Mr. Magazine™ Minute: Keith Kelly, New York Post’s Media Reporter: The Biggest Problem with Media Today Is……

There is nothing more fun to me than turning the table on a journalist–and media reporter. Asking a media reporter his or her opinion on the status of the industry is a challenge that most reporters prefer to avoid. After all, they are in the business of asking questions.

Keith Kelly, the feared media reporter of the New York Post, was gracious enough to accept my one minute question for the Mr. Magazine™ Minute. I asked him what is the main problem he sees with the media today? His answer will surprise you. Click on the video below to listen to the pleasantly surprising answer:

Just Common Sense: Mr. Magazine’s™ Ideas to Grow and Cultivate Magazine Media. A New Book with an Introduction by David Carey, President, Hearst Magazines

Today, I turn 40. That is if you believe that 60 is the new 40. It has been 51 years since the day I bought my first magazine and I can honestly say I never looked back. I have been blessed time and time again by God and family, to continue my hobby, turned education, turned profession, every single day of my life since 1962. I do not think you will find too many people who can repeat that last sentence.

But through my entire hobby-turned-career (if you can call it that) I had one, and only one, guiding principle: Just Common Sense. The principle has been validated, almost every time I give a speech, consult or teach. Folks come to me at the end of my presentations and lectures and say, “Samir that was just common sense.” My answer has always been, “and you paid me for that!”

So on my 60th birthday I decided to compile some of “the just common sense” articles and blogs in this mini coffee-table style book aptly called Just Common Sense: Mr. Magazine’s™ Ideas to Grow and Cultivate Magazine Media. I invited David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, to write the introduction. I am glad that he accepted my invitation. His intro follows:

How many people can call themselves Mr. Magazine™ and get away with it? Exactly one: Samir Husni, who has been enthralled by the medium since his youth in Tripoli, Lebanon. Since then, he has been living, breathing and dreaming magazine media. He is a source of knowledge, inspiration and constructive criticism. All in all, there is no better cheerleader for our industry, and this collection of his essays tells the story of his passion for ink on paper.

Many in the industry fell in love with magazines early in life. In my case, it was as a teenager growing up in Long Beach, California. We share a belief in the power of truly original, engaging content that transports readers, shapes dreams and aspirations, and provides windows into faraway worlds and cultures. As a professor of journalism and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism, Samir has taught some of the most talented editors in the business, including our own Newell Turner, editorial director of the Hearst Design Group, who, after winning House Beautiful’s first National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2012, immediately texted his former professor to give him the good news. I imagine there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your life’s work come to fruition in a student’s success and recognition by his peers.

Samir believes in modernity and understands print’s important place in the future of entertainment. He champions the incomparable experience of devouring a magazine full of images, information, ideas and inspiration. At the same time, he believes in the exciting opportunities that digital and mobile offer our industry, when approached in a smart, strategic way. A healthy dose of Samir’s insight and optimism is good medicine, indeed.

David Carey
President, Hearst Magazines

To order a copy of Just Common Sense click here.

Mr. Magazine™ Minute: Michael Rooney, Chief Revenue Officer, The Wall Street Journal, on the Launch of WSJ’s New Print Magazine & The Power of Print in a Digital Age

The Wall Street Journal is launching a new quarterly magazine called WSJ.MONEY on Saturday. I asked Michael Rooney, the Journal’s chief revenue officer about why the Journal is launching a new print title just a few months after killing Smart Money magazine? His answer, and his take on the power of print in a digital age are in this Mr. Magazine™ Minute:

Mr. Magazine™ Minute: Mary Berner Identifies the Place of Print in Magazine Media

When Mary Berner was named president and chief executive officer of MPA – The Association of Magazine Media last September, one of her first edicts was to ensure that the word “media” followed the word “magazine” every time it was used. I asked Ms. Berner about the place of print in the magazine media mix. Her answer appears below in the Mr. Magazine™ Minute. Enjoy.

Mr. Magazine Minute™: Richard Stengel on TIME Magazine’s Next 90 Years…

The very first entry on the Mr. Magazine™ blog in March 2007 was on Richard Stengel’s reinvention of TIME magazine. Last Sunday, March 3, TIME celebrated its 90th anniversary. So, in honor of TIME’s anniversary and the Mr. Magazine™ blog’s sixth anniversary, I have opted to introduce a new quick v-blog entry called the Mr. Magazine™ Minute. The first entry, you’ve guessed it, is with Richard Stengel, TIME’s managing editor. I asked him about the next 90 years of TIME. His answer is in the following raw, unedited Mr. Magazine™ Minute:

Digital Heaven or Immortal Hell? Why Print Needs Print to Survive in a Digital Age? The Mr. Magazine™ Webcast…

On Wed. Feb. 27 I gave a webcast on the topic Digital Heaven or Immortal Hell. The webcast via CommPRO.biz was produced by Onstream Media and sponsored by Akamai Technologies.
The webcast in its entirety is posted below. Enjoy and feel free to comment or ask more questions. Click on the link below to watch the webcast.