My former colleague and long-time min editor Steve Cohn was fond of characterizing the magazine industry as a “people business.” I believe he meant a number of things. On the most basic, transactional level, much of the trade was centered around a small patch of Manhattan real estate where everyone seemed to know one another, and regularly ran into each other at any number of watering holes or subway stops. A lot of large and small things got done in these sometime impromptu meet-ups. People were hired, companies merged, stories were given inspiration and later written and jealousies were stoked just by the core intimacy of the industry. But on another level, the “people business” of magazines was about creating a real connection with our audiences. The great periodicals of pre-mass circulation America like The Atlantic, Harper’s and Scribner’s spoke directly to the “gentle reader” in their pages. This highly personal mode of address carried over into the more raucous golden age of mass-consumer magazines in the tradition of the “letter” from the publisher or editor that opens most print magazines to this day. It's hard to imagine in the age of streaming video and algorithm-driven media rabbit holes. Today, subscribers have been largely replaced by eyeballs, where readers are “users” and where audiences are “data.” Let’s not mince words: the very nomenclature of digital media has always carried with it a tendency to dehumanize and mechanize the people on the other side... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-01-23 15:41:48 UTC ]
Ad tech is mired in a mid-life crisis. In May we dug deep on the issue at the Digiday Programmatic Summit in New Orleans. We gathered brands, publishers and agencies to discuss the challenges and opportunity facing them as ad tech evolves. Now you can listen to highlights from that conference... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ever since Facebook introduced its Instant Articles feature last year, publishers have been wondering how the move would play out.The lure is clear: Facebook provides exposure and traffic despite the fact that Instant Articles do not link to the publishers' sites. For Facebook, A-list content... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We're going to hear a lot about comparable metrics this year -- finally. As emerging media platforms continue to dominate the headlines -- creating the perception that ad tech is where all the audience is -- smart advertisers will insist on a lens through which the avalanche of charts, claims,... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2016-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gawker Media CEO Nick Denton told Recode that the publisher, which used to view Facebook warily, is now "going all in" on Facebook Instant Articles. He's now come around to the idea that Facebook can simply provide a better user experience and even monetize better than the options publishers... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's publisher-facing ad-tech arm LiveRail is shutting down the ad server business that you might not have known it operated.Known best for being one of the top video ad exchanges when Facebook agreed to buy it in July 2014, LiveRail also offered a way to help publishers pick out which... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2016-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While AMP, Google is making a big push to speed up how fast publishers' content loads on mobile screens. That's good for Google, publishers and most of all readers. But others have reservations about the scheme, which they say ignores Google's role in slowing down sites through its own ad tech.... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agencies, for example, require more expensive people to work more often on smaller buys. Five full-time employees are needed to spend a $100 million national broadcast budget, one media agency executive said, while the same number would be needed for a $5 million programmatic buy. Those... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter to the FT by Daily Mail group director on the difference between business ownership based on ‘long term value’ and the need to make quick profitsA short letter in Wednesday’s Financial Times makes for fascinating reading. Stimulated by Pearson’s sale of the FT to Nikkei, it poses profound... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Today’s new breed of digital publishers is just not that into ad tech. Indeed, the much hyped cadre of venture-backed, Web-born, and millennially-inclined publishers — think Vox Media, Mic and Refinery29 &nd ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALA executive director Keith Fiels told PW the event was designed to help "get in front of things that might affect libraries in the long term.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Manhattan court case about digitisation rights has brought books and the web a step closer togetherOn 14 November, after eight years of wrangling, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan district court finally ruled in the case of Google versus the Authors Guild. At issue was Google's scanning and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Another big magazine company is looking to ad tech to make its online ad inventory more valuable. Six months after Conde Nast launched a private ad marketplace to increase the sell-through of its online ad space without opening it up to public ad e ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The government views its settlement with, and continuing litigation against, publishers and Apple over ebook pricing as a great victory for consumers. The overwhelming reaction in the book industry, however, is one of bewilderment, with many members believing that the government has no sense of... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A looming lawsuit could further solidify Amazon's dominance in the book business. That might be good for readers' wallets, but it also might be bad for readers in the long term. Here 's why. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 08:55 Arts Council England (ACE) has released a document outlining its approach to library strategy. Culture, Knowledge and Understanding: Great Museums and Libraries for Everyone is said by ACE to be designed to provide certainty... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple, its products adored by consumers all over, has nonetheless had a complicated relationship with publishers, who have battled with the tech giant over its intractable position involving the sale of content on its devices. But those who have railed against Apple's hard-headedness are... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even though ad exchanges and networks were created to lubricate the buying and selling of digital ad inventory, the system is still far from slippery. One lingering issue is that of transparency: when online publishers cant sell all their inventory directly to advertisers (often at a premium),... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 06/06/2011 - 08:59 The outgoing Children's Laureate Anthony Browne has warned society "will pay the price in the long term" for closing school and public libraries. In a letter to his successor, Browne urged them to campaign against their... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 09:36 Academic retailers have demanded that academic publishers provide them with greater support, arguing that the current model is "not sustainable" in the long term. The development comes after Waterstone's m.d. Dominic Myers... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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