Time Well Spent---The Magazine Publishing Industry’s Online Niche(Deena Ingham &Alexis Weedon)

Jialing Su SID: 307134563

Three different kinds of online magazine or e-magazine

Online version of the current print

magazine

Free or paid e-magazine

E-magazine (digital copy of print magazine)

Free or paid e-magazine

Online version of the current print magazine

E-magazine (digital copy of print magazine)

Compare the use of print and online versions

print version

online version

Online magazine: time spent & time-saving

Time has quantifiable and tenderable values within a system of exchange. Utilizing one medium for another is possible to accumulate or loss time.

Time spent: letter pages, chat forums and other interactive services

Time saving: shorter queues and more checkouts

Searching for information online is perceived to be ‘free’ and not time constrained.

Group Leisure Online print magazine

Launched on 1st September 2003 Content: updated daily, provides news,

exclusive features, longer versions of articles

Search engine & data base Registration and the reader club

Two main different type of readerships

Organizers: secure the necessary information to enable them to fulfil their roles as organizers of activity events

Suppilers: responsible within commercial companies who operate events and packages for the organizers and their groups

Wider readership in a niche market

Participants in minority sports, crafts, hobbies and activities

Online magazine is able to reach a small global market without incurring the same commercial constraints and controls.

Elements contributing to the success

The result of the printed readership becoming more familiar with the online version

More promotion of the website both within the magazine and via advertisers on the site, co-promoting the site within search engines

An attraction of consumers to the online site who would not access the printed magazine

A conflict between print and online magazines: income and costing

Print version: high cost high income Online version: low cost low income

Maintain lower daily cost

A content administration system is handled directly by Group Leisure editorial and advertising staff.

Publishers control readers’ contributions and all contributions are submitted to an email address at Yandell Media.

Reduce financial costs as designers and developers charge for every posting they carry out.

Survey of Group leisure online

Method: quantitative survey The first survey Analyse correlation between online and

printed readership and gender; online and printed access and age

The second survey: In-depth survey to examine reading habits,

what, where and how they read Group Leisure magazine

Findings of survey one: format

Group travel organizer: reading magazine by choice in whatever format for ideas, factual content and inspiration

Group suppliers: reading magazine for monitoring competition, evaluating campaigns and studying trends. Majority of them read the magazine at work.

Printed magazine was read at home and online version most commonly was read at work.

Findings of survey one: gender and age

Women of all ages are more like to access the online format

Almost all older organizers accessed online

Findings of survey two

Speed and direct delivery of the required information are key to the online magazine’s popularity.

Online format does not always save reader’s time as the online search facility comes into its own only when the searcher has a particular goal in mind.

Online version offers more opportunities for readers to be sidetracked while reading it. A search facility yields a series of articles on a given topic, as each of them lead in a different direction. Thus readers may become distracted from the original path.

Summary

Online content does not replicate the content of the printed version.

Online versions increases flexibility and capacity.

The increased extent of the online magazine adds to the time spent reading online, but is also perceived to be a benefit.

Summary

Lack of access and a dislike of reading articles online are main reasons for less using the online format.

Readers have to spend more time to master new format before reaping the benefit of searchable.

Online ads has not developed as readers are not aware of and prepared to respond to online advertisements.

Summary

Using online version may not always save time, as a wider, deeper, better search will take longer time.

Readers can choose whether to spend time increasing their options in this way, but spending time will lead to an improved and more highly valued selection when their decision is finally made.

Further Reading:

The magazine at the millennium: Integrating the Internet

Lisa M Guidone, Publishing Research Quarterly; Summer 2000; 16, 2; Academic Research Library pg. 14

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/18/books/18BORD.html?pagewanted=all2/18/2004 1

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-magazines-online-a-brief-essay

http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/533660.php http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-magazines-

online-a-brief-essay/ http://whttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezines http://publishing.eur.nl/ir/repub/asset/11115/HowTolerableIs

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