When You Say “Nobody…?”

Dylan Stableford from FOLIO has posted several quotes overheard during last week’s FOLIO Publishing Summit. I think it’s a great idea to print these, because it quickly helps people to see some of the ideas discussed in a very idea-packed event. In fact, I’d probably cover the event in a similar fashion if I were a FOLIO staffer. That being said, quotes without context is kind of like looking at how somebody’s dressed without knowing where they’re going: you’re only getting half the story.

Take this one:

“No one’s reading the magazine on the Web.”
—Dana Spain-Smith, COO, DLG Media Holdings, on the tired practice of replicating articles online.

While one can’t tell whether Spain-Smith is speaking of content or digital editions, Dylan’s tag appears to insinuate digital editions, so let’s go with that. First off, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Yes, people are reading digital edition. In fact, well over 1,000,000 people read a Nxtbook every month and stay inside them longer than they stay inside most websites. Don’t believe it? Join FOLIO for this week’s webinar and hear what the Gilbane Group learned from analyzing the tracking data from several digital publishing companies.

So, why would Spain-Smith make this claim? We’re not sure, other than that what we all see is entirely dependent on where we stand. DLG Media, it appears, publishes three magazines – all of which would be classified as regional publications. Because regionals have a focus on local news, they often have less use for a non-local audience, which reduces that key benefit of digital publishing. Moreover, while DLG has some advertising on their websites, it doesn’t appear to be a significant source of focus for their time, so it stands to reason that increased revenue opportunities wouldn’t be as exciting to this publisher either. In other words, DLG isn’t putting much focus into generating digital readership, and they’re being rewarded by having that prophecy fulfilled.

So while we agree that Dana’s speaking a certain truth, it’s really DLG’s truth, and not necessarily yours’. The digital magazine isn’t a cure-all or a silver bullet. It’s a strategic product with a strategic purpose for the right content and the right audience. Kind of like any magazine or website, come to think of it.