Fine Old Cannibal

What was the key to the 153-year-old magazine, The Atlantic, making a successful transition to a multiplatform presence? According to its president “In essence, we brainstormed the question, ‘What would we do if the goal was to aggressively cannibalize ourselves?’ ” See this New York Times piece which details how the magazine--still graced by long-form pieces--prospered by starting to think of itself as more than just a printed product.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13atlantic.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Silo Busting

The Times reports that next year will be the first time in fifteen that the four largest magazine companies in America are scheduled to have new top execs. The event is seen by at least one industry leader as "the changing of the guard from an older school to a newer school." One of the newcomers promises bringing "ever-more complex print and digital packages to their clients," breaking down silos that may still exist between the two means of delivery.
See the complete story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/business/media/29mag.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Read Awl About It

The Awl -- an eclectic website unafraid of long-form journalism -- has a glowing writeup in the New York Times. According to media writer David Carr, "In an age of hyper-targeted vertical sites, The Awl is all over the road.  In the last week, the site published a column about foreclosures, [1,300 wds] a piece describing what it feels like to be chided by Gene Simmons [4,000 wds], an illustrated essay on the virtues of the breaststroke, tips on picking up obnoxious hipster girls [1,600 wds] and yes, poetry in the, yes, poetry section." The piece notes how the site, started by a blogger and some pals, has nearly a half-million unique visitors a month, earns about $200,000 in annual revenue and has spawned a couple of spinoff sites.
See the piece at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25carr.html
See The Awl at: http://www.theawl.com/

New Yorker Mag Goes iPad

The venerable New Yorker magazine has joined a host of others who have created app versions of their publications for Apple's iPad tablet. Magazines such as Time, GQ, Car & Driver, Wired and many others have taken their products to this platform which offers the closest electronic equivalent of a quality paper magazine experience and is very long-form friendly. See a video at http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/09/jason-schwartzman-ipad-video.html.

New Tech Pushes Long Forms

More expensive (and long) long-form journalism such as that found in magazines has had a more difficult time finding a home on the web compared to shorter News McNugget pieces.

According to "Long Form Journalism Starts a New Chapter" on the online UK Guardian, however, "With the help of [@IfYouOnly on] Twitter and sites such as Long Form and The Awl, longer articles are finding a new lease of life as people take the time to find and read them."

See also:
Longreads
Give Me Something To Read