Pros and Cons of Magazine Apps, Flipboard: Bad for Publishers?, Hearst Magazines Branches Out, A Closer Look at Atlantic Media’s Quartz, Achieving ‘Anytime Publishing,’ TFP DPS Tip: Converting 2-D Publications to Interactive Apps, Women in Media: Hiring News, TFP’s Infographic Pick of the Week: Niche News Apps Reign Supreme on Smartphones
Welcome to TFP’s weekly roundup of interesting and noteworthy stories from the publishing world. This week, we’re looking at whether magazine apps make sense for publishers, whether content aggregators are friend or foe, transitioning to a digital design mind-set, and more.
- On GigaOM’s blog last week, guest contributor John Lund made a case against creating dedicated magazine apps, favoring instead apps like Flipboard and Twitter for discovering content. In response, Poynter contributor Sam Kirkland argued that publishers shouldn’t be so quick to write off apps—especially if they invest their resources wisely.
- Meanwhile, Josh Marshall, founder of the Talking Points Memo politics blog, wrote an editorial explaining why readers won’t find TPM content on aggregators like Flipboard and Currents. Marshall asserts that the “brand awareness” such services offer doesn’t offset publishers’ losses when it comes to site traffic and revenue.
- Hearst Magazines unveiled some new initiatives this week, including the events Cosmo Live, Cosmo for Latinas Live, and Food Network in Concert, which are slated for the fall of 2014. The publisher also said that it has partnered with AwesomenessTV to launch a Seventeen-branded YouTube channel. Minonline has a full rundown of Hearst’s announcements.
- The Guardian produced a two-part series about Atlantic Media’s Quartz, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Part 1 looks at the digital business publication’s editorial operations, while Part 2 examines its native-ad-supported business model.
- “Anytime publishing”—the ability to publish content to any platform at any time—sounds simple enough, but it takes solid rework and realignment of content processes and expectations, plus some leading-edge risks, to successfully implement it. TFP’s Margot Knorr Mancini offers three core objectives to help radically change your content workflow.
- This week on TFP’s DPS Tips blog, guest blogger Mary Lester offers some advice for designers who are struggling to transition their two-dimensional page thinking into a compelling, interactive tablet experience.
- On TFP’s Women in Media blog, get the latest hiring news for National Geographic, Country Living, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Cosmo, Bustle, and Newsweek, along with other media stories highlighting women’s roles in the evolving media landscape.
- Each Wednesday, we post our Infographic Pick of the Week. This week’s selection offers some stats on mobile news consumption habits.
This Week in Publishing appears every Friday on the TFP blog. Every week we compile interesting and noteworthy stories from the publishing world and put together a wrap-up to help our readers stay up-to-date. Think we missed something great? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Posted by: Gina Barrett