April 28, 2014 Media Industry Newsletter Vol. 67 No. 17 New York, N.Y. www.minonline.com Steve Smith's Eye on Innovation: EVERYWHERE IS THE PORTAL NOW: PROXIMITY IS THE EMERGING PLATFORM. Proximity marketing is among the hot topics for advertisers this year. Apple’s roll- out of the iBeacon specs helped spark interest in the idea of pinging people with location-specific messages, content ads and offers as they come into stores and even navigates aisles. Macy’s, American Eagle and, of course, Apple stores have already started launching programs that use their own apps to interact with shoppers in the store. But the air war is on as retailers, malls and networks look to control the consumer as he or she move from space to space. Should such local messaging require consumers to download and opt into store-specific apps, apps from a specific mall or series of malls, from third-party shopping apps that ties into multi-store networks? This is unclear right now. (continued on page 4) JIM MEIGS WILL BE MISSED BY "POPULAR MECHANICS," HEARST AND NEW ORLEANS. The editor-in-chief has a few "just-misses" in leaving on May 1 one month before his 10th anniversary. He joined in June 2004, two years after Popular Mechanics' centen- nial, which was orchestrated by Meigs' 20-year predecessor Joe Oldham and 1997-2003 publisher Jay McGill. Both were highly regarded in their own right. Meigs' PM triumphs (many in collaboration with his staff and 2003-2012 publisher Bill Congdon and associate publisher Jane Wladlaw) included being the Hearst Maga- zines leader in digitization, as with tablets and other e-editions they went beyond the 2002 novelty of transmitting the monthly to the U.S.-Russia international space station. There was also the fun and gadgetry of PM's annual October Breakthrough Awards, his 2011 electric car commute and his February 2007 story on the 1913 con- struction of the Panama Canal through memories of his late grandfather Al Meigs (who was there) and his father A. James Meigs (who grew up there). (continued on page 2) CHICAGO REMAINS EX-"EBONY" EDITOR AMY DUBOIS BARNETT'S KIND OF TOWN. Barnett ended a four-stint on April 22 with Jet editor-in-chief Mitzi Miller mov- ing intra-Johnson Publishing Co. to succeed. Speculation is that Barnett–who made the 68-year-old Ebony more youthful and more fashionable–would return to New York where she earned acclaim as Teen People editor and Harper's Bazaar deputy editor. Not yet, she tells min. "I'm taking the next month or so to complete teaching my first-ever university class as an adjunct professor of management and organizations at [North- western University's] Kellogg School of Management and work on my Get Yours content platform. In other words, I'm going to do my very best to lay low for a sec and delay the inevitable frenzy that will come with my next act." Neither Barnett nor JPC CEO Desirée Rogers would elaborate on the departure. • IS TIME "EASY" ON INFLUENTIAL MARY BARRA? LAGANI LAUDS LHJ.... Page 2 • COSMIXOLGY'S APP AND HOUSE BEAUTIFUL's KITCHEN GRADE A........ Page 3 • CHELSEA CLINTON'S BABY BUMP IS WELCOMED BY FAST COMPANY....... Page 5 • SLATE PLUS, FURNISHINGS (MEDIARADAR) & INSIDE b2b... Pages 6, 7 and 9 • THE NEW YORKER: KINSLEY'S "RETURN" & MAYER'S "MATRIX"........ Page 10 www.minonline.com © 2014 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $100,000 for violations. PAGE 2 MIN 4/28/2014 MEIGS' SUCCESSFUL NEAR-DECADE AT "POPULAR MECHANICS" (continued from page 1) A proud achievement was Meigs and Congdon giving PM's support to Rebuilding New Orleans, and from 2007-2009 the nonprofit restored 70 homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. They got the then-Cathie Black-led Hearst hierarchy to pitch in and the goodwill turned into good business when PM's September 2009 In Our Own Backyard advertorial had sup- port from–among others–James Hardie (home remodeling), Delta (faucets) and Olympia Tools. All impressive credentials for a guy who was on Entertainment Weekly's 1990 launch team before editing US as a monthly (it became a weekly in 2000) and Premiere. PM was in Meigs' DNA, but he showed off his résumé during a 2007 New Orleans visit by jamming on his harmon- ica with a local band. Meigs is leaving to pursue an unspecified book project. Succeeding is Esquire articles editor Ryan D'Agostino, who, to some, is less known. But Esquire's 17-year editor-in-chief David Granger remains D'Agostino's boss as PM editorial director, and he, of course, is more well-known. BEING A "TIME" INFLUENCER DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN BEING "GOOD." The good-or-evil parameter that applies to Time's 87-year-old Person of the Year is also part of the much shorter history of the newsweekly's 100 Most Influential in the World. There is no doubt as to where Vladimir Putin stands in the May 5,2014, double-issue, as writer and Clinton Administration secretary of state Madeleine Albright skewers the Rus- sian president for engineering the country's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Less clear is General Motors CEO Mary Barra, who set a precedent last year in becoming the first female leader of a U.S. car company. That earned plaudits from retired Ford and Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, but he did not mention the ignition defect in the Chevrolet Co- balt that took 13 lives. Although the problem and subsequent cover-up did not start under Barra, the buck now stops with her. It would have been better for Time editor Nancy Gibbs to have followed the Putin formula and selected an adversary. Famed muckraker Ralph Nader– who forced the end of the troubled Corvair during the 1960s–would have been ideal. DONNA KALAJIAN LAGANI RECALLS A HAPPIER TIME AT "LADIES' HOME JOURNAL." She was the magazine's first female publisher from 1988-1994, and under Lagani and 1981- 2002 editorial director Myrna Blyth, LHJ went from nearly closing in 1982 to prosperity best symbolized by the Blyth-led 1997 launch of the More spinoff. All now a legacy with Meredith National Media Co. president Tom Harty downsizing the 131-year-old LHJ to a news- stand-only special-interest magazine on April 24. LHJ.com is continuing on. Lagani has been the highly successful Cosmopolitan publishing director for nearly two decades, and her warmth toward Blyth (whom she once reported to) is shown as she tells min that "I will always cherish having worked with and for Myrna." Then, she revisited the line that was once as famous as the iconic Cosmo girl: Never underestimate the power of a woman! Blyth is the two-year AARP editorial director and, in the spirit of South Pacific's Bali Ha'i, she is inviting LHJ readers to "come to me." MORE THAN 500 ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND THE MAY 1 NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS. No "Mayday!" from six-year American Society of Magazine Editors chief executive Sid Holt about that. The projected turnout at New York's Marriott Marquis could top the 2013 NMAs by 100. Highlights include guest emcees Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC's Morning Joe), ASME hall-of-famer Graydon Carter (Vanity Fair) and 121 finalists in 24 categories. Editor-in-Chief: Steven Cohn ([email protected]) 203/899-8437 Digital Media Editor: Steve Smith ([email protected]) 302/691-5331 Editorial Director: Bill Mickey ([email protected]) 203/899-8427 VP Content: Tony Silber; Director of Business Development: Scott Gentry ([email protected]); Director of Market Development: Laurie M. Hofmann ([email protected]); Marketing Director: Kate Schaeffer ([email protected]); Assistant Marketing Manager: Marly Zimmerman ([email protected]); Associate Editors: Arti Patel ([email protected]) and Caysey Welton ([email protected]); Production Manager: Yelena Shamis ([email protected]); Senior Account Executive: Tania Babiuk (tbabiuk@ accessintel.com); Contributing Editor: Cathy Applefeld Olson; Boxscores ([email protected]) SVP, Media Group: Diane Schwartz; Access Intelligence, LLC President & Chief Executive Officer: Don Pazour; Division President: Heather Farley; Subscriptions/Client Services: 888-707-5814; List Sales: Statlistics, 203-778-8700; Advertising: 203-899-8498; Reprints: Wright’s Media, 877-652-5295 ([email protected]); Editorial Offices: 10 Norden Place, Norwalk, CT 06855; 88 Pine Street, Suite 510, New York, NY 10005; Faxes: 203-854-6735, 212-621-4879; www.minonline.com Access Intelligence LLC, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850; Ph: 301-354-2000 Published 2014 © by Access Intelligence LLC. Distributed via email and online. For email and postal address changes, allow 2 weeks notice. Send to: Client Services or call 888-707-5814. For advertising info contact 301/ 354-1629. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission. Subscription Rate: $1049 MIN 4/28/2014 PAGE 3 WHY AMAZON’S NEWLY ACQUIRED COMIXOLOGY IS BETTER THAN YOUR APP. Amazon’s smart acquisition of the unrivaled leader in digital comics rendering and distri- bution, Comixology, reminds us why this company’s app has impressed us for years as supe- rior to just about any “digital magazine” on the market. Let us count the ways: It merchandises. The app holds daily sales, thematizes collections around current film releases and current affairs, promotes individual authors, etc. In other words, it doesn't rely on a century-old newsstand method of cover-lines to sell the goods. The app gives us- ers a reason to open it on a regular basis, not once a month or even once a week.