Earlier this week, I caught this item on MetaFilter about how the Independent Press Association had kicked the bucket, and how magazines were on the down and down. (That's like up and up, just the other way). Of course, as big a tech-head as I am, I know that magazines aren't a totally dying breed, just one that's on a much sped up evolution, declawing, or whatever you want to call it.

At the time, I figured that Rex Hammock, of Hammock Publishing and rexblog.com, would have something to say, since that's his bailiwick (ed: I've used that word entirely too much in the last month). Tonight, I had a chance to catch up with Rex via IM and ask him what he thought about this, and he was more than happy to point me in the right direction to some things he's said in the past, offer some new thoughts, and point out something he blogged about just this week.

About two years ago - February, 2005 to be exact - Rex took part in an interview with Media Life's Lorraine Sanders where he talked about why magazines matter. I won't rehash what he said so much there as that outside of his obvious love for the industry and the medium, but I can't agree more with his thoughts about how things such as JPG magazine offer something that just can't be recreated online, at least not yet, even though it's all about digital photography.

Rex also pointed me to this item from just two days ago, where he linked to a review of a new book, The Last Magazine, which talks about this very topic. You'll get a kick out of his quote, too.

"Magazines that people display on coffee tables will exist as long as there are coffee tables."

Ain't that the truth.

While chatting tonight, Rex told me that "magazines will have a long goodbye." That's important, because he's intentionally non specific, nor should he be. I brought up a magazine that I'm a big fan of, one that I not only love to read on planes, but love to keep around, Dwell. On that topic, Hammock said that he "think(s) that the aesthetics of magazines will grow more important -- the "experience" of something like Dwell is what makes the medium unique." If you've ever picked up that publication - or a number of others at its level - you'll notice there is something to every little nook and cranny, including the paper's feel on your fingertips. At least at the moment, you can't replace that. "Experience" is just the right word for it. Sure, Dwell can do a lot online, and they have a big, fresh site - but it isn't the same thing as the paper pub. On the other types of magazines, including "information" focused ones, he says that they "will (are) be supplanted by the Web.) We've seen that particular thing happen over and over again, but that probably won't stop people from opening those publications anew.

So are (will) magazines die off? Sure. Is it any different from a lot of other spaces and types of publications? Not so much. It's all about if the publishers of said publications can adapt and provide the great content they currently do to their readership in a fashion that the readership wants, can use, or needs. If it needs to be bite sized, some people will figure that out and do so. Others won't, and will vanish, probably quickly. As for the rest of it, I would say that, and did tonight with Rex, that those who are the most technologically hardcore, of which I'd consider myself party, might be the ones who "save" some of the publications on paper that are hurting right now, because we might be the ones who don't take them as much for granted when we pick up a publication and sit down and pour through its pages.

In case you hadn't already seen it, Boing Boing posted Wednesday about how Thrasher magazine had put its first 12 issues online for all to view. Yep, from way back in 1981. V. cool.

If you're at all familiar with the world of media in Europe (and elsewhere outside of the U.S.), you'll know that it's much less conservative in many nations, both on television and in print. That's not saying that all of it is, just that things we regularly censor on network television are admitted on the air in a lot of places. Well, it looks like the U.S. is getting yet another taste of this, according to Photo District News. PDN's Daryl Lang wrote Thursday about the U.S. launch of Shock (which runs as Choc in France), which we'll be able to grab on Tuesday. I could give you a more detailed description of what the pub is all about, but the name pretty much sums it up. Read on and enjoy!

The Associated Press reports Monday that Consumers Union, the folks who bring you Consumer Reports, will be letting loose a new magazine later this year, one that will run quarterly. The publication, ShopSmart, is all about style when it comes to layout and content, from what the article states.

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo has landed in the slower world of print media, but offers a different angle into her style and sense. She'll be penning a bi-weekly column for BusinessWeek, which will run both in print and online, entitled "Face Time with Maria Bartiromo." The first of (hopefully) many a column ran a few days ago, and is a sitdown with former AIG boss Hank Greenberg.

And yes, you can leave comments as a reader - online, at least.

On Monday, AdAge's Nat Ives wrote about the announcement that Yahoo! would be adding some content from The Week to its Yahoo! Finance pages - the first time the Internet company has made a move like this. So who wins out here? Does The Week, which prides itself on being a magazine chock full of what went on in that particular week, make a play for some new readers, or does Yahoo! snag some content from a print publication as a way to expand its readership. Obviously you could argue that both succeed here, perhaps solving the problem that I said existed for the magazine - its schedule - but at face value it looks like a can't miss. If the publication is all it's said to be, who would argue about having more content available to them through a portal that most are already using.

Wayyyy back in March, we heard that CRACKED magazine would be relaunching sometime this year with a spankin' new website and a bit more multimedia than its previous iteration. Well, it's here, and ready for your online enjoyment. As of right now, you'll have to wait 103 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes until the print version can make it to your sweaty hands, but that's okay.

One word of advice - make sure you mouse over Gary Busey, he's off to the right. Congrats to Monty and the whole CRACKED crew - good luck!

[via fuseblog]

Last week, I had a conversation with Rex Hammock about an effort related to Hurricane Katrina relief, and he informed me very briefly about a conversation he was having with the publisher of a magazine out of Louisiana who was in a tough spot in the aftermath of the regional disaster. Yesterday, he wrote about the conversations he had with Romney and Charley Richard, owners and publishers of Louisiana Cookin' Magazine - and possible plans for how to keep the publication up and running by any means necessary.

For the blogger in all of us, it's great to see that they did easy task #1 - started a blog. Additionally, they're working with Rex and others to figure out how best to get the next issue written, compiled, edited, printed, and out the door to the loyal readers of the magazine. While there are obviously life and death-related things going on in New Orleans and thereabouts, seeing a positive story come out of the devastation can be fruitful for us all.

My kudos go out to Rex, the Richards and all the other people who have stepped to the plate to make this work and keep the publication alive and well.

Nashua, New Hampshire's Telegraph has a story this week by Eileen Kennedy that celebrates Yankee magazine's longevity - and adaptation. Kennedy points out that the publication is now podcasting a column by its editor, and that it hasn't succumbed to so-called "big media," existing as a standalone magazine with a wide distribution

The Associated Press is reporting that the September issue of National Geographic will carry no photograph on the cover.

It's pretty rare that a new site can show up on the scene and have the National Review's Corner blog link to them twice in just a matter of minutes. But that's what happened with The F-Word Zine, a feminist magazine that is the brainchild of Melody Berger, a senior at Temple University.

That's what's good about this Web thing, ya know? Berger has her say, and The Corner has theirs - who's right, and who's wrong isn't what's there to judge, it's that people have a voice. Although in this case, I sense the fact that The Corner would prefer that The F-Word didn't have quite the opportunity for exposure that it does.

Last month, news came out that Niche Media was having a bit of difficulty with another publisher whose staffers had moved over to that company, bringing their mailing list along with them. Wednesday's Boston Herald reports that Niche publisher Jason Binn has owned up to using the list, and the lawsuit filed against his company by Boston magazine has been settled.

Radar Online wants to know how Reader's Digest managed to get its hands on Tom Cruise for an interview in this month's issue. You see, the pocket-sized magazine had a bit of a scuffle a few years back with the Church of Scientology, which Cruise is a member. Radar states that Reader's Digest got in hot water after republishing excerpts from a TIME article that was critical of the Church in 1991 - but it actually goes further back than that. They ran their own piece back in 1980, which the Church attempted to have quashed from international publication of the magazine, with a follow-up in 1981. Though the same thing happened in 1991, when Digest was hit with an injunction to halt magazine distribution in Switzerland - and was soon overturned.

So it's an even longer grudge than just 14 years - we're talking two and a half decades since Reader's Digest was on the you-know-what list of the Church of Scientology. Have they lightened up or were the qualifications that the magazine or writer Meg Grant went through part of the rules to get Cruise on the cover?

A little more than a year ago, the cranking out of specialized magazines was lava-hot with new publications popping up all over the place. If some stats thrown out there by BusinessWeek's Pallavi Gogoi are any indication, that still seems to be the case today. Though that doesn't mean that the magazines are staying on the newsstands very long.

As for TMD's opinion on the subject, I still think the niche idea is the way to go - as detailed here and here. What people don't realize is that the cost to enter the print publication market is still high - the magazines still have to reach the newsstand. The problem is that many new publisher's aren't sold on the online-only model just yet, and for good reason - many of their target readers still subscribe to print pubs, and there's no way around that, yet.

According to the Boston Globe's Mark Jurkowitz, publisher Niche Media just can't do anything right of late. After working their way out of one lawsuit, they're getting hit with another by Boston magazine for grabbing a list of advertisers from that publication through employees that have since signed on with Niche.

By now everyone's heard at least a tidbit or two about the whole Newsweek disaster surrounding their report that a copy of the Koran was destroyed during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. K. Paul Mallasch has a good roundup on the situation, and Instapundit seems to be a rip-roaring good time for the subject as well.

[update] LGF points out that the magazine has retracted the story this evening.

The Deal LLC, the publisher behind The Daily Deal, The Deal, and TheDeal.com, has just launched a new magazine, Tech Confidential. It's a bi-monthly publication, and will feature tech-specific content, Deal-style. Online, readers will have access to the print content, plus tech stories from the other Deal entities, along with a blog powered by Six Apart's TypePad engine. While The Deal's web subscribers will have unfettered access to the site, those who wish to visit the blog and other areas of Tech Confidential online will need to fill out a short registration form.

Subscribers to the print edition of The Deal will receive Tech Confidential as well. The idea behind the new publication was to reach out to readers who currently enjoy what The Deal has to offer - M&A, spinoffs, venture capital spending, etc. - and to give them a deeper look into innovative news and technology-specific happenings.

[Originally discussed here]

On Tuesday, New York magazine announced that Jeremy McCarter, theater critic for the New York Sun and New Republic contributor, will take on the role of chief theater critic at the publication as of June 1. He replaces John Simon, who is finishing his 37th year of doing the reviews.

Last week, the New York Sun's Myrna Blyth wrote about The Week, which appears to be a success both editorially and financially. A few months ago, I ragged the publication a little bit - not about its content, but the publishing schedule - but perhaps I'm just a stickler for instantaneous information. Can't argue with numbers, though.

On Friday, Forbes.com announced that David Andelman, most recently the business editor for the New York Daily News, would be taking the position of executive editor of the website. Andelman has more than 30 years of experience in the media, including 22 years working for the New York Times, seven at CBS News, and two years for CNBC.

With the launch of Inside TV this week, there's a new full-size entertainment mag on the block. It's brought to you by the folks behind TV Guide, and is aimed at young women.

Gawker sez that the TV Guide-ers have "got to get up earlier than that to bring down the House that Jarvis Built, people," referring to Entertainment Weekly, natch.

The New York Times' Anne Field writes about today's magazine industry, which is chock full of new publications. Even with the seemingly low success rate of magazines launched by big publishing houses, people are still interested in putting out new mags. The reason? Niche markets. The same way that many a blog has done very well for themselves in the last few years by having realistic goals on readership and the content that would be put in them, today's publishers are doing the same.

With the launch of Inside TV this week, there's a new full-size entertainment mag on the block. It's brought to you by the folks behind TV Guide, and is aimed at young women.

Gawker sez that the TV Guide-ers have "got to get up earlier than that to bring down the House that Jarvis Built, people," referring to Entertainment Weekly, natch.

Cracked Entertainment, owner of the soon-to-be-relaunched CRACKED magazine, said that former President of Universal Pictures and Hollywood producer Thom Mount has been added to the company's Board of Directors. Mount heads up Mount Film Company, and is most notably known for his work as executive producer for Natural Born Killers and producer on Tequila Sunrise and Bull Durham.

This further reflects on Cracked Entertainment's efforts to expand the company's portfolio from print-only to television, film, and Internet content.

More here and here.

Just read over at TalkLeft that on Wednesday afternoon, the National Magazine Awards will be announced by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Jay Smooth has the scoop about a lawsuit filed against The Source by two former female executives, Kimberly Osorio and Michelle Joyce.

According to the charges, female employees were consistently discriminated against on the basis of their gender in favor of male employees, particularly with respect to hiring, promotions, compensation and benefits, working hours and discipline.

This comes just a few days after Chief Brand Manager and co-founder Raymond Scott quit the pub. Looks like this should be an interesting week at the Source offices.

The Associated Press reports Wednesday that The Atlantic Monthly will end the running of a short story in each issue, opting to run an "annual fiction issue" instead.

A week ago, it was announced that CRACKED magazine had new ownership, and readers would see a shift in the publication when it relaunched later on in 2005. On Monday, Cracked Entertainment Inc. CEO / publisher Monty Sarhan made public that former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco would take on the same role at the mag. Additionally, the company has named Sven Larsen the Associate Publisher. Larsen, also having worked at Marvel, brings his most recent publishing experience from Penguin Books, where he worked on marketing and sales for Financial Times and The Economist. Associate Editor duties will be handled by Justin Droms, whose online expertise has most recently been seen at Scholastic Books. This will be key as the company's focus will be to develop a lot more content for other forms of media, not just print.

The Winston-Salem Journal's Mike Mulhern writes Wednesday about Time, Inc.'s latest addition to the publishing family - Racing Fan. The pub, all about auto racing, is probably a long time coming, I'll agree. But it really isn't too surprising that it took NASCAR's ascent towards the mainstream for a publisher in the U.S. to really invest some cash in the market.

Humor magazine CRACKED, a competitor of MAD Magazine, has been purchased by a group of investors looking to revive the brand. The new company will be called Cracked Entertainment, Inc., and will be based out of New York. The magazine will be overhauled, from editorial to publishing schedule, according to new publisher and CEO Monty Sarhan. Additionally, Cracked Entertainment will tune into the media of today, looking towards the production of television and Internet content.

Vanity Fair's April issue has a cover story about supermodels, and in the interest of [ahem] transparency, they've chosen to put video of the 'behind the scenes' of the photo shoot on their website.

Crain's has the story about a joint venture by The Deal and CNET News.com to start a new publication, Tech Confidential.

Over at adland, site member "ernieschenck" points out the formalization of the "I don't want the swimsuit issue" policy at Sports Illustrated recently. The New York Times' Richard Sandomir writes Wednesday that the weekly magazine has recently placed "opt out" messages in two issues. The items contain a telephone number were subscribers can call in, cancel that particular issue, and retain one issue on the end of their subscription.

But the mag's editor claims that this isn't a recent move based on political or social issues.

The policy for the swimsuit issue has been quietly in effect for decades. [Managing editor Terry] McDonell said the decision to make the offer explicit for the 42nd annual issue was not a reaction to a more conservative climate.

"That's the last message I'd want to send," he said. "This is about good manners."

Manners that conveniently appear now, after 41 previous instances of the issue. Sorry, but this time I'm not buying it. Well, unless SI comes out and says they were just sick of posting two pages worth of "I can't believe your publication would send out such trash" letters to the editor.

The Associated Press reported early Friday that Sarah Jewler, who was the managing editor of New York magazine, died Wednesday. She was 56.

SOHH.com's Carl Chery calls XXL's Elliot Wilson a "player to watch" this year. Wilson is the editor-in-chief for the hip hop magazine, and has grand plans for the publication.

DMNews.com features an article Thursday by Meg Weaver about magazine publishing, specifically about the lack of growth in the overall readership figures for the last few years - around 14, in fact, according to her stats. I have some very strong throughts on magazines, mostly surrounding monthly publications - which, I believe, are going to suffer further damage by both the increased news cycle that the Internet brings, but the availability of feature-esque stories and much shorter lead times for advertisers.

I have quite a few thoughts on this matter to share, but am still in data-gathering mode, so it'll be something to look forward to after the New Year. Feel free to drop your comments and questions on this post or in my inbox if you prefer.

On Sunday, TIME publicly announced that President George W. Bush has been named the magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2004.

For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes—and ours—on his faith in the power of leadership, George W. Bush is TIME's 2004 Person of the Year.

Bloomberg's Chris Dolmetsch and Cecile Daurat have a roundup on some facts about the "person" choice, where they point out that Bush "is the 12th person to be chosen more than once and the eighth president to be named multiple times."

In June, popular Russian television news anchor Leonid Parfyonov lost his job because of his coverage of a story that affected government police and intelligence. On Monday, Parfyonov was named editor-in-chief of the Russian version of Newsweek, Mosnews.com reports.

Syracuse University's Daily Orange (reg. req'd) features an article Wednesday by Jean Stevens about what makes up an issue of Stuff magazine - or at least the front cover. Stevens offers details on Stuff editor in chief Mike Hammer's visit to speak in front of SU students this week, where he explained the process of how the women featured on the front cover are chosen. I especially enjoyed this exchange:

"...The women who pose for Stuff, or any magazine, have some sort of career interest in mind in making the decision. Sheryl Crow, who normally would not pose for a publication like Stuff, agreed to the cover shoot to attract younger listeners.

For women like Crow, who are not "super hot," Hammer said, photographers need to make them appear far more sexually attractive, Hammer said.

"The strategy here is: make guys go up to the magazine and go, 'Shit, is that really Sheryl Crow?'" Hammer said.

I'm finding that college is even more entertaining now than it was just a decade ago. Maybe I should go back.

The Associated Press reports that BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Stephen Shepard will leave the publication in April of 2005. No replacement has yet been named.

BusinessWeek Online's Diane Brady contemplates what the induction of former ABC exec and Premiere founder Susan Lyne as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will bring.

Just based on seeing public reaction to the Martha Stewart line of products - not the watercooler discussion we all experience - I can't say that the doyenne (I just wanted to use that word, sue me) being out of the picture would ever help the brand. Her name continues to sell product, even with her personal issues that have led to her current time in prison. I think the more important issue here is scale - how big of an entity does MSO need to be. Should they work with "what they've got" and just try and grow those businesses, or look to make acquisitions and continue in a typical business cycle? I think advertisers will eventually return to the company's flagship publication, especially after they realize that Stewart still wields a serious wand over the market.

Needless to say, change in this case seems to mean progress, even with the abilities that depart with outgoing CEO Sharon Patrick.

If you're interested in an editorial position, and don't mind moving (unless, of course, you're already there!), you can apply for this position as magazine editor for the "government sponsored" Taiwan Review.

On Saturday, Steve Megargee wrote in the Knoxville News Sentinel about the creation of Sports Illustrated at Time, Inc. 50-odd years ago. Most importantly, about the man who, innocuously enough, was one of the "founders" of the magazine, Bob Cowin.

Fast Company is running its third "Fast 50" challenge to its readers, and is looking for your entry. They're trying to find the 50 individuals that made a difference in the last year, and you've got until 11:59pm Eastern on December 1 to tell them about yourself, your boss, a colleague, your parent, or anyone you think deserves to be in this group. Fast Company says they are "looking for courageous leaders, energetic innovators, problem solvers and troubleshooters, trend and agenda setters -- readers who are fueled by courage, integrity, passion, and a commitment to results." That's a pretty wide swath, and I'm expecting to see some amazing stories be included.

Oh, and if you've got writer's block or want to see what others think qualifies to make the cut, you can check out the 10 most recent entries, too.

Ryan at Dead Parrot Society posts about an article that I can only describe as fascinating. In it, author Eamon Hickey describes the process by which the images for one issue of Sports Illustrated are reviewed for placement - in this case, the goal is the Super Bowl edition's cover photo.

The New York Post's Tim Arango writes Friday about an announcement made by Business Week that the magazine would be adding a second circulation audit to the one it is already scheduled for. This, of course, is to keep advertisers assured that circ at the publication isn't overstated, confirming the value behind the ad rates they are currently being charged.

In August, Vogel Publications announced the launch of their latest tv-centric magazine, Glued. On Monday, the publication stated that it has made its way onto newsstands at Barnes & Noble, and is looking to make an big impact on the market. The publication has a mix of interviews, show and DVD reviews, and a monthly feature called "Stay Tuned," which editor-in-chief Candace Korchinsky describes as full of "reasons to stay on the couch."

The Miami Herald's Alexandra Zayas writes Monday about LO-FI Magazine, a publication focusing on comic art - both independent and mainstream - as well as music. The publication was created by a group of people in the Miami area who wanted "to take the geek out of comic, or at least make comic geek cool," reports Zayas.