News Archives
"Disruptive Technologies" and the Future of Journalism
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, March 01 2013
In BoSacks’ newsletter, he recently reproduced an article from PaidContent.org entitled “Disruption guru Clay Christensen says incumbent media players are making a classic mistake”
One suggestion he’s making for us media types was expressed…
2013 IRMA Awards to be Managed by the Magazine Innovation Center and "Mr. Magazine", Samir Husni
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, January 25 2013
The IRMA Board of Directors have concluded an agreement with the Magazine Innovation Center (MIC) at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi, to administer and judge the 2013 IRMA Awards. The MIC is best known in the magazine industry for its founder and…
Digital Magazines: To Pay or Not to Pay?
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, December 11 2012
As has been widely reported in publishing circles, The Economist magazine has announced that it is “unbundling” its smartphone/tablet editions from its print subscriptions and will charge new print subscribers the existing $127, but $160 if they want digital access too. The Website paidContent reports, “For a 170-year-old magazine, The…
Best Renewal Copy Ever?
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, November 30 2012
Those of you who attended the recent IRMA conference hosted by Arizona Highways, received a slim volume in your welcome bag, “Rattlesnake Blues” by Leo W. Banks and published by Arizona Highways. In case you missed it, in a chapter about the difficulties facing newspaper editors in Arizona’s frontier days…
"Editors have to start thinking like product managers." I Disagree
By Matt Holliday, editor, Pennsylvania Magazine, November 23 2011
David Fry, who spoke at our Branson conference and who is an expert in digital formats and websites, while attending another conference, posted this comment on his Facebook page: “Time, Inc’s president of Digital: ‘Editors have to start thinking like product managers’.”
Here’s my response to that comment:
I…
What do Publishers Actually Do, Anyway?
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, June 08 2011
Every magazine has a different management structure. There are publishers, editor/publishers, creative directors, directors of operations, management teams, VPs, and on and on. But in every case there’s a function that needs to happen that usually falls to a “publisher” by whatever name.
Based on my background as a former…
Apple vs. Google: What Publishers Need in an Online Subscription Deal
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, February 18 2011
There’s lot of buzz out there about Apple’s recently announced subscription plan for online content including magazines. They’ll allow publishers to sell subscriptions to their iPod/iPhone/iPad digital versions for a 30% cut.
Only two days later, Google announced its Google One Pass, a way for online publishers to sell…
The Magazine-on-an-iPod Experience
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, December 21 2010
Ok, I’m probably not an early adopter in the handheld computer market. Some of you probably already have an iPad or another tablet device. But I may be among the first of our members to actually read a magazine I subscribe to on an iPod.
The magazine is The…
See the 2010 IRMA Award Winners
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, October 05 2010
The 30th annual IRMA Awards were presented at a gala banquet in Branson, MO, September 26. See a slide show of the winners in 23 categories including Magazines of the Year up to and over 40,000 circulation, and/or download the winners list (PDF) .
Rolling Stone(?) on Magazines
By Andy Jackson, Executibe Director, April 14 2010
My wife subscribes to Rolling Stone, and pointed out to me the two-page ad(?) on pp. 4-5 of the April 15th issue. Opposite a photo of super Olympic swimmer Jim Ficus, in large type, is the following:
We surf the Internet
We swim in magazinesThe Internet is exhilarating.…