Blog Magazine

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Move over Miley, Paula Abdul's blunder is more buzz-worthy today. While Miley isn't completely out of the woods (see People Magazine poll) Paula's on-air clanger during last night’s American Idol telecast is now PaulaGate2008.  Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatcher blog reports Abdul called in today to Ryan Seacrest’s radio show to explain herself. Apparently, she simply confused the past with the present and the future, or something like that.

The votes are in: last night’s telecast=Twilight Zone episode

An interview with Idol stage Manager from the LA Times

MTV weighs in

A moment-by-moment round-up from Rolling Stone

Scandal? Not so much.

This morning the risqué photos “Entertainment Tonight” revealed over the weekend of 15 year-old teen celeb Miley Cyrus, star of Disney’s “Hannah Montana,” posed a SCANDAL. Of the photos, taken for the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, Cyrus quickly issued an apologetic, “I am so embarrassed” statement through her publicist. Parents and fans called Cyrus “slutty” on her Myspace page. But that was this morning.

This afternoon it’s not so much a scandal as bad timing of an “evolving image” strategy. Read the scandalous story here.

Cyrus’s “Best of Both Worlds” tour along with her 3-D concert film made $31.3 million in its opening weekend in February and appears on this week’s issue of People magazine as one of the world’s richest kids.

Innovation & Influence: Magazine Cover Designs

During the 1960s George Lois’s controversial cover designs for Esquire sold magazines, lots of magazines. Lois had a firm grasp on the culture and through images like pop art icon Andy Warhol drowning in a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup and the horrified statement of a soldier in bold white letters "Oh my God: We hit a little girl" against a solid black background stirred further public debate on issues like pop culture, racism, feminism and Vietnam. Now his designs have reached iconic stature and today NYC’s Museum of Modern Art opens a new exhibit called “George Lois: The Esquire Covers” featuring 32 of Lois’s 92 designs from 1962 to 1972. The exhibit, which runs through March 2009, is not the first time Lois has been recognized for his contribution to magazine cover design nor will it be the last. In 2005 the American Society of Magazine Editors named the best magazine covers of the last 40 years and three of Lois’s covers made the top 10.

See a complete list of the best magazine covers at www.magazine.org

Currently running on the west coast is another magazine design exhibit at the University of Southern California Annenberg in Los Angeles called “Cover Stories: Magazine Design in Germany and the U.S., 1920-1970.” This exhibit of magazine covers features graphic design and photojournalism concepts of American and German magazines that heavily influenced public opinion before modern media like television and the Internet. The exhibit runs through May 21, 2008.

For more information on USC Annenberg's exhibit visit annenberg.usc.edu

Visit ww.magazines.com for magazine subscriptions

And the Finalists are...

One week from today the American Society of Magazine Editors will hand out its annual National Magazine Awards at a gala in New York City. The event is nothing less than the Academy Awards of the magazine industry. Instead of a bronze-plated knight name Oscar standing on a reel of film, winners receive a copper-hued stabile that vaguely resembles an elephant and is affectionately known as an Ellie. For 42 years ASME has honored the crème de la crème of magazines in a variety of categories ranging from exceptional feature writing to pushing-the-boundaries design.

For a complete listing of finalists, visit www.magazines.org.

This year in the heavyweight category of General Excellence in the more than 2,000,000 circulation tier, Glamour, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, People and Time vie for top honors, in which every detail from writing, editing and design must wow the judges in a two-step judging process.

Find subscriptions of this year’s National Magazine Awards finalists at www.magazine.com.

Long Live Earth Day

It's hard to believe that we've been celebrating Earth Day every April 22 for nearly 40 years. Back in 1970 Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day after years of trying to get increasing environmental issues into the political spotlight and to the mainstream media. While on a conservation speaking tour Senator Nelson got the idea to organize a nationwide grassroots environmental demonstration, much like the anti-Vietnam teach-ins that were so popular during the era. The New York Times reported on the momentum of Earth Day a few months before the event:

"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."

The participation of the first Earth Day was remarkable--20 million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities partook in the demonstration.

Since 1970 environmental coverage in the media has skyrocketed into its own niche with entire publications devoted to all-things environmental.

Find eco-friendly magazines at www.magazines.com

Wall Street Journal Redux

The Wall Street Journal, flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company, introduced a series of editorial and design changes today and more are on the way. Among the changes are increased focus on politics, international news, culture and sports. The Journal is known for its sluggish redesign approach in its 119-year history. Ink-dot black-and-white illustrations come immediately to mind but other late redesigns have also occurred including using photos in the 1980s and the front page redesign of 2002. Media-industry watchers, journalists and communications experts view the changes as a new threat in the Journal's war against rival The New York Times.

As Newsweek reported some of The Journal's changes include the following: long Newsweek story

• a weekly sports page
• news stories on politics and national and international affairs on page one
• A section is a catchall for general news
• Marketplace section is home to the Journal's coverage of Corporate America
• op-ed section increase from two pages to three and
• a culture section is under development for a fall debut in the Journal's weekend edition

The Wall Street Journal is available at Magazines.com.