Tag Archives: magazine

Joe O’Donnell to launch B-Metro magazine

Posted on October 7, 2009 by | 2 comments

b-metro magazine logoDoes Birmingham need another city lifestyle magazine? In addition to Birmingham Magazine, Portico, Thicket (which covers all of Alabama) and the recently launched online-only Pavo Magazine comes B-Metro.

Joe O’Donnell, who left Birmingham Magazine in July, plans to launch B-Metro in November with two colleagues who departed at the same time. (The Web site is live, but not yet finished.)

In an interview with the Birmingham News, he discusses his plans for the new publication:

“We’ll be publishing great writers and photographers, columnists, bloggers and everyday people who have something to say, information to share and insights into the richness and excitement of life in this seven-county region.”

MOBster André Natta will be one of the columnists in the new publication.

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The new look of Cooking Light and Southern Living

Posted on October 6, 2009 by | 6 comments

Two Birmingham-based Southern Progress magazines, Cooking Light and Southern Living, have rolled out major redesigns in the past month.

Cooking Light

cooking light september 2009 coverOur exclusive news on the changing editors at Cooking Light pulled in some strong comments about the magazine’s redesign, unveiled in September.

Cooking Light asked one blogger to review the new look, and give away a copy as well. Tina of Mommy’s Kitchen wrote, “Adding pictures to each recipe was a awesome idea on their part.” (The magazine asked for another blogger’s opinion.)

Emily at Cooking Inside the Lines also liked the redesign: “As a devout reader of Cooking Light magazine my message to the editorial staff is … I completely approve!”

But Emily Brackett at Visible Logic disagrees, saying the magazine “has taken a turn for the worse.”

Southern Living

southern living october 2009 coverThe Washington Post wrote about October’s makeover of Southern Living: “The redesigned October issue, which has pumpkin-shaped cakes on the cover and hits newsstands Sept. 29, is not a radical change.”

Editor in chief Eleanor Griffin tells Mr. Magazine, “I want to give them (readers) something pleasurable, I want to give them a memory, I want to give them an experience.”

Reaction on the magazine’s forum seems mixed so far.

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Have you seen the redesigns? What do you think? Tell us in the comments.

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EXCLUSIVE: Cooking Light’s editor steps down

Posted on September 11, 2009 by | 24 comments

Mary Kay Culpepper leaves; Scott Mowbray appointed as replacement

Mary Kay CulpepperScott MowbrayMedia of Birmingham has learned that editor Mary Kay Culpepper is leaving Cooking Light magazine on Oct. 1. Time Inc. executive vice president Sylvia Auton has named Health.com editor Scott Mowbray to replace her at the Southern Progress title.

Cooking Light, started in 1987, debuted a redesign this month created by Mowbray’s design team. The title is ranked No. 51 among U.S. magazines, and No. 7 among Time Inc. mags. Its ad revenue dropped 16 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of this year.

Culpepper has led the magazine since 2001 and has been at Southern Progress since 1986. Mowbray has previously served as editor of Popular Science magazine and managing editor of Time Inc. Custom Publishing.

Update: Culpepper says she will pursue a graduate degree in creativity studies at SUNY Buffalo starting in the spring.

Among editors at Birmingham-based Southern Progress, Southern Living’s Eleanor Griffin and Coastal Living’s Lindsay Bierman have been in place less than a year, and Health’s Ellen Kunes has been in place less than 3 years.

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Southern Progress: 41.4 percent staff reduction in 11 months

Posted on August 31, 2009 by | 2 comments

southern-progress-graphic

Summer was a brutal season for Southern Progress.

After laying off 200 of its 700 employees during the fourth quarter of 2008 — a 28.6 percent cut — the Birmingham-based Time Inc. operation / magazine publisher shed 90 positions total this summer.

Southern Progress sold Southern Living at Home to Entertaining at Home in July, lightening the load by 70 employees (of whom 29 promptly were let go by the new owner earlier this month).

It also ceased publication on Southern Accents magazine, letting 20 staffers go.

With 90 positions cut from the 500 remaining, Southern Progress has tightened up staff by another 18 percent in the last 60 days, or 41.4 percent in the past 11 months.

So, at Southern Progress in the past 11 months:

  • 290 positions eliminated
  • 41.4 percent staff reduction
  • 2 magazines folded
  • 1 operation sold

The one bright spot: Southern Living’s circulation increased 1.35 percent in the first half of 2009, making it No. 19 among U.S. magazines (and No. 4 among Time Inc. titles). (Of course, Reader’s Digest declaring bankruptcy makes it actually No. 18 across the nation.)

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Birmingham AMA presents ‘How Hoffman Media Did It’

Posted on August 12, 2009 by | Leave a comment

American Marketing Association - Birmingham, AlabamaThe Birmingham chapter of the American Marketing Association presents “How Hoffman Media Did It: 47% Greater Revenue Since 2005.”

Birmingham-based Hoffman publishes Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, Victoria, Cooking with Paula Deen and Southern Lady magazines. The program:

Jennifer Jaquess, marketing director at Birmingham’s Hoffman Media, uses her communications experience to oversee sales support for nine consumer titles with 15 sales representatives across the country and nearly $5 million in ad revenue. Learn about the strategies Hoffman Media has developed to grow even during lean times.

Event details:

  • 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Aug. 19
  • The Summit Club, 31st floor of Regions-Harbert Plaza, 1901 Sixth Ave. N. [map]
  • $20 for members, $30 for non-members, $10 for students

Visit the site to register.

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EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham magazine hires Thicket’s editor-in-chief, advertising director

Posted on August 7, 2009 by | 1 comment

After the departure of five staff members at Birmingham magazine in July, including editor Joe O’Donnell and advertising director Cathy Fingerman, Media of Birmingham has learned about two hires from Birmingham-based Thicket magazine.

Julie KeithJulie Keith, Thicket’s editor-in-chief and co-owner, will serve as the new editor for Birmingham magazine. Before, she was executive editor of Birmingham-based Portico magazine and managing editor for the Better Homes and Gardens Crafts Group. Keith was a panelist at Media of Birmingham’s Freelancers Forum in September. Her husband Todd Keith is senior editor at Thicket.

Garrick Stone, Thicket’s advertising director and partner in the magazine, will serve as the new advertising director for Birmingham magazine. Before, he was sales director at Portico and a senior account executive at Birmingham-based Black and White.

Thicket launched in January 2008 as a bimonthly Alabama-focused publication with 10 issues to date. Birmingham magazine‘s current edition began in 1961 and publishes monthly through the Birmingham Business Alliance, which combined the Metropolitan Development Board and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.

No word yet as to how Thicket plans to move forward.

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Southern Accents shuts down

Posted on August 6, 2009 by | 6 comments

Southern Progress drops second magazine in nine months

Southern Accents coverTime Inc. closed Birmingham-based magazine Southern Accents today, but plans on continuing the site SouthernAccents.com. No word as to what will happen to the employees of the magazine.

Southern Accents is the second Southern Progress magazine to fold in nine months, following Cottage Living’s demise in November. Ad revenue for Southern Accents dropped a whopping 32.1 percent from the first six months of 2008 to the same period of this year.

Update: Southern Accents’ 20 employees are laid off, though editor-in-chief Karen Carroll could stay on with Southern Progress in another capacity. Also, executive vice president Sylvia Auton came from New York to deliver the news to staff in person.

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EXCLUSIVE: Magazine ad sales: Southern Progress loses 16.9 percent

Posted on July 13, 2009 by | 4 comments

Southern Progress magazine 2009 ad sales

Magazine ad sales for saw declines for all five Southern Progress titles comparing the first halves of 2008 and 2009, according to figures from the Magazine Publishers of America. The Birmingham-based titles — Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Health, Southern Accents and Southern Living — all saw drops in ad revenue from 8 percent (Health) to 32.1 percent (Southern Accents).

First quarter comparisons weren’t nearly as dire for Cooking Light and Southern Living, but Southern Accents’ ad sales performance has weakened in the second quarter. Southern Progress magazines lost 16.9 percent in ad revenues, earning $209 million so far in 2009.

Meanwhile, another Birmingham-based magazine, Hoffman Media’s Cooking With Paula Deen, had a 3.2 percent increase in ad sales comparing the first halves of 2008 and 2009.

U.S. magazines lost 21 percent in ad sales overall during the first half of 2009.

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Media General pulls plug on Skirt Birmingham

Posted on July 2, 2009 by | 1 comment

Staff vows to continue women’s magazine

logoAnother Birmingham magazine faces a setback today. Skirt, a Morris Communications national publication based in Augusta, Ga., launched in Birmingham in April 2008.

Its closest competitor, Lipstick, folded in February. Its publisher, Media General, cut jobs at NBC 13 in March. During that same round, Media General folded Skirt in Tampa. (It continues as an online-only venture.)

Today, NBC 13 vice president and general manager Gene Kirkconnell sent this e-mail:

Over the past year the creativity and hard work of our Skirt Staffers here has produced a Magazine of the highest editorial standards.

Unfortunately, a very challenging economy has prompted the division to cease publication. July 2009 will be the final edition of SKIRT Birmingham.

We wish Anna, Cory and Terry all the best.

Editor Cory Bordonaro announced via Skirt’s Twitter feed just after noon today:

You heard it here first. Media General is hanging up skirt! We’re moving on, however. This skirt has a lot of wear left.

It’s unclear whether the women’s lifestyle magazine will continue publishing both print and Web versions, or if at all. The Terminal references a tweet from Skirt general manager Anna Alford Nelson that says “skirt! Bham is moving forward just without Media General.“

The Birmingham Business Journal reports that Media General plans on transferring its license to publish Skirt to a yet-to-be-determined market.

But Heather Nagel-Doughtie, digital director for Skirt, says Morris now has the Birmingham license and says on the site, “We love Birmingham and are very committed to finding a solution to keep the skirt! voice alive in this great city.” Compare this to her more decisive plan of action when the Tampa print edition was dropped:

Next month, you will begin to see significant changes to the local Tampa Bay site including a new redesign.  We plan to enlist the help and support of local women and writers.

Bordonaro has invited those interested to e-mail her at corybo[at]gmail.com.

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EXCLUSIVE: Southern Living lays off editorial staffers

Posted on June 5, 2009 by | 4 comments

Southern LivingMedia of Birmingham has learned that Birmingham-based Southern Living has laid off five to seven staff members today on the editorial side of the magazine, including employees in the food, travel, home, art and photo departments. The cuts leave about 85 staff members in place in editorial.

The magazine lost 26.9 percent in ad sales comparing the first quarter of 2008 and 2009.

Southern Progress Corporation, which publishes Southern Living, shed 200 people in the last quarter of 2008, reducing its staff in Birmingham to 500 employees. It also closed Cottage Living magazine.

Unlike the previous rounds, we’ve heard that supervisors informed laid-off employees to pack and leave the building by 5 p.m. today, rather than the two to four weeks transition time given to eliminated employees. No word on whether they were offered severance packages.

Earlier this week, the Birmingham News reduced salaries and cut part-time positions.

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Update 6/9/09: After laying off a Homes staffer on Friday, Southern Living posted an opening for an assistant homes editor just four days later (June 9): [It appears the job listing was taken down shortly after discovery by magazine employees.]

Job Title
Assistant Homes Editor – Southern Living

TimeWarner Division
Time Inc.

Industry
Publishing

Location
United States – Alabama – Birmingham

Requisition #
112776BR

Position Type
Full Time

Posting Job Description

Southern Living is seeking an assistant editor to help produce stories and write for the Homes section.

Duties: Emphasis on writing and packaging our monthly homes line-up with a fresh voice that reaches out to a younger reader. Will also coordinate photography with photographers and stylists. Attend monthly story conferences, previews, and issue reviews. Develop a strong network of homes and/or garden contacts around the South. Stay abreast of homes topics and trends.

Requirements: 3-5 years experience at a lifestyle title or equivalent with top-notch writing, editing, and design skills. Ideal candidates will possess a four-year degree in English, Art, design or other related field. Hands-on experience in interior design or architecture a plus. Should have strong organizational skills. High energy, flexibility, and an ability to work as part of a creative team a must.

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Update 7/8/09: The ad returns a month later. The wording is exactly the same, except for the title, assistant/associate homes editor (instead of associate homes editor). Looks like the magazine is bargain hunting …

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