• by John Gaffney , November 12, 2002

PIBets: The magazine world looks to be in better health ending this year than most any other media, in my opinion. Here’s why. Check out the Publisher’s Information Bureau numbers that came out yesterday. Two trends speak volumes. The first is that underachieving magazines are starting to see some light. Business Week, which has been dealing in product areas like travel and technology, was up 20 percent for October. That’s overachieving. Rolling Stone, which changed everything but its socks and underwear, was up 64 percent over last October. And Real Simple, which could be taking some pages from Martha Stewart, was up 103 percent. The second trend I find assuring is that the gap between pages and rate per page continues to grow positively. Ad revenue is up almost 8 percent while actual pages are down slightly. Magazine pages are holding value, in the big picture.

Get On WitchaBadSelf You Right Wing, Woman Hater Drudgeman: I will admit to several Drudge Report drive-bys a day. I don’t understand his story selection. But it’s intriguing. He’s all over the map in terms of political incorrectness by omission. But to me Drudge is a portal to world I don’t get to see otherwise. And for that, I think he’s what the Internet is all about. Today he served his one-billionth home page. To which he boasted: “Free from any corporate concerns, there are simply too many to thank since the site's inception in 1994. This new attempt at the old American experiment of full freedom in reporting is ever exciting. Those in power have everything to lose by individuals who march to their own rules.”

Please Welcome Back, Ladies And Gentlemen, The Feature Story: Is it just me, or are intelligent, probing news features making a comeback. MSNBC got a lot of traction out of a good piece on the Oil angle in the coming Iraqi conflict. Christiane Amanpour did her normal great job Monday on a CNN feature that took a look at the horrid treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. There’s hope here. It ain’t all J. Lo and Ben.