post has learned.
Marie Claire quietly ended the US print edition after 27 years - LOVEBYLIFE — lovebylife.com The Post has learned that women's magazine Marie Claire is ending its US print edition 27 years later. Sold to Hearst British publisher Future Media in
I know that companies and parts of companies get bought and sold all of the time. Heck, I used to work for a company where during most of my tenure, the primary goal was to raise the EBITA so we could be sold for a generous profit.
For some reason, I feel queasy when magazines get bought and sold. Perhaps it's because they are so personal and their readers are often so committed to the content.
But while I have no personal stake in this title, and it's certainly not written for the likes of me, it still just feels all wrong.
#5 In which, once again, Bob Hoffman wins the coffee splork (Of the week!) award
INTEGRITY, FACEBOOK-STYLE — typeagroup.cmail20.com Facebook wants to clear something up. They are not the lying scumbags that blogweasels and other nasty critics portray them to be. They are caring, gentle souls who are motivated by truth, integrity, and transparency.
I mean, when a blog post uses the words "scumbags", "blogweasels" and one of my favorite businesspeak phrases "transparency" in the very first paragraph, you know you're in for a terrific read!
Check out the Ad Contrarian's take on Facebook's transparency, his smart call on Coke's "brand marketing" during the pandemic and Tiffany's most recent gaffe in the ad world.
Your moment of #MagazineZen and #MagazineAgita
The above is Magazine Zen:
It is the perfect illustrated magazine cover. Hands down.
And the above, is Magazine Agita
So, if you're in one of the lower pockets, you may be wondering why you have to pay distribution fees and the added per pound DSD freight costs.
You may.