Magazine Renewal: Fortune vs. Playgirl

Two magazines (among others, I know) have had their revamped editions on the stands this season, and they couldn't be more different -- not just in content, which you'd expect, but in quality, ambition, and integrity.

First, Time, Inc., has released the redesigned Fortune magazine, an old legend in the magazine industry. The redesign is clean and smart. My personal preference would be for the previous iteration of Fortune's design (it had more of an executive look to it), but nonetheless the new design isn't bad. This is still a magazine of content and quality.

Second, there's the release of the new edition of Playgirl, the one featuring Levi Johnston, and it's a huge letdown. Let's be more clear: This is a waste of paper. Not because of the nudity; hey, I'm gay, so print all the naked guys you want. But Playgirl is almost nothing but nude layouts. People buy magazines to read something, so why not a few more actual words of text? This iteration of Playgirl is, simply and brutally, crap crap crap, and the people who put it out are clearly out of their league in the magazine world.

Two new/old magazines. Couldn't be more different.

Media Roundup: Life & Style Magazine, Bunny Icons, People People, & More

Oh, the fun continues:

• CNN has a report on the maybe/maybe-not romance stories that are slathered over the covers of the gossip-sisters mags at the checkout stands. The latest film to fuel this game? The New Moon franchise. The first to play the game? Life & Style magazine.
  
• Reuters has its take on the current news flare-up over a possible sale of the 56-year-old Playboy business. Reuters decides that the bunny icon -- the logo, that is -- is more valuable than the magazine, or the web sites, or the mail-order business, or the Chinese clothing stores, or the grotto. Mebbe, mebbe not.
  
• Would you like 45 million readers? Then get your keister over to Time Warner and buy People magazine -- the company, not the individual magazine copy. That's because Folio:'s reporting that People recorded a readership of a mind-boggling 45.1 million readers (counting pass-along readership; that's not its paid circulation). That's the kind of number that should only be recorded by like the official publication of the Chinese Communist Party or something like that. You know, the kind you can't unsubscribe to. Must be all those New Moon romance stories.
• Oprah's O magazine is in trouble? I bought my first-ever issueof O recently because, well, Ellen Degeneres was on the cover and she told me to buy it. It confirmed that I don't need to buy it ever again, but gay men are hardly O's prime demographic. But anywho, Keith Kelly over at the New Yawk Post makes out that the magazine is in dire straits and Hearst, the publication's owner, is making big changes to try to save it. I think he's over-stating the case, but it's interesting even if only partly true. I mean, does this suggest that Oprah can't do everything right? At least it lasted longer than Rosie magazine.
• I'm not sure I understand this. If the entire point of having Alaska boy-toy Levi Johnston pose nude was to help relaunch the print edition of Playgirl magazine, why are so many of the photos appearing online long before the magazine hits the stands? Let's face it: I'm sure the magazine's not going to be so full of scintillating prose by John Updike and exposes on Washington skulduggery that people will want it for any other reason.
  
• Fox News is flipping out over a magazine that answers teenagers' questions about sex and is actually available where teenagers can read it. Shocking.
• And, finally, we unveil the NUMBER ONE MOST NOTABLE MAGAZINE LAUNCH of the year (I got sick of doing the caps). It's Mr. Magazine's choice. Curious? Hungry to learn more? Salivating?
  

My previous media roundup.

Media Roundup: Levi Johnston, redux; Creepy wait; Funding Bookstores; Oprah and Ellen

The latest from the worlds of media:

•  Esquire's at it again: Supposedly, there will be 3-D something-or-other on the cover of the December issue of the magazine. I haven't received my subscription copy yet, but I hope it helps sales. That said, when was the last time you read about or heard someone talk about an article they read in Esquire? When was the last time you heard or read about some gimmick in Esquire? I suspect, for most of us, the latter is more recent (and frequent) than the former.
  
• There's been lots of are-they-or-aren't-they and finger-pointing concerning the reported plans to cease publication of long-running gay news magazine The Advocate. Gay blog Towleroad recently reported about a blistering attack on the magazine written by a former Advocate editor, but today the blogger says that the editor didn't mean to be so, well, mean. What's up here? There have also been denials that the magazine's going to be canceled (and turned into a 32-page insert into sister mag Out). Is this just a case of people trying not to burn bridges they might need someday, or is the final decision (and the resulting fallout) not yet final after all?
• The Daily Beast carries an article this morning by Jacob Bernstein on how Playgirl magazine is being reinvented and relaunched one year after it ceased print publication and went online-only. The high-profile figure involved in this is, of course, Levi Johnston, the father of right-wing Republican "author" Sarah Palin's grandchild. As has been reported everywhere, Johnston is going to pose nude for Playgirl. Originally, it was assumed this was going to be an online exercise, but the Beast's Bernstein profiles the man who's helping to bring the magazine back as a print product, though it's not yet decided if it'll be bimonthly or quarterly.
• In one of my earlier roundups, I included a note about how much I liked the new comics-sized version of the (formerly magazine-sized) legendary horror comic Creepy. The first issue really was wonderful, capturing the spirit and the look of the iconic Warren magazine while still updating it and not be too imitative. The release of the second issue of this (sadly only quarterly) comic was announced for October. Now well into November, I checked publisher Dark Horse Comics' web site and see the release date has been set at November 25. Production delay? I don't know the reason. My desire is definitely to see this comic go monthly, but if they're having delays producing it on a quarterly schedule, monthly might not be in the offing.
• United Business Media reported earnings in line with expectations, but it is expected to close more magazines, on top of the 15 it closed earlier this year, reports Folio:. I hope the UBM folks I know are doing okay.
  
• No hard-hitting reporting here (okay, not that my Creepy item will win a Pulitzer), but I enjoyed this post by Starlog editor David McDonnell about feeling required to buy something when you enter a bookstore. As you can tell from my response on that page, I feel much the same, and I'm often pleased with what I end up buying. Other times, I head home and I'm already regretting what I paid for. Do I really need to own a copy of ESPN magazine? Why am I buying the newest issue of Der Spiegel when I haven't even started my previous issue? Alas. It keeps the economy moving! (A side note: Is anyone else bothered that the background of the Starlog web site features images from sister magazine Fangoria, but not Starlog? Mistake? Marketing decision for their recent Las Vegas convention? Who knows?)
• And, finally, one of my favorite TV personalities/comedians, Ellen Degeneres, appears on the December cover of Oprah Winfrey's O magazine. When two TV talk giants combine, you can expect a media publicity overdose, and sure enough, you're getting it. There are video segments covering the photo shoot, reader polls (there are two versions of the cover), and much hooplah.
  

My previous media roundup.