dwayne1

Jet Magazine Packs Its Bags and Goes Digital

Digital

The full-on sprint to digital is on for yet another publication. Jet Magazine, published since 1951, is heading to the digital domain as a result of slipping ad revenue. All subscribers will be given digital access and shifted to the better-performing Ebony magazine.

“The purpose of Jet 63 years ago was to deliver news in a faster format,” said Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, chief operating officer and head of digital at Johnson Publishing. The move to all digital is a natural extension of this idea, she explained. “Now people want to be able to get their info wherever they are,” she added.

Jet’s ad pages in the first quarter of this year fell 25.6% from the equivalent period last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Ad pages dropped 18% last year.

In case you missed it, Ladies Home Journal has changed from a monthly to a quarterly publication – and will probably soon go all digital when that shift doesn’t change their fortunes either.

Source: AdAge

latimes

LA Times Website Goes Mobile-First

Design

The Los Angeles Times is introducing a redesign tonight that moves the 132-year-old newspaper closer to the vanguard of mobile-first web design, with a look more closely resembling digital-only publications like The Verge than the ink-on-paper model it replaces.

Articles in the site’s various sections are displayed as tiles and feature “sharelines,” which are three very brief summaries that can be easily shared across social media. To try to better keep those readers who arrive from social media, pages can scroll forever with additional content.

L.A. Times mobile and desktop unique visitors reached 27.5 million in March, a 30% increase from the same time last year, according to ComSore.

What does it all mean?

Major publications and websites have started the digital shift. The LA Times has gone all in for mobile readership and their analytics show it to be the right move. It may seem bold, but the trend will continue. Are you doing all you can to understand your analytics and plan for the future?

Let us know if you need some help.