Energizing a moribund biz magazine sector

Min magazine’s Jeremy Greenfield and Courtney Barnes interview Conde Nast Portfolio publisher David Carey on the magazine’s launch and its challenges going forward.

Here is an excerpt:

What is the single most important achievement of CNP?
Condé Nast Portfolio has energized a sector of the publishing business that many had thought was moribund. By introducing a print magazine that made sense in the context of how people consume information these days, we’ve been able to deliver a new experience for readers. Building both the magazine and Web site simultaneously, we were able to demonstrate that “new media� can be print as well as digital.

What was the biggest pleasant surprise?
While the launch was intensely covered by the media, we were pleasantly surprised how quickly this new media brand was included in the small collection of mainstream business media. Just a few months into its existence, Condé Nast Portfolio quickly joined a short list of publications founded long ago. Add cultural reference points like a quote from the magazine on “Meet the Press,” and we felt we weren’t just the new kid on the block, but part of club. 

What was the most important hurdle you were able to overcome?
Given how fast business news moves, some people at first couldn’t understand how a monthly magazine would work. But by collecting a diverse portfolio of stories every month, we’ve been able to demonstrate that deeply reported narrative journalism with big picture perspective has the ability to put today’s and tomorrow’s headlines into context.

Read more here.