• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 1, 2006

Science is cool. Just ask the publishers of Seed magazine, one of the latest consumer magazines fighting to make science accessible and interesting to the general public. To trumpet their mission, they've hired big-name PR firm Ruder Finn as their global public-relations agency. Seed Media Group, which launched Seed in 1997, says one of the PR firm's main tasks will be driving circulation growth for Seed--as well as the audience for ScienceBlogs, its digital platform.

Seed hopes to ride a wave of growing interest in the relationship between science and culture, driven by high-profile issues such as global warming, teaching evolution, stem-cell research, cloning, fighting HIV/AIDS, "green" energy generation and the renewed possibilities of nuclear power.

The controversy surrounding these issues, both political and religious, provides endless stories for the magazine. Forward-looking segments on new technologies and bizarre or clever inventions have perennial appeal, as do "big-picture" pieces on the intersection of science and art.

Always polishing its hip credentials, Seed was quick to adopt new-media distribution platforms, including blogs and podcasts. In fact, one of Ruder Finn's assignments is to drive awareness of these channels while promoting the print publication.

The podcasts and blogs tend to be more openly political than the magazine's mainstream content, including, for example, reports on scientific opposition to the Bush Administration's war on terror; its position on science in public policy; its position on birth control; etc. With a global audience and two-way digital forums, Seed's Web presence seems like a candidate for heavy-user engagement that will drive interest in the magazine--if Ruder Finn gets it right.

American Enterprise Institute Relaunches The American

The American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business Washington think-tank, has relaunched The American, its bimonthly magazine covering business, economics and culture. Edited by James K. Glassman, formerly a Washington Post columnist, the new version of the magazine will supposedly eschew partisan and ideological bias, despite the AEI's generally recognized conservative slant.

The promise of a nonpartisan approach is especially interesting, given that the first issue includes a profile of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, who is pursuing a one-man crusade against the Bush Administration and Congress' inclination to rubber-stamp their pro-business policies. The first issue is 120 pages long, with 20 ads and an initial circulation of 45,000.

Berner to Lead Reader's Digest

Mary Berner, previously the CEO of Fairchild Publications, has been hired to head the Reader's Digest Association, according to The Delaney Report, which cited unnamed sources close to the organization. The Reader's Digest Association recently announced it had been purchased for $2.4 billion by Ripplewood Holdings, a private-equity firm where Berner's brother, Robert Berner, is a managing director. In addition to Reader's Digest, the association publishes Taste of Home and recently launched Every Day with Rachael Ray, a successful magazine centering on the laid-back TV chef-personality. Berner left Fairchild in January 2006.

Clamor Goes Silent

Clamor, a left-leaning independent magazine covering politics, economics and social change, is closing after seven years and 38 issues. The magazine made a big impression in the "progressive youth" world. It seemed to be steering toward a stable financial footing, but was apparently weighed down by debt. Yet the magazine survived a hand-to-mouth existence for a remarkably long time, earning recognition from more established lefty publications, like The Nation.

ASME Introduces 3 New Award Categories

The American Society of Magazine Editors is adding three new categories and modifying some existing categories for its annual National Magazine Awards, the organization announced this week. ASME is splitting the "Photo Portfolio/Photo Essay" category into two separate categories by those names--the first honoring informative photo documentation, the second honoring creative photography including portraiture.

ASME has also added two online categories: "Interactive Service" for practical advice or instruction, and "Interactive Feature," for an editorial feature, thus expanding beyond its previous "General Excellence Online" catchall category. Finally, three categories that only accepted submissions appearing in print--Essays, Columns and Commentary, and Reviews and Criticism--will now accept online submissions as well.