A Challenge to Magazine Publishers -- Especially Jon Meacham

This past week's Newsweek with Al Gore on the cover was illuminating. Consider this: 20% of CO2 is attributable to deforestation--more than all of the world's cars and trucks combined.

If this is true, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, why aren't all magazine publishers rushing to eliminate blow-in inserts in their publications? You know what I mean, right? Those pesky little cards that fall out and are so irksome.

Think of the deforestation it could prevent! Newsweek has already risen to this challenge, and for that, I commend Jon Meacham and his team. There are no longer blow-in inserts in Newsweek.

Of course, I don't read every magazine that's published, but I happen to know that Vanity Fair and Guideposts--two more different publications don't exist--are egregious offenders. Why? The naive answer is that blow-in inserts must work to grow their subscription bases. To that I ask, so?

With all the lamentation over how the Internet is changing print publishing, why aren't more publishers tearing to update their old systems? Old habits die hard? Sure, but again, so? It's time to do something different.

How about these ideas?

Give subscribers the option to renew electronically. (Some of us like our hard copies.)

Let subscribers choose the lengths of their renewals up to five years at a time. (Guideposts, bless them, is already doing this.)

Ban blow-in inserts completely.

If all the print publications in the U.S. alone were to eliminate inserts, how much could that 20% be reduced? The truth is I have no idea how to figure that out.

The industry association says that more than 10,000 magazines are published in the U.S. every year, and that only 2,000 have "significant" circulation. Even if only those 2,000 were to ban inserts, I suspect that the numbers of trees that could be saved would be significant.

The only way out of our climate problem at any reasonable pace is through corporations and government taking bold, strong measures. Here's one that would change the deforestation statistic immediately.

C'mon, Mr. Meacham, talk to your pals. Let's save the trees, have less to recycle, and let those blessed trees do what they're meant to do here on Earth.

For spiritual nourishment, go to www.susancorso.com.

 

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Comments

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

I've got a better idea. Buy an ultralight web-reader, laptop, or Kindle. Your paper, all of it, not just the inserts, kills trees. The ink and its often toxic byproducts kill fish and rivers and leech into landfills.

At my publication, we made the decision, eleven years ago today, as it turns out, to not go on paper in the first place. Our readers were already using the web to find information.

I had spent the prior four years trying to convince dinosaur publishers to free their employees from cubicles, and set them free into the world with networked laptops to do their reporting. This also saves the environment needless commuting polluting, the building of large concrete tribal gathering spots called offices, etc.

The digital magazine is the present and future. Digital publishing, cobbling together independent editors writers and photographers into a more fluid and flexible world where they are free to work for multiple outlets and establish their own productivity is the Brave New World of publishing.

Pick up your laptop, your e-book. Save a tree.

Sincerely,
Brian Ross
Publisher & Sr. Editor
MLNSports.com

[shutterbabe]

Brian,

A thoughtful article and even a better commentary by you.

Count me in as a new fan. I look forward reading more of your ideas.

The future is now and it is indeed time to join that Brave New World.

[HeevenSteven]

Jon Meacham is too busy telling his readers that we have to stay the course in Afghanistan so that our enemies don't win, and that we live in a conservative country, and name the Republican talking point.

I don't expect he'll embrace tree hugging publicly, even if he does it privately. Establishment opinion drivers have an image to maintain ya know.

[abbienormal]

These magazines also could make better use of their databases. For example, I never resubscribe to my Economist or my National Geographic until the month before it runs out. Never. And I have been a customer for several years.,

Yet each of them send me mailings six months in advance, on a regular basis, to try and get me to resubscribe early. Certainly, it is not worth the time, money for postage, or paper to get me to change my buying habits when it has NEVER worked in the past.

They have this data about me and they should make use of it.