AFAR was conceived by Greg Sullivan, a serial international entrepreneur, over a beer on a beach in Goa, India, with business partner Joe Diaz, a former teacher. AFAR is the result of their shared thirst for a different kind of travel resource. "There were no media sources on the market for international travelers who shared our desire for deeper and more authentic experiences," said Sullivan. "AFAR takes travelers beyond the ordinary tourist haunts to experience the authentic essence of a place."

AFAR is helmed by some of the most talented names in the industry, including, as president and publisher, John Sheehy, who was the founding general manager of Time Inc.'s Health magazine, as well as president and publisher of Utne Reader, and COO of Weider Publications. Susan West, former executive editor of Smithsonian and co-founder of Health magazine, will be editor in chief, and Jane Palecek, the founding art director of Health and former design director of Mother Jones, will be art director. Laura Simkins, the founding consumer marketing director of Dwell, will be audience marketing director.

"AFAR's readers are redefining travel as a way to learn, connect and grow," said West. "So we'll tell stories from the inside out, celebrate authenticity and offer the unexpected. Our writers will approach their subjects with the same enthusiastic curiosity that drives our readers."

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L.A. Times Launches LAetcetera
Media Post reports that the L.A. Times is launching a weekly spinoff magazine called LAetcetera.

LAetcetera has a controlled circulation of roughly 480,000 and is being distributed three times per month to newspaper subscribers who don't already receive the monthly publication: LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine. The new magazine seeks to bring readers timely pop culture, shopping, fashion, and home coverage.

Reuters says the weekly spinoff will be run by the team that runs LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine.

Posted on May 12, 2009
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Major Publishers Considering Charging for Some Content Online
Several publishers including Gannett Co., Disney and Guardian Media are considering launching fee-based content sections or charging for archives. Publishers need the revenues but it doesn't seem like a plan that consumers are going to like during a recession. Here's a few stories about plans by major publishers to charge for content.

• New 'USA Today' Publisher Sees Future Paid Web Content
• Disney Looks Beyond Traditional Studio Model
• The Guardian Looks Into Online Charging Model
• Murdoch on Paid Content: "The Current Days of the Internet Will Soon be Over"
• Media Executives Plan Online Service to Charge for Content

Posted on May 7, 2009
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The Onion Ends Print Editions in San Francisco, Los Angeles
SFGate.com reports that The Onion has shuttered its print editions of the satirical newspaper in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The final print editions for those cities will hit the streets this week.

"It is an unpleasant task to discontinue print in those two cities - and to lay off the good people who worked hard to make them profitable - but I believe it is the wise business decision to make," Chief Executive Officer and President Steve Hannah said in a memo to employees Monday.

SFGate.com says The Onion had a circulation of 60,000 in San Francisco and 50,000 in Los Angeles. They still have other local edition of the Onion - see here. This is a very difficult period for print publishers.

Posted on May 6, 2009
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Television Week Goes Online-Only
Variety reports that Crain Communications is cutting staff at TV Week. The TV programming newspaper is also going to end its print edition and go online-only.

Owner Crain Communications made the announcement on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the fate of the pub. TV Week will continue as an online-only site, but with a dramatically reduced staff.

TV Week's NewsPro supplement, however, will continue as a stand-alone print publication, distributing issues monthly beginning in August.

Among those departing are editor Greg Baumann, who told Variety that he will assist in the transition through June 1, when TV Week publishes its final print edition. After that, Baumann said he planned to consult and freelance in journalism.

TV Week's website can be found at tvweek.com.

(via fishbowlLA

Posted on May 5, 2009
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NAA to Cease Publishing Print Edition of Presstime
Editor & Publisher reports that the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) is cutting its staff by 50%. They also ceasing publication of the print edition of Presstime. The organization's magazine will go web-only like many other publications are currently doing.

The association trimmed 39 positions this afternoon in response to the downturn in the industry, with 43 staffers remaining. In a memo to employees, President and CEO John Sturm wrote the steps were necessary and were taken at the direction of the board. "To be direct, industry economics compelled this round of staff reductions - to ensure we remain an affordable value to our members," he wrote.

Sturm also said the association is looking to further reduce member dues.

The website for NAA's Presstime can be found here. Reuters, MediaPost and PopMatters are also reporting on the NAA's job cuts.

Posted on May 2, 2009
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Conde Nast Ceases Publication of Portfolio
Conde Nast is ceasing publication of its business magazine, Portfolio, effective with its May issue. Portfolio.com will close in the second quarter of the year. Charles H. Townsend, President and CEO of Conde Nast made the announcement.

"The pressures and realities of the continuous deep economic slump have lowered Portfolio's revenue projections below what is needed to continue publication," Mr. Townsend said. "Portfolio was an ambitious and innovative magazine and website, and we were proud to publish them. The challenges facing this launch however proved too great. Joanne Lipman is an extraordinarily skillful editor and William Li is a very talented publisher. We thank them and their staffs for their tremendous efforts. It is unfortunate we were unable to give Portfolio the time needed to fully mature."

Portfolio and Portfolio.com were launched in May 2007. The magazine has published 21 issues since its launch. You can read more about Portfolio's closure here, here and here.

Posted on May 1, 2009
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Media Layoff Highlights
Newspapers and magazines continue to make layoffs during the recession. Here are some highlights.

• Yahoo will cut nearly 700 jobs after reporting a weak Q1.
• Media General is cutting 300 jobs.
• The Sun-Times Media Group is cutting jobs in an attempt to cut payroll by 15%.
• The New York Post says Hachette Filipacchi implemented 6& pay cuts for all overtime-exempt employees and 3% cuts on all hourly employees.
• The San Francisco Chronicle is cutting 90 to 100 driver jobs.
• The Chicago Tribune has made cuts - 53 editorial employees have left.
• NPR has cut 13 jobs.
• Disney has cut 1,700 positions at its theme parks.
• Phoenix Media, which publishes the Boston Phoenix, has cut six positions.

Posted on April 24, 2009
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Yahoo Shuts Down Geocities
Yahoo has shut down the Geocities website. Geocities was a free website service and online community. It was one of the hottest properties on the Internet during the late 90s. Yahoo overpaid for the service is 1999, paying $4.9 billion for it in a stock deal.

CNET calls Geocities a "relic of Web's early days." PC World says "So Long, GeoCities: We Forgot You Still Existed."

The Geocities website now contains the following message.

After careful consideration, we have decided to close GeoCities later this year. We'll share more details this summer. For now, please sign in or visit the help center for more information.

Yahoo has also posted a faq about the closing. Yahoo will be closing Geocities accounts by the end of the year. The faq says, "Later this year we will be closing all GeoCities accounts and web sites. We'll send you more details this summer."

It remains to be seen whether the failure of Geocities is a lesson for today's ultra hot web communities like MySpace and Facebook.

Posted on April 23, 2009
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Food Network Magazine Ups Circulation Rate Base
Multichannel reports that Hearst and Scripps Network are more than doubling the circulation rate base of Food Network Magazine to 900,000 copies from 400,000. The publisher and food network say the magazine is a big hit.

Despite a down time for magazines overall, with ad pages declining 26% year over year in the first quarter, Food Network Magazine, which debuted in October 2008, sold 70% of its initial "test issue," which had a rate base (for advertising sale purposes) of 300,000 copies. That sales level was achieved in three weeks on the newsstands, Hearst said, citing multi-platform promotion behind the new magazine.

A second "test issue" came out in January, by which time the publishers had decided to produce six issues overall in 2009.

There's another story here about how food magazines have been thriving in the recession as more people cook at home.

Posted on April 21, 2009
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