Wooden Horse reports AutoWeek has reduced its frequency to bi-weekly effective with the January 5, 2009 issue, but will not change its name. “Modifying the frequency of the magazine’s distribution allows us to focus on more comprehensive editorial features and vehicle reviews,” said vice president and publisher KC Crain. . . .U.S.News and World Reports will be online only next year. . . . Executives at this year’s American Magazine Conference predicted more magazine closings than openings during 2009. Niche spin-offs like Vogue For Men and Sports Illustrated for Kids soon will be history and more to follow as ad pages dwindle and when environmentalists focus on the connection between paper-making and global climate change.
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Media Post’s Research Briefs reports a new Kelley Blue Book marketing research study finds that sixty-one percent of new-vehicle shoppers say it is important to purchase a vehicle from a brand that is environmentally friendly. On average, consumers say they are willing to spend $2,600 more for an environmentally friendly vehicle, says the study . . . Another Research Brief reports a Northwestern University tracking study shows a slight increase in newspaper readership overall but a decrease in readership among 18 to 24 year-olds. And, that readership of local newspaper web sites is still “quite low.” Respondents rated print significantly higher than web sites on four experiences: “gives me something to talk about”, “looks out for my interests”, “ad usefulness”, and “touches and inspires me”.
Although the Carbuzzard is temporarily grounded, one tidbit from along the road was passed to us by its pilot, John Matras. It is from a U.K. publication noting the devolvement of press junkets. Ford’s UK PR manager Fiona Pargeter, is quoted with this explanation for an overnight press trip to Tuscany to launch the new Fiesta. “Five years ago, a press trip as important as this one would have lasted several days and would have involved perhaps 120 journalists going somewhere really exotic. But in the new media landscape - in which a car review can be uploaded and appear within a day - no firm wants to spend more time and money than they need to.” Read the rest of this entry »
Wooden Horse News reports Car And Driver publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media is revamping all their websites, beginning with the biggest, www.womansday.com. Mediaweek reported that “a source familiar with the strategy said the emphasis seemed to be on creating community features and aggregating content from elsewhere rather than original journalism. ‘They’re trying to figure out what the sites will look like, but they’re not expecting a ton of original content,’ this person said.”
Tameka Kee, writing in Online Media Daily (Searching For A New Car, You Tube Style) reports a recent study commissioned by Google revealed, “Consumers are increasingly finding out about new makes and models through online video. Nearly half (49%) of all in-market shoppers and about a third (31%) of recent buyers surveyed had been exposed to new vehicle choices for the first time through online video . . .” That is good news for journalists who are able to generate online buzz about cars because a Nielsen CGM/Homescan Buzzfacts study revealed that more than half of consumer generated media (CGM) is posted because of product experience or response to material posted on a site. Read the rest of this entry »
Wooden Horse News (mweaverATwoodenhorsepub.com) reports: A partnership of three Canadian magazine organizations - the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors, Magazines Canada and the Professional Writers Association of Canada - have commissioned research into the state of the industry.
The survey states that “The Canadian magazine industry does not have a set of standards for what’s expected in the relationship between publications, their staffs and the freelance community. This includes such things as salaries and fees, contracts and the management of creative rights as well as the various kinds of relationships among staff, management and freelancers.”
With the New York Times joining scores of newspapers forced to reduce their staff and top executives voluntarily leaving the Los Angeles Times, two pieces seen recently online are pertinent. The first is Advertising Age writer Nat Ives’ interview with David Hiller, publisher and CEO of the LA Times. Asked if the papers new niche products will recapture the revenue that’s seeping from the core product? Hiller responded, “Will it be, quote, as we’ve known it?” “Absolutely not.” “Can online-ad rates ever match the paper’s print rates? “No way,” he said. “Never.”
An unnamed former Times executive was quoted: “I definitely don’t think, if all you’re trying to do is respond to revenue decline by cutting, that you’ll find your way out of this.”
Which brings up Alan Mutter’s Blog on JRC. (Journal-Registry Company) Reflections of a Newosaur April 13. Mutter was formerly with the Windy City’s Daily News and Sun-Times and then the San Francisco Chronicle before becoming a successful Silicon Valley CEO. He describes how the news company’s strategy of aggregating neighboring newspapers into ever larger clusters and thereby sell advertising more efficiently while lowering production costs failed.
The company owns 22 daily newspapers and more than 300 non-daily publications. RC’s share price dropped 99 percent from 2004 to 2008, $21.84 to $0.63. This despite aggressively reducing expenses: thinner newsprint, cutting staff, salaries and benefits; demanding odometer checks before reimbursing journalists for driving to their assignments and completely filled reporter’s notebook before providing a new one.
It did produce a $6.3 million 2007 salary for chief executive Robert Jelenic who was vilified by ex JRC employees commenting on Mutter’s financial analysis of JRC. “His strategy of stripping the life out of dozens of community papers has left the company almost completely without sellable resources in this dark hour. And his personal vulgarity and brutality will live on whenever former JRC minions gather to recount the worst days of their working lives,” said one.
Another, “Those high margins and tight newsroom budgets came at a cost – readers” Or, “The idea that expenses were reduced in these newspapers is just a myth. The decline in circulation which is a hallmark of most JRC newspapers tell a different story” And, “Slashing and burning content and circulation in the name of profits is not building value and is not sustainable. We’re seeing just about every newspaper company make the same mistakes now — cutting instead of investing. Newspapers need to reinvent themselves on the web and you can’t do that with 20% less staff than you had last year.”
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