Without naming names, I was out for drinks last week with one of the editors of Elle Girl magazine, as well as my wife, an editor at Self magazine. I insisted that they need to view their careers not as paper magazine editors, or even “magazine” people, but producers of content and stewards of affinity communities.
Well…I told you so! Nat Ives in today’s AdAge:
After five years of publication, Elle Girl magazine is being shut down by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. and its president-CEO, Jack Kliger. But the brand will continue as a Web publication with mobile content and other platforms that Hachette feels are better suited to finding the title’s target readers.
"After running this magazine for the past five years and continually doing research on the teen market, Jack is totally redefining the strategy," said Anne L. Janas, a Hachette spokeswoman. "The print magazine is closing down but there will be increased investment online and in wireless. He believes that’s where he needs to direct the primary investment of the company."
I’ve said it before: I don’t think print will ever go away entirely, but I think this is only the beginning of a major surge away from it. I just wish all the armchair media spectators would STOP declaring this event as the death of Elle Girl, or the death of some other formerly print brands:
- NYTimes: Elle Girl and Celebrity Living Will Shut Down
- Jossip.com: Elle Girl joining the death spree (no question mark)
- MediaBuyerPlanner: ‘Elle Girl‘ Folds Unexpectedly
- NYPost: Elle Girl Goes Belly-Up
I’d say this all about the ridding of waste and the birth of the future. Now all focus and resources will be on Elle Girl’s real future! If there is any death, it’s the death of printed paper, the death of dinosaurs and outdated media executives. If the NYTimes moves away from print, will we declare the death of the NYTimes? I don’t think so. Is this blog dead simply because it doesn’t exist in print? I’d say the Web is alive (as I’ve already edited this post three times) and print is dead.
Sidebar:
I wonder how many people will cancel their NYTimes paper subscriptions in light of the much improved NYTimes.com.