Biz magazines that think outside box show print isn't dead

Chicago Tribune business columnist Phil Rosenthal looks at the business magazine field and notes that new editors such as Robert Safian at Fast Company and new issues such as Conde Nast Portfolio show that print publication still have a place in what is increasingly becoming an online world if it can adapt and come up […]

Critiquing Safian's first issue of Fast Company

The Jossip blog has a thorough critique of the May issue of Fast Company magazine, which is the first under the helm of new editor Robert Safian, who came over from Fortune magazine. Jossip noted, “For starters, we could’ve done without the Facebook kid on the cover. Yes, we understand it’s the era of ‘You’ […]

March good for biz magazines, bad for personal finance titles

March saw an increase almost across the board for mainstream business magazines in terms of ad revenue and ad pages, but decreases for the personal finance glossy titles, according to data from the Magazine Publishers of America. Leading the way was Inc. magazine, which saw a 39.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $7.5 million […]

Praise for new Fast Company editor

Fast Company CEO John Koten writes in the May issue of the magazine why he decided to make Robert Safian, formerly of Fortune magazine, the editor of his glossy business magazine. Koten wrote, “All aspects of business appear to fascinate Safian, but what gets him most excited is the drama and conflict that inevitably ensue […]

Portfolio hopes to succeed despite those who want it to fail

New York magazine writer Mark Fass takes a look at the upcoming debut of Conde Nast Portfolio and examines all of the hurdles that it has had to overcome. Fass wrote, “But given the dark cloud over the industry right now, a lot of her competitors are hoping that Lipman will fail—the Schadenfreude Squad, Portfolio […]

Inc. and Fast Company owner happy with magazines

Joe Mansueto, who bought Inc. and Fast Company two years ago, has been happy with their performance. Folio magazine’s Marrecca Fiore, writing about a speech Mansueto gave at the Folio Publishing Summit in Chicago earlier this week, wrote, “After winning the auction, Mansueto’s strategy was to create an independent publishing company and to invest in technology […]

The best magazines ever

Good magazine has a list of the 51 best magazines ever in its latest issue, and a number of them are business-related glossies or with business overtones. Here are the particulars: 8. Wired Early years until Condé Nast buyout (1993–1998) Pages oozing with retina-burning inks and startling layouts broadcast a vision of the future that […]

Inc. and Fast Company seeing higher newstand sales

Mansueto Ventures, the company that bought Inc. and Fast Company a couple of years ago in an attempt to turn them around, is trumpeting strong newsstand sales for the two business magazines in the last six months of the year, based on data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Among the more than 260 U.S. […]

Business magazines end 2006 on a down note

Revenue from advertising for 14 business magazines fell slightly in both December and in 2006, according to data from the Magazine Publishers of America analyzed by Talking Biz News. The number of ad pages reported by those 14 business magazines fell by a larger decline than the ad revenue. Ad revenue for the 14 magazines […]

New editor named for Fast Company

Robert Safian has been named editor in chief of Fast Company, replacing Mark Vamos, according to an item by Irin Carmon in Women’s Wear Daily. He will also oversee the business end of the magazine, a unusual dual role, Carmon said. Carmon wrote, “This is only the latest change at Fast Company, which was sold […]