• by Paul Gough , September 16, 2003

Like the industry it covers, Editor & Publisher magazine is struggling to adapt to the explosion of new media options. After more than 115 years as the weekly bible of the newspaper industry, E&P will begin a new phase as a monthly magazine beginning in January.

The title, a unit of VNU's business publications, will focus more on immediate news on its Web site and create a fatter, more feature-oriented magazine. E&P will finish the rest of the year as a weekly and then publish its first monthly edition somewhere around Jan. 10.

In a statement released on its Web site, E&P said the change will allow it to keep more on top of the fast-breaking news of the newspaper industry. Editor Greg Mitchell said Tuesday morning that E&P's 10-member editorial staff is constantly debating whether a story should be put up immediately on its Web site or held for the weekly magazine.

"We heard more and more from our readers and even non-readers that wanted to be involved with us, that they're getting their news from the Web and hate waiting around for the magazine," Mitchell said. "Times have changed and people want the information sooner rather than later."

Mitchell said it was an evolution for E&P.

"It's a natural development. We're not doing it out of panic," Mitchell said. No members of the editorial staff would be cut, which he said was unusual for a publication whose frequency was being changed.

While Mitchell acknowledged that times had been tough for E&P, with ad pages down and the freelance budget cut a year ago, he said that advertising conditions had improved in 2003. But that didn't always translate into more ads.

The revamped magazine's format is still being worked out, but Mitchell said it would include 50% more coverage than the weekly E&P. He declined to term it as a shift from print to the Web.

"We are continuing to have a focus on print," Mitchell said. "We'll be serving the readers better while at the same time expanding the Web."

Part of the enhancements to the Web site will be a redesign that will focus on six areas of readership: Newsroom; online journalism, corporate/financial affairs; technical/printing/pressroom; advertising and marketing; and syndicates. The Web site redesign will make it easier for readers who are interested in these topics to find content.

Editor & Publisher's history goes back to 1884, when a predecessor publication called The Journalist was founded. Editor & Publisher itself was begun in 1901 and merged with The Journalist six years later. Two other trades, Newspaperdom and The Fourth Estate, were acquired. Today, it's part of AdWeek Magazines, which includes Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and others.