Editor & Publisher's new online strategy: Print

Chris Tompkins — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:00:32 -0700

Editor & Publisher announced today that it will be distributing their magazine in an electronic edition beside their traditional website and print subscription models. The New York-based magazine, which covers the U.S. newspaper industry, will be offering subscribers a virtual “same-as-print” version, as well as podcasts and mobile editions, according to a press release.

It is unclear what exactly the “same-as-print” electronic edition will look like, and no one at E&P was available to discuss the project. Hopefully it won’t simply be a glorified PDF version of the magazine like other demos show, but maybe something more like The New York Times Reader. Pressmart, the company handling the new digital edition, promises that PDF sources are used to translate magazine content into a plethora of technology forms including mobile text for phones/PDAs, RSS syndication, and podcasts.

This seems like a logical move into online distribution for E&P, whose website has been vigilant in documenting the slow decline of the print journalism industry. This might inject some new media revelance to their current site, which while functional, is somewhat bare-bones in both design and technology.

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