By
Meg Weaver, Editor, mweaver@woodenhorsepub.com
Hi everybody, Maxim Saves Journalism! Maxim?? The "lad" magazine saves...journalism? Who's kidding
here? Well, actually it was Keith Blanchard, the editor-in-chief of Maxim and
"Maxim Saves Journalism" was his tongue-in-cheek title of a
speech he
delivered to students at the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism's Summer Publishing Course on July 15. It's a very interesting
speech in which he explains why Maxim is so successful as a magazine.
I
thought you would enjoy reading a few excerpts (I'll give you the link
to
the whole speech at the end.) "Maxim is affirmational, not aspirational.we help our readers enjoy
the
world they're already living in, rather than showing them frustrating
dream-glimpses into a very expensive one they will never see..." "[Five years ago] the accepted method of launching a magazine was
to create
a comfortable environment for advertisers trying to reach your target
demographic, then try to entice readers in..." "Magazines, by and large, are driven by fear. You're not smart enough,
you're not hip enough, you're not wearing the right clothes, you look
like
a toad. The apocryphal coverline is: He Lies, He Cheats, He Steals: What
You're Doing Wrong. And only our magazine whatever it is, can help you,
pathetic worm that you are, crawl toward the light. This is what's
changing, thank God. We don't believe in selling fear, profitable though
that industry is. We believe in entertaining our readers, pure and simple.
We tell our readers it's okay to like what you like, to do what you do,
to
be who you really are..." "We have built a highly successful magazine by the astonishing methodology
of figuring out what readers want and then giving it to them, an enterprise
which in journalism is called pandering, and which in every other industry
is called customer service..." "My point is that the very notion of what a magazine is is changing,
and
it's changing fast. There's a broad cross-cultural movement here -- people
across the board have shorter attention spans. People across the board
have multiple interests. People across the board demand graphical
interestingness of their media..." "Within a few years, there may be no such thing as a "reader,"
only a sort of
multiplatform "experiencer..." "
You can read the whole speech at
http://foliomag.com/ar/marketing_maxim_saves_journalism_2/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIND MORE MARKETS - MAKE MORE MONEY!
Have you discovered the Wooden Horse Magazines Database yet?
Over 2,000 US and Canadian consumer and trade magazines
Get instant access to:
* Complete contact information * Pay, word count, rights and writer's guidelines * Editorial concept * Reader demographics * Editorial calendar
You can't get all this anywhere else - not even in directories costing
thousands of dollars.
Check it out at http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/moreinfo.html. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These are stories we have just posted or are working on: LIVING WEST has a new editor.
DWELL has a new editor-in-chief.
LINUX JOURNAL has one, too.
FITNESS has a new senior editor.
POPULAR SCIENCE has a couple of new editors.
PRWEEK has a new editor-in-chief.
ADVERTISING AGE has a new executive editor.
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY is looking for a Deputy Editor.
SMART MONEY has made several editorial changes.
THE VILLAGE VOICE has lost a longtime editor.
WORKING MOTHER adds new material. The details are on the Home, Fast News, and Content Watch pages of the
site
at http://www.woodenhorsepub.com.
Just in:
VISTA magazine is a monthly newspaper supplement that is aimed mostly
at
bilingual readers in the Hispanic community. It is distributed in
newspapers like the Albuquerque Tribune, El Tiempo Latino, Hanford
Sentinal, Santa Fe New Mexican, the Arizona Republic, El Paso Times, Fresno
Bee, Tampa Tribune to name a few. Vista covers information of interest
to
the bilingual Hispanic
community throughout the country: its interests include: education,
religion, personalities, music, events, business, health, entertainment
personalities, etc. Suggestions for Vista should go to the new editor
Carmen Roiz, Vista Magazine, 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Suite 600, Coral
Gables, FL 33134, (305) 442-2462, fax: (305) 443-7650, e-mail: croiz@hisp.com.
PHILADELPHIA magazine is a monthly publication aimed at the educated
and
affluent Philadelphian interested in information having to do with
lifestyle, beauty, and travel. Primarily aimed at women, the 140,000
circulation mag, which was founded in 1908, covers such issues as dining
out, events, parties, social date books, the best of Philly, the top
doctors, etc. Everything in the magazine has a Philadelphia link.
Suggestions can go to any of the following: Loren Feldman, the editor;
Benjamin Wallace, executive editor; Sarah Jordan, managing editor; Meg
Cohen Ragas, lifestyle editor; Rebecca Kenton, social editor. They are
all
reached at the magazine, 1818 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215)
564-7700, fax (215) 656-3502. Their e-mail formula is:
firstiniutiallastname@phillymag.com. BOOKMARKS magazine was created for readers as a guide to the best in
books,
from the latest releases to classics. Each issue of the new magazine will
contain a comprehensive look at new books, and these books will be rated
and discussed by researching major book reviews, profiles of historical
authors, with overviews of their bodies of work, eclectic reading
suggestions from well known authors and booksellers, as well as from other
readers. Bookmarks was created as a way to supplement regular reading
lists, to jump start a search for a new book, and to continue our immersion
in our culture, captured with books, both past and present. Each issue
will contain a New Books Guide, which is being created by studying reviews
appearing in major papers, magazines and the Internet. Whether past or
present, Bookmarks provides a complete and thoughtful coverage of our
reading habits. Suggestions should go to either Jon Phillips or Allison
Nelson, co-founders, at Bookmarks Magazine, 63 Bovet Road, No 108, San
Mateo, CA 94402; their phone is (650) 558-1821 and fax: (888) 356- 8107.
Submissions for their letters to the editor column can go to:
letters@bookmarksmagazine.com. Check out their website for more information
at http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com.
Just so you know: We migrate all these facts into the Wooden Horse database
if you need them later (http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/search.asp).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Editorial calendars for an additional $595 The best information - the best price: WOODEN HORSE Check us out at http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/moreinfo.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Briefs: After shaking up US WEEKLY and ROLLING STONE, owner Jann Wenner is turning
his attention to his MEN'S JOURNAL. As usual he is beginning with a new
editor; this time replacing Sid Evans, who was hired less than two years
ago to undo his predecessor's moves toward the mainstream and return Men's
Journal to its adventurous roots. Now Wenner says: ""I think
that we need
to broaden the magazine. I want to challenge both GQ and ESQUIRE head-on
and I think that Bob is [the] editor that can make that happen."
So, back
to the mainstream again... Speaking about changes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that
MARTHA STEWART LIVING is being redesigned and it's scheduled for the
October issue. "It will feature an easier-to-read format that includes
type changes, as well as articles by other domestic-arts experts..." Here's something write-related to do on Labor Day: Doran William Cannon's
2002 Unique Boutique Writer's Retreat at Circle © Writing Ranch in
Santa
Barbara, California. Find out more at
http://www.writingacademy.com/page8.html... Publisher Imagine Media, owner of PC GAMER and OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE,
is
changing its name to Future Network USA. Imagine is the US arm of the
publicly traded British company Future Network PLC... COMPUTERWORLD recently laid off 15% of their staff... INSIDE RADIO, the radio trade publication that was suing radio giant
Clear
Channel, has been sold to...Clear Channel. The new owner says Inside Radio
will continue in name, but has merged it with another trade sheet, M STREET
JOURNAL... SALON.COM reported "a stabilization of revenues" for the quarter
ending
June 30, 2002. Revenues for that quarter were $972,000 versus $973,000
in
2001... Good news: Publisher Meredith (LADIES' HOME JOURNAL, BETTER HOMES AND
GARDENS and MIDWEST LIVING) posted higher quarterly earnings "as
advertisers gradually returned to its magazines and television stations..." Speaking of US WEEKLY, it has gone on attack against competitor PEOPLE,
although it lost in the latest photo bidding war. But it forced People
to
shell out $75,000 for nine photos of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Out
of the nine photos, there was one People definitely won't be printing:
One
where the super-star couple is seen reading...Us Weekly!
The Wooden Horse News Alerts will be taking a short vacation in the next
two weeks.
But we'll be back after the American Labor Day (Sept 2) and all other
services will be up and functioning, including the Magazines Database.
Be
sure to check the website often since we'll continue to post up-to-date
magazine news. And -- as always -- keep writing, Meg
To subscribe to the News Alerts or unsubscribe, just e-mail Meg at mweaver@woodenhorsepub.com.
Copyright (c) 2001-2003 Wooden Horse Publishing. Please feel free to forward
this News Alert but only in its entirety. |
