Print No Longer ‘Heart and Soul’ of Magazine Brands

Computerworld editor: 'Content should be going online first.'

By Jason Fell
02/21/2008 -13:40 PM

Here's an idea that has been kicked around ad nauseum (see: "Magabrands," Dave Zinczenko et al) but perhaps never expressed so bluntly. According to Computerworld and Infoworld editorial director Don Tenant, the print magazine no longer should be the “heart and soul” of a brand. Instead, as his team did at IDG, publishers should think of their brand as an online media company with ancillary print and event products.

“Advertising is shifting from print to online in droves. So, what do you do?” Tenant said this morning during a session at the FOLIO: Publishing Summit. “Content should be going online first. Our strategy is to think of print as being a compilation of the content online.”

Like a growing number of companies, Tenant’s group merged its print and online editorial teams four months ago. On the surface, at least, this seems to be an easy, efficient content management strategy.

“I can’t tell you how much this was a morale boost for everyone,” he said. “We should have had a plan in place all along to unite the two teams.”