Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Can United's New Hemisphere's Magazine Redesign Take Off?

At a time when publishers are considering/preparing for an inevitable shift to an onlne-only business model, business travel columnist Joe Sharkey at the New York Times reported on changes to United Airline's Hemispheres, its print monthly.

"An In-Flight Magazine Is Given an Upgrade" provides a look at the plight of in-flight magazines, explains why what Hemispheres is doing is interesting, and provides some insight into how the magazine is assembled.

Even as WiFi becomes available on increasing numbers of flights, print can still exist at takeoff and landings, when you're not allowed to use electronic devices.

The strength of print was the theme of another Times article, "Hearst’s Contrarian Strategy Pays Off" by blog favorite Richard Perez-Pena. Hearst's magazines actually don't post all its articles on the web. To get them, you actually have to subscribe or purchase them. They've been successful at that, even being able to raise newsstand costs during a recession without lossing readership.

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