Time Inc. Revamps, Relies On Digital Topic Desks

Time Inc.’s reorganization, which kicked into gear this summer,  isn’t over yet, according to a Monday memo to staff from chief content officer Alan Murray.

Time Inc. is forming 10 “digital desks” dedicated to topics including business, celebrity, entertainment, food and sports, according to the memo obtained by Ad Age.

The company is also creating “multi-magazine hubs” that will be responsible for production tasks, such as design, layout and copy editing. In the memo, Murray said the hubs will be “particularly effective” for Time Inc.’s monthly magazines.

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The hubs are likely an effort to reduce the costs of the production process.

Murray said the goal of each digital desk will be to “profitably grow” Time Inc.’s digital audiences as well as help serve digital advertiser demands. Each desk will include reporters and editors from different Time Inc. brands who will continue in their roles, as well as coordinate with desk heads.

This reorganization is likely an effort to pool resources from brands to better attract mobile and social audiences, as well as offer advertisers scale.

Murray stressed that the formation of the digital desks and magazine hubs is “not a centralization of edit teams” but reflects the ways Time Inc. reaches digital and magazine audiences differently.

“It requires a different organization and approach,” he wrote.

In July, when Murray was appointed to his current role, Time Inc. underwent a massive restructuring. The company eliminated the “publisher” title and appointed executives to oversee groups organized around advertising categories, brands or digital sales.

All of Time Inc.’s magazines were grouped into one of four editorial divisions, each overseen by an editorial director. Each group has its own editorial operations, finance directors and digital directors.

Time Inc. also added four more categories to its ad sales department: Food & Beverage, Beauty, Retail and Financial Services.

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