Category Archives: Magazines

Political blogger Iain Dale launches TotalPolitics.com

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TotalPolitics, the website published by former 18DoughtyStreet blogger Iain Dale, has gone live today.

The site and magazine, which are described as ‘a lifestyle magazine dedicated to all things political’, will report on all that’s positive within the UK’s political scene.

Three group blogs feature on the site in addition to political blog listings and a database of political speeches and quotations

The majority of the content from the print edition will feature online alongside these new features, Dale wrote in a blog post on his personal blog.

While we were away… EveryBlock, LoudounExtra, BBC plans and more

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In case you hadn’t noticed, Journalism.co.uk was in Sweden last week covering the World Association of Newspapers annual conference and the World Editors Forum.

So no one misses out, here’s a round-up of what went down while we were away:

Guardian: BBC ends ‘licence fee’ plans for international news website
The Beeb has dropped proposals for subscription-based access to BBC.com

WSJ.com: Analysis of hyperlocal news site LoudounExtra.com
Following the departure of Rob Curley, chief architect behind the Washington Post spin-off site, WSJ asks if the site has found its audience a year into the project.

Editor&Publisher: 94 newspapers join Yahoo partnership
A total of 779 newspapers now have access to the search engine’s advertising technology and HotJobs ads.

Daily Mail: Sir Ian Blair advocates use of celebrity news videos as evidence in drug trials
Footage, such as the Sun’s infamous Amy Winehouse video and of Kate Moss snorting a white substance, should be presented to the jury in such cases, Blair has said.

Guardian: BBC’s new plans for personalisation of website
Plans to create a new rating, recommendation and personalisation system across bbc.co.uk will be put to the BBC Trust, according to the corporation’s latest programme policy statement.

Editor’s Weblog: Washington Post launches online publishing company
The Slate Group will feature a host of digital titles including Slate and The Root, with additional launches planned.

Telegraph.co.uk: Update on revamp of community blogging platform MyTelegraph
Communities editor Shane Richmond says a relaunch date will be announced by the end of next week.

Matthew Ingram: Globe and Mail removes pay wall
Number of subscribers was not enough to maintain the wall, says Ingram, who works for the paper. Some readers remain unconvinced, he says, pointing out one comment: “You can’t shut us out for a few years and then expect us to come back just because it’s free.”

MediaShift: Everyblock releases first special report
The hyperlocal data and news site has mapped information from a recent Chicago police bribery investigation as part of its first special report.

New look for IPC’s Look magazine

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IPC Media has launched a website for its fashion title Look – its first magazine site designed out of house.

The new site, launched last week, offers fashion and beauty news alongside an online shopping facility.

The design will aim to capitalise on the 77 per cent of the magazine’s readers, which research suggested, access the web every day, a press release from the publisher said.

The site will be headed by online editor Jayne Cherrington-Cook, who has previously worked with Yahoo and AOL.

Haymarket merges editorial team for medical titles

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Haymarket has merged the editorial teams for its medical titles GP and Independent Nurse.

As part of the changes the publisher has appointed Emma Bower, who launched Independent Nurse four years ago, as editor of GP.

Bower will now take on the editorship of both titles and responsibility for the newly merged team, which will be responsible for producing content across the magazines and the group’s Healthcare Republic website.

“So far, much of the crossover between our print and digital operations has developed on an ad hoc basis. Now we can tailor the structure of the editorial team to properly fit the needs of both platforms, and allow for further growth,” said Colin Cooper, editor-in-chief of Haymarket Medical Media, in a press release.

The integration will take effect from June 16.

Economist redesigns homepage

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The Economist has revamped the homepage of its website cutting the length and the number of adverts on the page.

A letter on the site announces the key changes:

  • Shorter page – long lists of articles replaced with ‘pithier selection’
  • Less advertisements
  • Shorter left-hand navigation bar – sub-sections revealed by scrolling over headings
  • Rotating top stories – four headline stories will rotate at the top of the page
  • More prominence to blog content and columns
  • ‘Most recommended’, ‘Most read’ and ‘Most commented on’ story lists
  • Section linking to Economist events and promotions

“Those of you who were familiar with (and even fond of) the previous version will naturally wonder: why the change? We wanted to do three main things—make the page simpler, deeper and more enjoyable for the reader,” says the announcement.

Comments on the redesign are welcomed and an online feedback form has been set up.

Reactions so far have been largely negative with criticism for the ‘uncluttered’ look and one commenter remarking: “It feels like going from Web 2.0 to Web 0.1”.

Hello magazine launches mobile alert service

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Hello magazine is introducing two new mobile services to deliver celebrity news.

Subscribers to MMS alerts will receive daily updates from Monday to Friday of the latest news from the website including an image, while SMS subscribers will be sent the latest headline.

“A launch of a mobile service has been long overdue, and I feel that it will be an important addition to our digital canon. A natural extension of a web presence is a mobile offering,” said Verity J. Smart, editor of the magazine, in a press release.

Users will be charged £1 for MMS messages and 25p for SMS, though monthly bills for each service will not exceed £23 and £10 respectively.

To sign up for the service users should text HELLO1 to 62233 for MMS alerts and HELLO2 to 62233 for SMS, or visit the mobile registration page of the site.

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

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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.

Guardian: Pluck picks up Hearst website deal

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Social media firm Pluck will supply technology to Hearst Digital’s uber-web portal Allaboutyou.com

It will provided blogs, discussion tools and media-sharing applications to the new community site for women, which combines content from six Natmag’s UK tiles.

The move is part of an ‘aggressive’ push of the business, says the Guardian.

For Hearst, it’s the second major partnership for its magazine websites after securing the services of Brightcove to supply its digital video hosting.

Dennis signs PKR in first customer magazine deal

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Magazine publisher Dennis – home of such venerable tiles as Monkey and Maxim – has signed a deal with online poker operator PKR to produce a quarterly PKR print magazine for their players.

The magazine will be the first produced by its new customer magazine wing, Dennis Communications.

The first issue of the magazine, which will be distributed free to some of PKR’s leading players, will be published in June 2008.

Dennis has already established itself as publisher of consumer poker titles with its Inside Poker and Poker Player brands.

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

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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.”