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Magazine News Round-Up

It seems, at least for now, that magazine ad pages are turning around and heading in the right direction. While ad pages fell in the first quarter of 2010, things look brighter for the second quarter, according to a survey by Mediaweek of magazine publishers including Hearst, Conde Nast and Time Inc. report that ad page gains are coming from a variety of categories including beauty products, packaged goods and automotive.

Rodale, publisher of Men's Health, Women's Health and Prevention magazine (among others) announced last week that Liz Vaccariello, the senior vice president and editor-in-chief of Prevention magazine, resigned. Liz Vaccariello is best known in the magazine industry for redesigning the health magazine and raising its profile among readers through her popular books Flat Belly Diet! and 400 Calorie Fix.

Last, but not least, the conversation between magazine publishers and digital vendors continues. Both publishers and vendors are still trying to figure out how magazines will be read and sold in the digital age. Thankfully Folio magazine takes a closer look at the options and breaks them down for everyone who is overwhelmed (like us) by the different approaches.

Magazine News Round-Up

Here's a few things of interest that happened last week while we took a break from magazine news to cover the National Magazine Awards.

Mediaweek reported magazines like The Economist were unable to deliver magazines to subscribers in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa due to the grounding of flights from the Icelandic volcanic eruption. The interruption was also bad news for newsstand sales.

Body image and self esteem champion Jillian Michaels--a trainer on TV's "The Biggest Loser," is getting flack for her comments she made on adoption/pregnancy in the latest issue of Women's Health magazine. The comments that have sparked the buzz include, "I'm going to adopt. I can't handle doing that to my body. This isn't the first time Jillian Michaels' comments sparked outrage; last year she angered Oprah Winfrey fans when she called the talk-show hostess' health awareness "utterly misguided" in Health magazine.

New York magazine's popular back-page column "Approval Matrix," is going to be a TV series. Michael Hirschorn, a former executive editor at New York magazine and now a TV producer, sold the show to Bravo.  Like the magazine column, a rotating panel of pop culture pundits will decide whether the week's most buzz-worthy items are "Highbrow Brilliant," "Highbrow Despicable," "Lowbrow Brilliant" or "Lowbrow Despicable."

JONES magazine, a 5-year-old regional fashion and style magazine launched last week. The magazine is written for African-American and multicultural women; Supermodel Veronica Webb is featured on the first nationally-distributed issue.

And lastly, a new magazine for parents on the go called Traveling with Babies & Kids magazines will launch in the fall.

Magazine of the Year: Glamour

Much like the Oscars, last night's American Society of Magazine Editors National Magazine awards presentation offered both surprising and predictable wins.

Most surprising, Condé Nast’s Glamour magazine took home the top honor of Magazine of the Year. This is the first year the Magazine of the Year award was given; the award is designed to recognize the magazine that best fulfilled its edtiorial mission through the use print and digital media.

Glamour magazine was the only women's magazine nominated for the award. The nomination is somewhat a victory for women’s magazines because historically women's magazines have been overlooked among the winners of the National Magazine awards. Still, we don't quite understand the win.

We didn't even think Glamour was really in the race up against The Atlantic, Fast Company, Men’s Health and New York. Aside from Fast Company magazine, all of Glamour's competitors were nominated for other awards in both digital and print categories. Glamour was not. In fact, New York magazine took the General Excellence prize for its circulation level and the General Excellence, Digital Media (a separate event.)

One theory suggests Glamour magazine won because it beat the competition in ad revenue ($55.6 million in 2009.)

As for the rest of the awards,National Geographic and The New Yorker each won three. Wired magazine won two.For a complete list of winners, visit here.

What Magazine Will Be Named Magazine of the Year?

Finally, tonight the National Magazine Awards will be presented. Today we take a quick look at the biggest prize handed out—the Magazine of the Year award. This category “honors publications that successfully use both print and digital media in fulfilling the editorial mission of the magazine.”

Like the races for the General Excellence Awards—the competition is intense.

The Finalists: The Atlantic; Fast Company; Glamour; Men’s Health; New York magazine

We think this race is really between The Atlantic, New York and Men’s Health magazine. The industry buzz pegs The Atlantic to win. And then there’s New York magazine, which won the award the General Excellence Award in the digital round of the National Magazine Awards in March.  Men’s Health magazine is no slouch in this race either—it took home a Digital Ellie for Best Interactive Tool.

Prediction: Men’s Health
Why: Men’s Health magazine has done an excellent job of producing spin-offs, New York Times bestsellers, iPhone apps, digital content and even events that people are willing to pay for. As Mediaweek reported when it named Men’s Health magazine to its “Magazine Hot List 2010” earlier this year, the magazine’s content may be formulaic  but it’s relevant to readers—even in print.

A Closer Look: Finalists for the General Excellence Awards

Today we look at the contenders for the second most prestigious award handed out at the National Magazine Awards: General Excellence. This category recognizes overall editorial achievement through reporting, writing, editing, photography and design. In other words, did the staff accomplish the magazine's editorial mission?

The General Excellence Awards are presented in six circulation levels and the competition for each is fierce. Below we've taken a closer look at each finalist's National Magazine Award history and predicted this years winners. Our predictions for this year’s winners are not scientific. Instead, they are just our opinions.

Under 100,000 Circulation
The finalists: Aperture; Architect: Military History; The Paris Review; San Francisco

Awards history: Aperture won this award in 2004; Architect and Military History are first-time finalists; The Paris Review has been a finalist more than 10 times in various categories, with one win in 2007 for photojournalism. San Francisco is a two-time finalist for the public interest category.

Last year’s winner: Print magazine

Our prediction: The Paris Review

Why: With so many past nominations and only one win, we think it’s about time The Paris Review took this one home.

100,000 to 250,000 Circulation

The finalists: Foreign Policy; Garden & Gun; Martha Stewart Weddings; Mother Jones; Paste

Awards history: Foreign Policy is 3-time winner in this category. Garden & Gun magazine is a first-time nominee. Martha Stewart Weddings won the General Excellence award in 2005 for the 250,000-500,000 circulation. Mother Jones won this award in 2008. Paste magazine has been a finalist in this category the last two years.

Last year’s winner: Foreign Policy
Our prediction: Paste

Why: Last year Paste magazine turned to its readers for funds so that it could continue to exist--and its readers responded to the tune of $250,000. If this doesn't prove editorial effectiveness, then we don't know what does.

250,000 to 500,000 Circulation
The finalists: The Atlantic; Audubon; New York; Texas Monthly; W

Awards history: The Atlantic boasts more than 20 awards across categories through the years. Audubon magazine also has multiple nominations throughout the years, including a win for General Excellence in 1981. Including last year’s win in this category, Texas Monthly boasts several wins across categories. Though W magazine has several wins for photography and a finalist for General Excellence, it has never won this award.

Last year’s winner: Texas Monthly
Our prediction: W magazine

Why: With no wins yet W magazine is the underdog and we love it when the underdog wins.

500,000 to 1 Million Circulation
The finalists: The Economist; Esquire; Food Network Magazine; GQ; Wired

Awards history: Surprisingly, The Economist has only been a General Excellence finalist three times; we expected a lot more. Not surprisingly, Esquire won this award in 2006. Food Network Magazine, which launched 2008, is a first-time nominee. GQ magazine won this award in 2008. And finally, Wired magazine boasts a handful of wins in this category.

Last year’s winner: Wired

Our prediction: Food Network Magazine

Why: Simple, magazine readers love Food Network Magazine.

1 million to 2 Million Circulation
The Finalists: Field & Stream; Men’s Health; The New Yorker; Teen Vogue; More

Awards History: Field & Stream magazine won this award last year. Men’s Health boasts 1 win for personal service in 2004. The New Yorker won this award in 2008, and is one of the most-nominated magazines across categories. Teen Vogue was a General Excellence finalist in 2004, but did not win. More magazine was a finalist for this award in 2007.

Last year’s winner: Field & Stream
Our prediction: Men’s Health

Why: Because as MediaWeek noted, this magazine's content may be formulaic, but it's relevant to readers.

Over 2 Million Circulation
The Finalists: ESPN The Magazine; National Geographic; Real Simple; Sports Illustrated; Time

Awards History: ESPN The Magazine is a 3-time winner of this award. National Geographic won this award in 2008. Real Simple is a 4-time finalist for this award including last year. Sports Illustrated had back to back wins for this award in 1989-1990. Time magazine is a 2-time General Excellence winner.

Last year’s winner: Reader’s Digest
Our prediction: Real Simple
Why:  Honestly, we're not sure about this one. We keep going back and forth. In the end we picked Real Simple because we hope it wins--it's a consistent favorite for us and Magazines.com customers.

National Magazine Awards: Smallest Magazine Nominated

In the tumultuous political climate of 1941 a small group of Antioch College faculty launched the Antioch Review as a forum for their political and social concerns. After the end of World War II the Antioch Review moved beyond the social and political agenda of its founding editors,to that of a literary pursuit.

Today the Antioch Review is highly regarded as one of the oldest, continuously published literary magazines in the U.S. and boasts a long list of accomplished writers—including Sylvia Plath and Joyce Carol Oates—who have contributed fiction, essays and poetry in its pages.

With a circulation of 3,000, the Antioch Review has the distinction for the second year in a row, of being the smallest magazine named a finalist for a National Magazine Award. The Antioch Review is nominated in the fiction category for the story “The Coat” by German writer Uwe Timm, translated by Robert C. Conrad.

The Antioch Review is up against stiff competition in the fiction category. Other nominees include multiple entries from McSweeney’s Quarterly, The New Yorker and the Virginia Quarterly.

Tomorrow in our series A Closer Look: The National Magazine Awards, we’ll share our predictions for one of the program’s most sought-after prize, the General Excellence award.

The Oscars of the Magazine Industry

Thursday is a big deal in the magazine industry—it’s the day that the National Magazine Awards gala will be held in New York City. It’s the Oscars of the magazine world and even though this year’s National Magazine Award nominees were a little predictable (like the Oscars), we’re taking a closer look at some the nominees this week. Also like the Oscars, there are a lot of awards—more than 20—so we’ve chosen only a few to highlight here.

We’ll take a look at the general excellence nominees, the smallest magazine nominated and of course, the top prize—Magazine of the Year.

This year is the 45th annual National Magazine Awards; the presenter of the awards is the American Society of Magazine Editors, a non-profit organization, established the awards in 1966. The group, also known as ASME, currently has about 850 members nationwide.

The awards honor magazines that demonstrate outstanding achievement of “editorial objectives, innovative editorial techniques, noteworthy journalistic enterprise and imaginative design.” Finalists and winners are selected in a two-step judging process. And instead of a gold statuette named Oscar, winners take home stabiles known as an Ellie, for its likeness to an elephant.

In the first four years of the National Magazine Awards, Look, Life and Newsweek magazine were among the first magazines presented with awards. Over the years the awards categories have expanded and include feature writing, design, photography, public service, single-topic issue and visual excellence. 

Recent winners include Reader’s Digest, GQ, Backpacker magazine, Mother Jones and National Geographic magazine.

Good Housekeeping Magazine's 125th Anniversary Issue

As we mentioned in January, Good Housekeeping magazine is celebrating its 125th anniversary all year. But because it was May 1885 that the women’s service magazine first hit stands, the May issue, is completely devoted to the important anniversary.

As Editor in Chief Rosemary Ellis notes in the editor’s letter, the pages of the magazine are filled with a variety of anniversary content. Below we highlight a few of our favorite articles.

In “GH Readers through the Generations,” longtime readers—often several generations of one family—are featured sharing why they read the magazine.

We love nostalgia and there’s plenty in this issue including a portrait gallery of all the famous faces featured throughout the years and the fashion feature, “I Would Still Wear That,” which showcases fads from the past paired with updated interpretations.  In the article “The Good Fight,” the history of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, the magazine’s consumer advocacy group that predates the FDA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is chronicled through memorable—and often historic—moments.

And finally, the “125 Women Who Changed Our World,” including First Lady Michelle Obama, who is featured on the cover, doesn’t disappoint. The impressive list includes Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa and Amelia Earhart to modern day influencers like Oprah Winfrey, Toni Morrison and Martha Stewart and other women “who, during the past 125 years, broke records, broke ground, blazed trails, suffered trials, shattering ceilings of glass and even tougher stuff.”

Magazine News Round-Up

As with every report from the Publishers Information Bureau of late, there is good news and bad news for the magazine industry. The latest Publishers Information Bureau report regarding the first quarter of 2010 released last week is no different: 85 magazines reported increase in ad pages. The bad news: ad pages fell 9.4% as compared to last year. Ad revenues also dipped 3.9% to $4.04 billion.

Magazines that saw gains include Lucky magazine, Marie Claire, Fast Company and INC magazine; those that saw loses include W magazine, Fortune and Forbes magazine.

In other magazine industry news, Folio magazine reported that only 22 magazines closed during the first period of the year. That's a dramatic decrease over last year's 95 magazines during the same time period. However, don't get your party hats and noise-makers out yet, only 25 new magazines started as compared to last year's 110, hardly numbers worth celebrating.

On a different note, apparently tween pop sensation Justin Bieber is happy to be the current cover subject of People magazine but is unhappy with the celebrity magazine's choice of cover photos. The disgruntled singer directed his complaints to People magazine via Twitter.

And finally, after 11 years of publishing a list of the best corporate citizens, Corporate Responsibility Magazine is taking a different approach with its April-May issue, out this week, featuring a “black list” of the worst companies, or at least what the magazine deems the least transparent.

Hearst Magazines Rearranges Editors

After much speculation that Hearst Magazines had been looking for a new editor for Redbook magazine, Redbook's editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison announced her resignation. According to Hearst Magazines, Morrison declared family illnesses for her departure after five years.
 
As is the case with magazines across genres, the 2.2 million-circulation Redbook magazine, one of the original women's service magazines known as the Seven Sisters, has struggled to attract new readers. MediaWeek reports that while Redbook magazine’s single-copy sales fell 30.1 percent in the second half of the year it has fared better on the ad-page front, declining 2 percent to 392 this year through its April issue.

Earlier this week, Hearst Magazines, also announced three new editors for a few of its lifestyle title Town&Country magazine and shelter magazines House Beautiful and Veranda. The new editors are: Stephen Drucker as editor-in-chief of Town&Country magazine; Newell Turner as editor-in-chief of House Beautiful magazine; and Dara Caponigro as editor-in-chief of Veranda.