Rolling Stone shrinks with the times

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 15 October 2008 at 10:24
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

Iconic American music magazine Rolling Stone is shrinking in size to match other magazines on the newsstand, reports The New York Times.

The newspaper-magazine hybrid was first published in 1967 as a tabloid-size newspaper, began printing on a four-color press in 1973 and swapped to magazine-quality paper in 1981, when it also shrank to its recently abandoned 25 cm x 30 cm size.

Rolling Stone said it will add enough pages to each issue to offset the loss of space from switching to the smaller size.

Publisher Will Schenck said: “The size is a nostalgic element but not the iconic part of the magazine. Evolution and change is part of our DNA.”

A year after UK closure, CosmoGirl is axed in US

Posted by Paul McNally on 15 October 2008 at 07:21
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

The collapse of the teen magazine market in the UK is being felt in the US, with the announcement this week that magazine giant Hearst is to close the US edition of CosmoGirl. The December issue of the nine-year-old title will be the last – but the CosmoGirl.com website will remain.

The announcement comes 15 months after Natmag did the same with CosmoGirl in the UK, citing the growth of the internet and a shift in teenagers’ perception of themselves that meant they no longer associated themselves with adolescent titles. Emap’s Sneak and Smash Hits folded a year earlier.

Competition from the web and celebrity weeklies has hit a number of US teen mags. Hachette Filipacchi closed Elle Girl in 2006 and Time Inc closed Teen People.

New Statesman US editor leaves title

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 14 October 2008 at 11:58
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

It has been all change at The New Statesman since the arrival of new editor Jason Cowley, with US editor Andrew Stephen the latest in a line of regular contributors to part ways with the weekly magazine, reports Media Guardian.

Cowley joined the title from Granta in September, and Stephen blames the arrival of the new editor for his departure.

He told Media Guardian: “I discussed by resignation first with Mike Danson and Geoffrey Robinson [co-owners] as they were very positive about my presence. I left because I did not feel completely in tune with the new editor [Jason Cowley], but I did so reluctantly.”

Washington Post journalist Alex McGillis has replaced Stephen in Washington, and has already started contributing articles.

Regular columns by Darcus Howe Julian Clary and Ziauddin Sardar have been cut, although all three are said to be continuing to contribute to the title.

NME goes mile high

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 14 October 2008 at 11:43
Tags: Broadcast, Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Radio

NME has secured a deal with Virgin Atlantic airlines to provide in-flight entertainment.

NME Radio are creating a tailor made radio show, hosted by afternoon DJ Iain Baker, and NME reviews editor Hamish MacBain will be writing a regular section for the inflight magazine, Seatback.

British Archaeology mag prompts English Heritage to pulp book

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 13 October 2008 at 11:06
Tags: B2B Magazines, Customer publishing, Journalism, Magazines

English Heritage has been forced to withdraw The Ghastly Book of Stonehenge after British Archaeology Magazine revealed that it was littered with errors. (more…)

IPC Blue Fin Building scoops two awards

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 13 October 2008 at 10:56
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

IPC Media’s space age Blue Fin Building in London has picked up the regional and national award for best corporate workplace in the British Council for Offices Awards.

IPC moved into the purpose-built, energy-efficient £200 million HQ in June last year, that come complete with a radio station in the basement for NME and a specially designed tasting suite for wine magazine Decanter.

(more…)

James Murdoch gets green credentials

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 13 October 2008 at 09:09
Tags: Broadcast, Consumer Magazines, Magazines, National Newspapers, Television

Media mogul James Murdoch has made it in at number eight in The Independent on Sunday Green List.

Murdoch made broadcasting giant BSkyB the world’s first carbon neutral broadcaster and has cut News Corp’s carbon footprint by a fifth.

Lads’ magazine and page 3 glamour model Keeley Hazell made an appearance at number 99, after appearing on page 3 painted green.

Time Inc: IPC sale talk quashed, digital growth slowing

Posted by Paul McNally on 10 October 2008 at 09:00
Tags: Magazines

American magazine giant Time Inc has quashed rumours that it is looking to offload its UK arm, IPC Media, which it bought for £1.1bn in October 2001.

In an interview with the Times, Time Inc chief executive Ann Moore praised the work of IPC chief executive Sylvia Auton, adding: “We are very pleased – three out of her last four launches have been hits.”

The group has also warned that it looks set to miss its digital revenue growth target of 53 per cent for 2008 - with print advertising also taking a hit, down nine per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2008.

Digital revenue - which makes up about 15 per cent of Time Inc’s total turnover - rose 73 per cent last year.

Police Review magazine celebrates 6,000th issue

Posted by Paul McNally on 10 October 2008 at 08:07
Tags: B2B Magazines, Magazines

The weekly B2B magazine for police officers, Jane’s Police Review, has celebrated the publication of its 6,000th issue this morning.

The title, which launched in 1893 as The Police Review, said it had not missed a single issue - despite a 1996 IRA bombing that destroyed the building in London’s Docklands that housed the title.

Jonathan Shephard, chief executive of the Periodical Publishers Association, said: “Any title that started in the 19th century and is still flourishing in the 21st century must have shown real must-have value, together with a remarkable ability to adapt.”

Currently edited by Chris Herbert, the magazine is owned by Jane’s Information Group - the specialist military and maritime B2B publisher.

Gawker founder Nick Denton on The Daily Beast launch

Posted by Paul McNally on 9 October 2008 at 10:59
Tags: Magazines, Online

The founder of US blog network Gawker Media, Nick Denton, has raised doubts about how successful veteran magazine editor Tina Brown’s new web venture, The Daily Beast, will become.

Denton told the International Herald Tribune he felt the site, unveiled this week, was too cluttered and “has to be simpler to work”, and added: “I’ll definitely read [it], but I don’t think there are that many of me.”

The Daily Beast went live on Monday. One of its first exclusives was an interview with actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, which was reported to have been spiked by a magazine.

WHSmith: Magazine sales remain tough

Posted by Paul McNally on 9 October 2008 at 09:31
Tags: Magazines

News retailer WHSmith has said stocking compact “travel-sized” versions of major consumer magazines has helped it hold on to its share of the magazine sales market.

In its annual results to the end of August, released this morning, the group said it had invested in promotional activity around magazines, but said the newsstand market remained “challenging”.

Recent titles to try out a compact format include FHM, Stuff and Cosmopolitan.

Unions refuse extra funding for left-wing weekly Tribune

Posted by Paul McNally on 9 October 2008 at 07:44
Tags: Magazines

Tribune, the 71-year-old left-wing weekly magazine, looks set to close at the end of this month unless a buyer comes forward.

According to MediaGuardian.co.uk, management at the title have so far been unable to secure extra funding from the consortium of trade unions that owns the title.

Merseyside newspapers face new threat

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 8 October 2008 at 10:01
Tags: Advertising, Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Regional Newspapers

A publishing company in Merseyside could make a further dent in revenue for the region’s newspapers as it launches a property title offering advertising at half the price.

Founder of Aintree Publishing, Anna Woodhams, told How-Do that her new fortnightly magazine On the Move, targeting ABC1 households in North Merseyside, aims to provide suffering estate agents with a single platform targeting large geographic areas. (more…)

Don’t expect a turnaround in advertising spend until 2010

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 7 October 2008 at 09:45
Tags: Advertising, Broadcast, Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Radio, Television

The press has been the worst hit as advertising spend is slashed in the credit crunch, with £67.7 million of advertising spend pulled out of the medium year on year, reports Brand Republic.

Media forecasters Zenith Optimedia has drastically changed its forecast for total UK ad spend for the next two years, and has predicted that significant spend will not return until 2010.

(more…)

Tina Brown on her new web venture: The Daily Beast is your omnivorous friend

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 7 October 2008 at 08:05
Tags: Journalism, Magazines, Media Business, New Media, Online

Mag supremo Tina Brown today opened her new website - The Daily Beast - which was yesterday password protected.

And at first glance it appears to be an impressive comeback from the British-born US magazine queen - with some serious technological and editorial muscle behind it. (more…)

Tina Brown launches news aggregation website The Daily Beast

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 6 October 2008 at 10:55
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines, New Media, Online

Former Tatler editor Tina Brown has launched her new online project, The Daily Beast.

The site is password protected, but PaidContent.org had a chat with Brown ahead of today’s launch about what to expect. (more…)

Welsh celebrities back NUJ’s campaign to keep Big Issue Cymru in Wales

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 3 October 2008 at 13:46
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

The NUJ has got celebrity backing for its campaign to keep production of The Big Issue Cymru in Wales.

Press Gazette broke the story last month that the editor and designer on the weekly magazine are facing redundancy and production was moving to Big Issue Scotland, with only the staff writer remaining in Wales to produce local content.

The NUJ has got backing from opera singer Katherine Jenkins, Radio One DJ Bethan Elfyn and author Rachel Trezise it its campaign, which voices concern that the proposed changes could affect the ability of the title to produce quality Welsh content.

Jenkins said: “Big Issue Cymru always has its finger on the pulse and tackles issues from a solid Welsh perspective. On top of that it is a good all round read, understanding and supporting Welsh culture. I don’t understand how this could continue to work being edited from Scotland?”

DJ Elfyn has contributed to the magazine. She said: “I was proud of the achievements of the staff at Big Issue Cymru, and thought they did the magazine proud with their articles, their working relationship with people like myself, and the vendors, and gave the Big Issue a great reputation here in Wales. I am concerned that one member of staff only representing Wales is a token gesture and will not be a good reflection of the world, the people and the activities here in Wales.”

Paparazzi in honourable intentions shocker?

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 3 October 2008 at 09:46
Tags: Agencies, Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Photography

The paparazzi photographer in California who made the 911 call which subsequently resulted in the arrest of actress Heather Locklear for allegedly driving erratically has made almost £15,000 from the photos of her arrest.

(more…)

Felix Dennis gives journalist interview - doesn’t confess to killing anyone

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 2 October 2008 at 10:07
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines, People

Dennis Publishing boss Felix Dennis has managed to give a national press interview without confessing to killing anyone ten months after telling Ginny Dougary of The Times that he pushed a man over a cliff.

In an interview in today’s Guardian he now says it was just the booze talking. (more…)

Spectator Australia launches this week

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 1 October 2008 at 16:07
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

The Spectator launches an Australian edition this week.

The Spectator Australia will be printed in Sydney and will have all the UK content, with an added 12 pages of Australian current affairs, culture and politics.

Launch editor Oscar Humphries told Media Guardian that the long term plan was to have a standalone Australian version, possibly by the end of this year. He said: “Given the scale of this, the expectation is for the editing to eventually be done from Australia.”

The edition will be available in both Australia and New Zealand, where the Spectator already sells around 4,000 copies each week.

Press Gazette broke the news that Spectator’s publisher Press Holding’s Media Group had plans to launch in Australia in July. Cheif executive Andrew Neil also said that he had plans to launch an edition in India.

Commenting on plans to launch in India, he said: “It’s a country with a big English speaking elite with ties to London, in which newspapers and magazines are very popular. And it’s a democracy; it would be pretty hard for The Spectator to survive anywhere that wasn’t a democracy.”