Shortlist announced for 2011 Professional Publishers Association awards

The Professional Publishers Association has published the shortlist for its PPA Awards 2011 online, which can be found here.

The awards cover 22 categories in total, with the winners due to be announced at a ceremony on 15 June.

In the consumer magazine of the year category titles by Hachette Filipacchi UK, National Magazine Company, Conde Nast, IPC Media, BBC Magazines, ShortList Media, Dennis Publishing and Which? all made the cut.

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PPA extends magazine awards deadline

The PPA has announced it has extended the deadline for entries to its magazine awards this year, due to “the high volume of requests” for an extension.

The date has been pushed back by a week, from Friday this week to Friday 25 February. But this will be it, PPA said – no more extensions will be granted.

The awards cover 22 categories including consumer magazine of the year, editorial campaign of the year and writer of the year.

Read more here…

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PPA changes name to reflect ‘increasing variety’ among membership

The PPA announced a name change today to acknowledge the increasing use of a variety of platforms by its members.

The PPA, which previously stood for Periodical Publishers Association will now be called the Professional Publishers Association. In a release Barry McIlheney, chief executive of the PPA said:

Today’s PPA members are professional publishers of immersive, high-quality content. In recent years their businesses have changed dramatically as they deliver this content across an increasing variety of platforms.

We have changed our name to acknowledge this development, and to reflect our commitment to serving our members’ needs and representing their interests as their businesses continue to evolve.

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#ppa: Follow the PPA’s annual magazine conference

Today sees the PPA’s annual conference – a chance to hear the business and consumer magazine industry discuss social media, iPhones and iPads, digital revenues and more. Speakers include: David Rowan, editor of WIRED; Christian Hernandez, head of international business development, Facebook; and the CEOs of IPC Media, Future Publishing and Reed Business Information. There’s a full agenda to download here.

Follow live Twitter updates from delegates in the liveblog below:

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Rory Brown: Is the PPA too focused on print?

Rory Brown asks whether the appointment of Barry McIlheney a chief executive of the PPA, the UK’s industry body for the magazine and business media industry, means a return to a periodicals/print focus for the group.

While print magazines are still hugely important in the overall mix would you really want to be part of an association with that as its sole focus?

The root cause of the PPA’s problems was an inability to adapt to a changing media landscape. The PPA had a position as the association for the business of media. This position was lost through its dogged concentration on one channel as their member firms’ businesses diversified.

Full post at this link…

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PPA Independent Publisher Awards 2009

Journalism.co.uk is at the PPA Independent Publisher Awards 2009 today: entrepreneurialism is the theme of the week it seems, with James Caan of Dragon’s Den fame presenting the prizes.

First though, a question time panel led by Guy Browning (writer, Smokehouse founder and radio presenter) with Mark Frith, TimeOut editor; Graham Stuart, Conservative MP; Rob Grimshaw, MD FT.com; Clive Foskett, CEO Signature Publishing; Steve Gilroy, CEO Vistage International.

More to follow… Follow #ipa09 for occasional tweets via @journalismnews.

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Magazine news: PPA chief steps down; BSME shortlist announced

Two bits of news from the last few days for the magazine publishing industry:

• Reports today that Jonathan Shephard has stepped down as chief executive of the PPA, the UK body representing the magazine industry, after just 18 months in the role. Shephard, who took over from long-serving CEO Ian Locks, is no longer listed on the site’s website and the group is looking for a new CEO to oversee the next stage in its development.
• Meanwhile on Friday, the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) announced the shortlist for its annual Editor’s Editor of the Year award. The winner will be named on November 10. The nominees are:

1. Lisa Burrow, Closer
2. Sue James, Woman & Home
3. Jeremy Langmead, Esquire
4. Sue Peart, You Magazine
5. Morgan Rees, Men’s Health

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Magazine Week 2008 arrived today

The second Magazine Week began today – an event co-ordinated by the PPA, bringing together publishers, retailers and wholesalers, with the aim of better magazine awareness to the UK public. The week, which runs September 29 – October 5, includes:

• A host of events at Borders around the UK, the full listings can be found here, including talks, quizzes and story hours.

• A ‘Buy One Get One Half Price’ offer on all magazines at Borders, during Magazine Week.

• The Great Cover Debate: the result. Magazine editors made nominations for their favourite cover of all time, and a judging panel of industry experts made a shortlist of 16… and now the winner has been revealed: the Radio Times Dalek cover.

For trade information, visit this part of the website.

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PPA Magazines 2008: Timesonline readers ‘obsessed with house prices’

Readers of TimesOnline are obsessed with house prices and road tax, according to Anne Spackman, editor-in-chief of the title.

Readers of the site’s business section also go home early on Fridays, Spackman told delegates at the PPA’s annual conference.

The information gleaned from the site’s search queries is vital to understanding Timesonline readers and shaping content on the site, she said.

However, while search data helped journalists to understand ‘the hook that pulls the reader in’, she stressed that just writing to maximise search rankings is not what journalists are for.

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PPA Magazines 2008: BBC must collaborate with digital media, says Yentob

The BBC must continue to collaborate with digital media and the magazine industry, Alan Yentob, BBC creative director, has told delegates at the PPA’s annual conference.

Yentob said the corporation would be ‘stunted’ if it did not look for partnerships with other online media and services.

“The way forward for us is a collaborative one, because the public don’t want to be told ‘no entry here, we won’t tell you what websites are also interesting’,” said Yentob.

“If you are going to create a unique resource you need to post it up in all directions.

Yentob said similar partnerships to the corporation’s collaboration with YouTube would be considered in the future.

“The BBC isn’t afraid of collaboration and we want to be able to give away content while at same time being able to control it.”

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