• by Michael Shields , November 11, 2004

Newsweek is taking a step away from its serious election and war coverage and joining the trend in publishing toward pure consumerism as a lifestyle with the launch of Tip magazine, a spin-off of popular and successful The Tip Sheet section, which started three years ago.

Tip's content will be pure "personal service journalism," said Editor Kathleen Deveny (Deveny is also the assistant managing editor of Newsweek). That means tips on just about everything.

"Tip will have very specific advice," Deveny. "I think people are overwhelmed with all the choices out there. It's helpful to have someone sort through it."

But that sorting will not be limited to product advice. "It's not just [a] shopping magazine," Deveny said. "This particular version, because it is focused on the holidays, has a lot of gift guide info (including a 'Best of the Best' holiday gift guide with 73 Tip-tested gifts). But we will have a wide variety of subjects."

For example, the debut issue will include a guide to the art of tipping, including the babysitter--plus tips on personal finance and throwing a Christmas party, as well as advice from travel and fashion experts.

The magazine's audience will likely possess some disposable income.

"Tip is definitely aimed at a smaller, higher-income demographic [than Newsweek]," said Deveny. "This is a little more upscale. These people have money to spare."

In the past, says Deveny, the Tip Sheet content has proven so popular with advertisers that Newsweek had to regularly turn down business around the holidays.

Initially, Tip, which lands on newsstands on Monday, is planned as a one-shot deal, starting at a rate base of 300,000, with 150,000 copies going out to a select group of Newsweeksubscribers. But of course, if Tip succeeds, more issues will follow (Deveny promises at least one more issue next year, as long as this version sells.

One thing is clear. Despite the fact that Newsweekand Time have gradually become more entertainment-focused than in the past, Tip will maintain a separate identity from Newsweek, given its lighter nature. But that does not mean that any reporting integrity will be lost, or that Tip will shill for advertisers. "We come from a serious journalism background," said Deveny.

Return of the Nerds

A sleepy industry publication founded by a less than relatable trade organization is attempting to become relevant again.

IEEE Spectrum magazine, the official magazine of the nation's largest technical society (The IEEE is composed largely of electrical engineers), is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Just a few years ago, it looked as though it might fade into obscurity.

Launched as an official association publication back in 1964, the magazine had a prominent run in the 1970s and 1980s under Editor Don Christianson, when it won four national magazine awards for its coverage of emerging and innovative technologies.

But by the 1990s, the magazine morphed into a more sluggish, far-too-insider read. "We thought the readership might start to drop off," said Publisher Jim Vick. So in 2000, Susan Hassler was brought on to revamp the title, making its technology coverage more accessible to the members of the growing technophile masses.

"We are trying to reinvigorate the magazine, to move toward more general interest," she said. Her work appears to have paid off--both in the general look of the magazine and its current cover story commemorating the magazine's 40th anniversary, and featuring interviews with 40 prominent technology luminaries.

What has helped Hassler's cause is the pervasiveness of technology products and information in the U.S. these days, and the mainstream appeal of books like Wired.

"In 1984 this stuff was still pretty unique," she said. "Now the 'Today Show' has a tech guy."

During these past few years, the IEEE organization has also changed, and now includes fewer and fewer actual engineers and more management types: those C-level execs and IT types--i.e., the influencers that advertisers like to reach. Of late, the magazine has received a great deal more in the way of corporate branding business.

"The huge advantage we have is that we have access to the very people who invent everything we have," said Vick.

In 2005, there are significant plans to expand the magazine's presence on the newsstand and its direct mail capabilities.

High-Energy Launch

The premier issue of EnergyBiz magazine, which covers the $350-billion electric and natural gas industry, arrived this week with a report on the aging workforce at the nation's utilities and the problems it poses. The magazine, which will reach nearly 25,000 senior managers in the electric power industry, carries an exclusive interview with former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who calls for greater power plant security in the face of an ongoing terrorist threat.

Notes:

-Popular Science announces the winners of its "Best of What's New" awards in the December issue, hitting newsstands November 16, 2004. The "Best of What's New" showcases the top 100 tech innovations in 12 categories. Among this year's winners was the Mars Rover in the Aviation and Space category.

-Fortune magazine will host its inaugural "Innovation Forum" next week in New York City on November 18 and 19. Top executives will discuss the best practices and ideas of corporations with a reputation for innovation.

The list of attendees is an impressive one: Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.; Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google; David Neeleman, CEO, JetBlue; Paul Otellini, President and COO, Intel and Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon.