Michelle Obama and publishers have one particular thing in common: their desire to reach Millennials.
Speaking at the American Magazine Media Conference, Michelle Obama was the first First
Lady to guest edit a magazine, according to Lesley Jane Seymour, editor in chief of More magazine.
Lena Dunham -- made famous from her HBO TV show Girls -- and Julianne
Moore, Oscar-winning actress of Still Alice, were also on the panel at the AMMC on Tuesday, the last day of the two-day media conference.
Obama and Seymour worked together on the
July/August 2015 issue, an extension of the first lady's push to educate young women around the world with her Let Girls Learn campaign.
Obama said the trick is knowing what your
audience wants. Young people are not “watching the evening news or reading The New York Times, no offense,” she said.
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Instead, Millennials want to see themselves reflected
in the content. Obama said she’s made a concerted effort to create a personal relationship with young girls through Let Girls Learn, so that they “see themselves in me.”
Both
Obama and Dunham agreed that the Internet is a “private place” for girls to access information, which is especially important in areas of the world that might discourage women to
learn about their bodies and sexual health.
And most importantly, the message needs to be distributed on “different platforms” to reach a younger audience.
However, Moore warned about the unforeseen consequences that come with communicating via different platforms.
“Short form is dangerous,” she said, because you're not
able to express yourself fully. Without the context that is essential to magazine content, taking sound-bites and sharing them on social media like Twitter can cause some to misread the
message.
Moore gave a personal example: She once wrote a tweet about gun violence, and just a simple sentence unleashed a backlash against her.
Dunham, who runs the female
Millennial-focused newsletter Lenny, said she had to hire a social media manager to deal with similar unwelcome situations.
Conversely, the advantage of magazine content is that it
gives context to a person’s opinion on “hot-button” issues, Moore said. Obama agreed: “edit a magazine, I highly recommend it,” she said, sparking a round of laughter
from the audience.