Commentary

Lost In Cyberspace

The trickle of magazines opting for online-only publication has grown into - well, if not a torrent, then at least enough to get your socks soggy. In 2007 alone, three big titles have signaled their intention to close their print editions and head to the Web. Hachette Filipacchi's venerable Premiere magazine, announced in early March that the April issue will be its last. And just a day apart in late March, Life magazine folded as Child was unceremoniously ejected from the Meredith household.

2007 is setting a brisk pace, but there's already plenty of precedent: Last year Hachette gave the hatchet to Elle Girl's print edition, followed by Time Inc.'s Teen People, and in December EMaps' ultra-lowbrow lad mag FHM got the chop, despite substantial cost savings from the elimination of cover girl costumes. In all six cases, publishers have positioned the moves as transitions to an online future.

"We felt in the long-term as a brand it would be more sustainable as an online product," a Meredith spokesman explained when cutting Child loose. And while closing the print publication, Time is opening a new Life-branded online photo archive with millions of photographs, including some by famous 20th-century practitioners.

There's an obvious question, of course: Is it all just a sham? What does "maintaining an online presence" even mean? Enter Samir Husni, the affably acerbic "Mr. Magazine" - a slightly eccentric journalism professor at the University of Mississippi who's generally acknowledged as a magazine guru/savant. Undeniably passionate about the subject, Husni balances his clear-eyed view of the industry's concerns with a real appreciation of magazines' editorial missions and intrinsic cultural value. And he's not buying the online line.

"I believe that any time you kill the print edition and say you are heading to online, you are as good as dead," Husni says. "It's an excuse for the failure of the magazine." Indeed, Teen People's ad pages dropped 14.4 percent in 2006 versus 2005, Child was down 15.9 percent, FHM fell 21.9 percent, and Premiere fell 24.7 percent, and these figures were matched by sluggish subscriptions and newsstand sales - a sign that consumers were, well, just not that interested. Husni asserts: "To keep the brand alive you need both print and online in this day and age."

While online editions might wring some extra revenue out of magazine brands, Husni says they tend to be shadows of their print selves, as execs take the opportunity to ruthlessly cut costs by gutting the editorial staff. "If you cannot survive the present, why plan for the future?" Husni asks rhetorically. "Well, for magazines, that should read: If you can't survive the print edition, why bother with an online edition? You will be forgotten sooner or later anyway."

At least one magazine publisher plans to reverse the trend by starting new magazine ventures online before deciding whether to launch a print version. After closing InfoWorld magazine in March to focus on its Web site, tech trade publisher IDG now says it will launch new titles online and then poll readers about creating print versions. The UK edition of ComputerWorld has already been launched online-only.

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