Digital publishing news for January 2, 2014
Time Inc.’s split from parent company Time Warner isn’t the only big move the company is making. They are also tearing down the wall between editorial and the business side of publishing. Christine Haughney writes, “The newsroom staffs at Time Inc.’s magazines will report to the business executives. Such a structure, once verboten at journalistic institutions, is seen as necessary to create revenue opportunities and stem the tide of declining subscription and advertising sales.” This is a substantial move to embrace native advertising and other marketing services that can generate revenue.
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Best Buy Launches Magazine, Wants to be Like Game Stop
Best Buy has launched a new magazine called Life & Tech. John Vomhof Jr. from Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal writes, “Best Buy distributed 300,000 free copies of the magazine to its Canada stores, except for locations in French-speaking Quebec and its Future Shop stores. It also sent a digital version of the publication to 1.4 million people in its Reward Zone loyalty program, and there’s a free iPad version available in the iTunes store. Best Buy Life & Tech will publish six times a year. The next issue is due out in the spring.”
It sounds like Best Buy is taking a page from Game Stop and its magazine Game Informer. We reported earlier in the year that Game Informer has a digital replica circulation of almost 3 million. These numbers come easy when people are automatically subscribed after purchasing items from your store. Smart move on Best Buy’s part and possibly a new trend for big box retailers.
New York Times Site Relaunch Set To Debut on January 8
Fishbowl NY is reporting that The New York Times plans to launch its revamped website on January 8. Denise Warren executive VP of digital products and services at The Times said, “With this redesign, not only are we refreshing the look and feel of our public-facing site, but we have also laid down the foundation that gives us the ability to regularly iterate and enhance the user experience on NYTimes.com.”
Apple Values Insights from Magazine Designer
Apple has hired Arem Duplessis, the design director from the New York Times Magazine. The Verge’s Jacob Kastrenakes reports, “Duplessis will be working with Apple’s internal marketing team, which Ad Age reported in September was a new area of focus for the company. Apple is reportedly interested in expanding the department by up to twice its size and is particularly interested in finding established designers and advertisers to fill high-level positions.”
Bloomberg News Editor Leaves for Nat Geo
The Huffington Post is reporting that Susan Goldberg, executive editor at Bloomberg News, is leaving to become the executive editor at National Geographic. Michael Calderone writes, “Goldberg had previously overseen coverage of federal, state and local government out of Washington. She came to Bloomberg in 2010 with an extensive newspaper background. She previously editor of Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer, executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News, deputy managing editor of USA Today. Goldberg also worked for the Detroit Free Press and now-shuttered Seattle Post-Intelligencer.”
