New media lessons from magazines

- Akin to newspapers, Time Inc., publisher of the popular weekly news magazine Time, has been ferociously slashing newsroom jobs over the past several months. But in condensing traditional journalist positions, it is extending its new media division by 50 staff members. Said a spokeswoman for the company, "We're evolving from a magazine publisher into a multimedia platform company." It's also straying from its serious print news in having launched a website aimed at office workers looking to waste time called OfficePirates.com.

- Maxim, the "lad" magazine that sparked a fad that has resulted in numerous copycats is extending its reach through mobile technology. The upcoming May edition will be the "Mobile Issue." Readers will be invited to send in photos and stories through SMS and will be enticed to do so by various promotions and contests scattered throughout the mag. For publisher Rob Gregory, mobile just made sense: "The way we look at this is that our audience has Maxim in one hand and the cell phone in the other hand." So why not bundle the two?

- In perhaps the most shocking development, the successful magazine Elle Girl is eliminating its print edition banking that "the future of print is online." Despite advertising being up 50% and paid subscriptions up 20%, publisher Jack Kliger decided to pander to the technologically savvy young crowd by maintaining Elle Girl as a website and mobile service. "I have often said that the magazine industry has to embrace technology, and this is a good example of how we will extend a strong brand onto other media platforms," said Kliger.

Sources: Advertising Age (Elle Girl), Media Industry Newsletter (Maxim)