About Samir "Mr. Magazine™" Husni, Ph.D.
Samir Husni, aka Mr. Magazine™, is the founder and director of the Magazine Media Center.
He is the co-author of The Magazine Century published by Peter Lang. Dr. Husni is the author of the annual Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines, which is now in its 28th year. He is also the author of Launch Your Own Magazine: A Guide for Succeeding in Today's Marketplace published by Hamblett House, Inc. and Selling Content: The Step-by-Step Art of Packaging Your Own Magazine, published by Kendall Hunt, Magazine Publishing in the 21st Century, published by Kendall Hunt, and co-author of Design Your Own Magazine.
He has presented seminars on trends in American magazines to the editorial, advertising and sales staff of the magazine groups of the Morris Communications Company, Hearst Corp., Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, Meredith Corp., Reader's Digest Magazine, ESPN the magazine, Sail Magazine, American Airlines Publishing, the National Geographic Society, the Swedish magazine group Bonnier, the Finnish magazine group Sanoma Magazines, Southern Progress magazines, New South Publishing, Inc., the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of Magazine Editors, Vance Publishing Corporation, the Florida Magazine Association, The Magazine Association of Georgia, the National Society of Black Journalists, the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association, and the American Press Institute.
He is "the country's leading magazine expert," according to Forbes ASAP magazine, "the nation's leading authority on new magazines," according to min:media industry newsletter; and The Chicago Tribune dubbed him "the planet's leading expert on new magazines."
Dr. Husni has been interviewed by major U.S. media on subjects related to the magazine industry. He has been profiled and is regularly quoted in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other newspapers nationwide, as well as the major newsweeklies and a host of trade publications.
He has appeared on Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, CNNFN, PBS, and on numerous radio talk shows including National Public Radio's Morning and Weekend Editions.
Dr. Husni has also served as an expert witness in several lawsuits involving major media corporations including Time Inc. and American Express Publishing among others.
He has been a judge of The National Magazines Awards, The Evangelical Magazines Association, The City and Regional Magazines Association, and The Florida and Georgia Magazine Association Awards.
Dr. Husni is the President and CEO of Magazine Consulting & Research, a firm specializing in new magazine launches, repositioning of established magazines, and packaging publications for better sales and presentations.
Dr. Husni holds a doctorate in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas.
When he is not in his office reading magazines, Dr. Husni is at the newsstands buying magazines.
Experience Makers 
After reading these articles, what we discussed in class came immediately to mind…newspapers need to realize the potential and importance of the 48 hour bridge that connects yesterday to tomorrow. In this age of almost instantaneous news delivery, it’s the only avenue that makes sense to me. Change the message, not the medium. Cutting costs so drastically the way The Deseret News did…including the editor and the publisher…only serves to reinforce the cries of the doubters, ‘PRINT IS DEAD’…and that is scary. Like the article said, the paper instead should have just started the lead at the beginning of the story, not in the middle…tough times demand tough actions. That we can understand, but trying to gloss over the problems of the paper by disguising them as mere ‘expansions’ was just denying the real problem: the content. Newspapers need to distinguish themselves as a new entity…that 48 hour bridge. Show us the consequences of the news that we already know…through our many and varied digital options…and inform us on how we can cope, comprehend, and connect to these already known facts.
No offense to the Newspaper Death Watch, but their website is probably going to die too if they do not switch from that horrible gray background with black writing. It’s harsh on the eyes.
To contine my comment.. I accidentally pushed enter and it posted, the problem is definitely the medium. We can look at the Kindle for example. Although it has sold well, it has not motivated more Americans to read. Why? Because many Americans are not interested in reading anymore. This is sad because at one point it did not matter what class one was born to, if one could read and write they could make something out of themselves. Now we can see the gap becoming wider between the classes and I think lack of literacy is involved with this.
Personally I love the feel of a newspaper in my hand. I love it even better, when the newspaper is free! Although I enjoy reading newspapers, I have never felt as compelled to buy one as I have a magazine. Because the magazine has something that is relevant to me. I know my town and I know there are more interesting issues at stake than a bond issue over a new football field.
Also I think newspapers are wrong in going electronic. There’s nothing that would make me pay for online subsription if the content is not different from the paper. I think it’s insulting to customers when a paper believes that “going modern” is the answer. It reminds of an owner of a once sucessful resteraunt that continues remodeling the joint in an effort to make it hip, rather than excepting that the initial excitement is gone. This is reminscent of the counting customers, rather than appealing to customers that count.
And (insert choice word here) I cannot believe Columbia is considering doing away with its journalism program. Has the field gone to pot that much? Who cares if I know how to operate a camera, if I do not know how to interview or a write a story? Forgive me if I am wrong, but is that not why newstations hire cameraman?
I am firm believer that the problem is the message not the medium. This is why people choose to watch Fox News or CNN, because it appeals to their views. Because let’s face it on their best day neither one is objective. I overheard someone complaining about The DM this week and rather than get offended I asked why. They replied because the only good thing about it was the cartoon and crossword puzzle. However, when The DM reported how The Lyric was busted everyone on campus was discussing and asking had someone read the piece. This shows people are willing to read what appeals to them. I mean do we really care about hearing bar tenders or preachers say again what selling/banning alcohol on Sundays would do to them. I think if we want to improve our field we have to learn to how to take constructive criticism from our readers. Too often we want to insult those people and write them off as not being intellectual, but they’re one’s who have it right. Journalism isn’t for self-satisfaction it’s for the masses, maybe when understand that newspapers will prosper once more.
It is shocking to me that only 25% of Americans have confidence in the newspapers. I find it ever more shocking that the younger generation believes in the newspaper more than the older generations. In order for the newspapers to get back on their feet, they need to start focusing on increasing this low percentage. One way to do so would be to focus more on making the newspaper interesting again. They can do this in many ways, such as including information that will interest a variety of audiences. In my opinion, you can find more information that you want to hear about on the internet. If you want to know all of the latest celebrity gossip, you are either going to buy an magazine, such as “US” or “People”, or you will look it up online. This being said, newspapers need to start talking about a wider range of topics.
In short: “Who cares??”
The only reason I pick up a DM in the morning is to have something to do before class starts. I could care less about newspapers. They’re just wasted space to me. I’d much rather get my news faster and more conveniently through my computer or television.
That’s just my preference. Someone else might want to get their news through newspapers, for reasons “X”, “Y”, and “Z”. That’s their preference. No matter what, someone will always prefer newspapers, and someone will always prefer Drudge Report. It’s that simple.
Even if the newspaper industry tanked, that’s capitalism, baby. Keep moving. Keep innovating. Keep reaching for excellence.
Medical products are rendered obsolete every single day by a new technological advance. Know what? Nobody skips a beat. We welcome it.
If innovation renders newspapers totally obsolete, that’s great. If newspapers stick around, that’s great too. It doesn’t really matter to me.
“like”
I found it really interesting that USA Today is taking a big gamble by moving more toward the mobile medium. The article talks about how USA Today’s strength is in its message, but it is totally doing away with this to be more technologically inclined. I can understand that they feel desperate, but it seems like there should be a different option for them!
No one can replace newspapers. Although, we go through major changes over years of time, newspapers have been around for years. I can not imagine society without newspapers. I am one of many people I know who can not bare to read off of e-readers. Even reading off of the computer over a long period of time just gives me a major headache and I have to take a break before I get back on. Newspapers gives us information that you probably can not find anywhere else. For example: I would have not a clue what is going on in this wonderful city of Oxford if it was not for the DM. I would not think to look up that kind of information on the computer. Newspapers are a reliable source to man kind and you can not get rid of them. There are many people like me out there who rather read print than mega pixels.
I think that newspapers are causing their own demise, mostly due to their message, or lack-thereof (as we discuss.) I also think that USA Today moving toward mobile news is a great capitalistic move. People would love to have headlines delivered to them the minute the event happens. No longer would they even have to open a webpage, it would just be delivered straight to them. However, I think this is a poor move to improve the message. Sending news via text only allows so much space for text. News would start to become a game, who can put the most news in 140 characters or less? The news would be more like reading twitter than gathering information about the world around us. This mobile media will also only quicken the pace at which print media will disappear. If headlines are continuously delivered straight to your phone, why would you ever bother reading a newspaper?
I dont think the newpaper is dead because they will have a little of sale. We have to think of our elders they dont have a clue on how to work ebook let alone the internet some are still learning how to work the cell phone. So the newpapers are not dead the elderly will always be looking forward to the newpaper like my grandma thats where she gets all her news its that or the news on tv other than that she do not know how to work a computer to look online for the news.
I think that newspapers are unfortunately on their way out. Even with the efforts of some papers such as USA today to minimize the length of their stories and grab the reader’s attention, I think that those are going to lose their effect in print, and it is going to become an internet based business. We live in a technology driven world, and we are only advancing in that direction daily. As I mentioned in my last post, we are also becoming a rather eco-friendly society that is very cautious about preserving our environment. Saving paper from newspaper is a large-scale way for our planet to conserve, and more than likely that is exactly what we will do.
Newspapers will never completely die out, because so many of us love that feeling of having our news in our hands, right in front of us, and because digitized news hasn’t quite taken off yet. On the other hand, the number of subscriptions, and the number of newspapers for that matter, will most surely continue to decline because most people who do prefer to receive news digitally don’t see the point in paying for something you can get for free instantly. Instead of telling readers what they already know, newspapers should instead focus on useful information that readers will want and actually pay for. Now the question is: “How do they do that?” Well, to be honest, I don’t know.
Honestly, I don’t know if newspapers will continue to survive in their current format. No one can. It becomes rather tiresome to continually hear all of these “doom and gloom” predictions. And really, the people who make predictions about the demise (or survival) of newspapers are merely making a guess–perhaps an educated guess, but it’s still a guess, and even the best of us have been wrong.
My guess? I don’t believe newspapers will die out entirely. Like we discussed in class, people like the feeling of ownership, and to hold a tangible copy of the newspaper gives you that sense of ownership. We’ve also discussed how the media is currently making a shift toward things like niche journalism, where everything is catered to your own tastes. Well, if we can say that of the message, can’t the same be said of the medium? Some people will prefer to get their news electronically, while some people will prefer to get their news via the daily paper. That market may diminish greatly with time, but in a capitalistic society, there will always be someone willing to cater to any given market. So, as long as people want it, they’ll get it.
“tangible” news does not matter when most people throw away their newspaper as soon as they’re done with it ownership only goes so far with newspapers
I still stand by my point of feeling ownership when you can have a tangible piece of paper in your hands. Growing up, at least in my family, we got the newspaper delivered everyday, and I don’t know–maybe you could accuse us of poor housekeeping skills, but a copy of the newspaper might lay on our coffee table for days to allow various members of the household a chance to get a look at it. And, if there was an article which sparked someone’s interest, we made a point of keeping that paper so we could show it to others and remark on it.
I feel like part of this shift away from newspapers and into getting news electronically, whatever the source, is part of our culture’s shift towards devaluing face to face communication in favor of the more impersonal, electronic communication. I don’t believe that this is necessarily a good thing, either.
I think that this website is a good thing for people who are interested in knowing about the fallings of the newspapers. I really enjoyed the only positive part which was about Minnesota! I am from there. Its good to know that my hometown knows what they are doing.
I think it is strange that newspapers will eventually move to mobile devices and internet and such because some people don’t have these resources. However, it is convenient for the business woman or man who is always on the go. Newspapers should keep in mind the people that they want to reach out towards. While mobile newspapers can be a blessing for some, it can leave the rest of the audience at a disadvantage. This might also result in even lower sales of the newspaper itself, since newspapers are already on a steady decline.
Correction: the problem is the message!
It’s apparent from all the articles that print newspapers are struggling to stay alive. This being said, I don’t believe there is one simple answer to solving this problem. Cutting staff to help cut cost? maybe that will help. Trying to use promotional tactics to up readership? maybe that will help. The main problem is that readers today believe in free news, free information, free magazines, free newspapers. Why pay for something that you can read for free online? So what do we do about this? Yes it’s a problem with our society that we believe we deserve everything without pay, but it’s the role of the newspapers to deal with changes in culture and determine how to adjust their strategy to fit our world. It’s important to present a readable product, that will be popular enough to have a large number of readers which will in turn help advertisers want to invest with your product. This, however, is easier said than done. This is the process that everyone is struggling to figure out- but once it has been solved, hopefully the death of newspapers will come alive again.
Newspapers are basically dead. You find out about news way after the internet or television do and it’s easy to watch something then to read about it.
Newspaper just cannot compete with the fast pace tempo of today’s news. My television or my computer can give me up to the second news, live streaming coverage, immediate updates etc. What advantage is there to a newspaper? When you have the pro’s and con’s of newspaper to any alternate form of news, it does not compare. Why is everyone so surprised that the newspaper age is dying? It does not even seem practical that we read newspapers anymore.
Sure… Newspapers are dying. But they’re not dead.
Like Dr. Husni said, only God and the fool can predict the future. So I guess that means the media is full of fools. Everyone’s trying to predict that Newspapers will die just because they are DYING down. If you like to read Newspapers, read them; If you don’t like reading Newspapers, then don’t. THEN we can see if Newspapers are dead or not.
In my opinion, books will never die, but Newspapers have a good chance of being replaced by the many forms electronic news.
The notion of newspapers shifting away from their lengthy stories and multi-page content to online and mobile formats is no surprise to me. As an American citizen, I feel a responsibility to at least stay informed on the major current events of the world. However, I usually don’t have time to read every article in its entirety, much less the entire paper, front to back. In addition to this lack of time, I honestly don’t feel like turning the pages. You call it lazy; I call it having a million other things to do. This is the lifestyle of my generation. What US Today is doing is making news compact, concise and quick. Other networks have taken similar steps towards this new mobile news market. Robin Meade sends out Facebook messages and e-mails to those who register, giving them updates on world events throughout the day. The generations before us still appreciate the simplicity of sitting down with the morning newspaper to compliment their cup of coffee, and there will be those in the future who still do. Part of me wants to compare this shift to the timeline of audio recording devices. We watched as society moved from vinyl records to eight track tapes to cassette tapes and now to cds and mp3 files. It seems to me that media is following a similar pattern. The former tools of communication will never be completely extinct; they will simply fade into the background as new formats emerge, carrying faint traces of the predecessors.
Despite the recent unfortunate trends, news will always boil down to good journalism. Media everywhere is going through this phase in which everyone is trying so hard to be “with the times” that they are disregarding the importance of quality news. One thing that was said in lecture that really stood out to me was, “For more than ten years we’ve used print to amplify the future of technology and digital. It is about time to use technology and digital to amplify the future of print.” It’s so obvious…why are all these newspapers committing suicide when they now have so much technology to use to their advantage?
You can get your news from almost anything and everything. I think newspapers will stick around because some people do not like to use the new technologies offered for the news and some people might not be able to afford it or understand how to use it. Newspapers are the foundation for how we get our news and it is sad that some newspaper companies have to downsize their employment and try to make new changes to the company. However, the number one thing they should be changing is how they write their news and how it is affecting the meduim.
Obviously, newspapers are becoming less and less popular, while technology continues to speed into the next great gadget and capture the world’s attention time and time again. The fact that people are fascinated with what technology has to offer should be expected, supporting the idea that people love the “next big thing” or how fast the latest gadget can go. Despite the rapid rate at which the world is developing technologically, however, there is still the concept that not everyone favors change. Some people may prefer traditional newspapers, choosing to thumb through the day’s articles as opposed to searching for whatever they wish to read about online. This is perfectly fine, but it is important to note the evident decline in printing newspapers and the rise in online print. As more and more news companies turn toward technology, those who continue to print on ink and paper should take into consideration the options available to the future of their companies. Instead of just settling for moving their news to the web, newspapers should rethink the messages that they are printing and ask themselves if they are catering enough to their audiences. Of course, it is important to include breaking news and other headlines in their papers, but at the same time they should be more aware of what people generally search for and what they really want to read. By taking this step, perhaps companies will be able to understand that the problem with newspapers is not necessarily the medium, but rather, the message.
Although there are multiple ways to find out news today, I still do not think newspapers still cease to exisit. There is nothing better than holding news in your hands and flipping to your favorite section. However, the American newspaper needs to figure out a way to have the latest news in the morning paper, not news that everyone knew before they went to bed the night before. I just cannot see my future mornings looking to a computer or an iPad for news, it just does not seem right. I have high hopes newspapers will always be around.
I strongly believe that newspapers will never completely die out. I think that as Americans we read newspapers out of habit. Newspapers have always been a big part of the American news scene, and while other news medias such as online news sources and televised news will continue to gain popularity, I think that newspapers will always be around. I think the reason for peoples decline in confidence for the future of print as stated in this article is largely because of how overwhelmed our society is by the new ways of getting news. It is exciting to get news directly off your cell phone or to simply click a button online and have a multitude of news. Yes, these venues are popular, but look around and you will still see people reading newspapers.
When we read statistics like “43% reduction in workers” for a newspaper…it’s obvious we have concern what direction it’s going. But despite the downfall, though I can’t predict the future of course, I believe newspapers can never “die”. Newspapers WILL need to reconstruct themselves in some way though like USA Today is in the works of. Print on paper must offer some experience that is impossible to gain when reading or catching up on current events any other way. They need to find some way of making the reader go out of their way to by a paper down the street rather than just flipping open their laptop while still in bed. Of course I don’t know what this grand idea or new method is…or I wouldn’t be in this class.
I just have to roll my eyes whenever someone says that a certain type of media is dying. People started saying that radio and the cinema were on the way out once TV caught on. They predicted cinema’s demise again with the advent of home video and various plasma and HD sets. Seeing a pattern here? Once something becomes etched into the public consciousness, it never goes away. It may become less prominent, but you can find it here and there if you look hard enough. Heck, there are doctors and businessmen who still use pagers. With that said, I like that USA is trying to overcome this changing of the guard. It’s admirable.
While I understand that the message could be improved to make newspapers more appealing to the audience, I believe that money is a major problem that tends to be overlooked. Whether it’s the economy in its current state or the fact that I am a poor college student pinching my pennies, I believe the decline in newspaper sales has everything to do with the fact that I can go to The New York Times website and read everything that is in the actual paper for free. I mean just for that tangible aspect, I may buy one every now and then, but probably not enough to generate revenue in the way the company needs in order for it to survive. I agree that some people are going to stay far away from computers and hold that newspaper in their hand as they read, but for many of us, the convenience and affordability of the paper’s website will have us spending our money on something else.
I believe that newspapers will never die completely they will simply have to adapt to the new tech that is being used by the consumers of today. I personally love to read the newspaper but there are tons of people who don’t have the time to sit down and read it, they require a faster, more efficient way to get the news and the only way for the newspaper industry to survive is to find the right balance and not only give their readers what they want but reliable options on how to get it.
I don’t think newspapers will ever completely disappear, just like CD’s and DVD’s are not going to disappear. I believe their popularity will continue to fall for a while and eventually level off. Of course, this will mean less small and local newspapers but the large companies (NY Times, Chicago Tribune, etc.), will still circulated a printed edition. Even so, I believe that they are going to have to make some adjustments in their content and what they have to offer the younger generations in order to stay alive.
They say that the newspaper industry may be coming to end and personally that makes me sad because of the memories I have when I look at a newspaper. I will never forget the image of everyday in my younger years, at the breakfast table, watching as my dad turned page through page as I anxiously waited for him to be done reading it, so I could read the comics. I know that the scene sounds like something out of a movie but I always have that in my head every time I read a newspaper and it gives me a smile. Not only will I be sad because of that, but I like to have the physical paper in my hands to read so much better than reading a screen that strains your eyes after a long period of time. I miss how it used to be, waiting to find out the who won President of the United States by looking at the front page headline of the newspaper. I see that it is losing its place with technology rising but it will always have a special place in our heart.
The problems with newspaper is definitely the message they continue to carry. Only the newspaper that count customers instead of address the customers who count are the ones on their way out. However, newspapers need to keep up with the ever-changing world and it’s technology that runs it. The mobile market and internet business are attracting alot of business from ink. I believe newspaper companies will strive but they might have to focus on more than ink, major disasters like spills are keeping the ad business alive in paper though. Newspaper companies might have to shift their news in a different direction since everyone is selling out. If “Cathy” ends it’s newspaper career, what will the industry do?
Technology is changing therefore the papers need to change. Charging for online subscription would not be a bad idea and once it evolves towards that and everyone is doing it people wont mind paying for it. i dont think newspapers are dying i just think they need a makeover and a little change in direction.
Newspapers are not really dying. They’re just in a struggling relationship with the world; and like any struggling relationship there needs to be some changes made if the newspaper would like to continue seeing the world.
I read print, I plan on continuing to reading print, I will not pay for online news- that defeats the purpose of the internet.
I don’t truly believe newspapers are dying. I believe the generation is changing and with that change I believe the newspaper must also change too. I would like to see and updated newspaper one that has things I don’t already know in it. But, newspaper will always be a part of my life regardless of what happens in the future. Newspaper was really the first source of media news. I hope it stays around for hundreds more years to come.
I think that reading this article was very interesting. We talk so much in class about the death of news papers, but who knew there was a website tracking the death and causes of death of newspapers? Basically, this article was describing everything we talk about in class. It talked about the decline of news papers and why their clientele is declining more and more every day, the distinction between content and quality, sources not giving us what we want when we want it, etc. Everything this article outlines are the very things that Mr. Husni preaches to us in class day after day. In this article it spoke about the difference in content and quality content. I feel that this statement goes hand in hand with what we talk about in class in regards to newspaper industries focusing on the wrong things. They are focusing on content rather than the quality of their content, they are focussing on counting customers rather than customers who count. Everything the newspaper industries are doing to try to stay out of the hole and succeed are doing nothing but digging a deeper hole and contributing to the death of newspapers. The article also spoke about newspapers not giving the readers the information that they wanted in a timely matter as well as the content in the newspapers running crap stories. The article said, “I’m consistently underwhelmed. One roundup of ‘news within a mile of me’ had crime stories a month old and many reports on the business travails of Outback Steakhouse’s parent company.” For one, who is going to read this newspaper story about month old crimes and not already have previous knowledge of it? Second, who cares about the Outback Steakhouse Parent Company in a LOCAL newspaper? I just feel like news papers these days are giving the doubters more and more of a reason to keep doubting and say i told you so. With the way things are going in the newspaper industry right now, death is definitely bound to happen sooner rather than later.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I love holding a newspaper in my hands. I love the smell, the sound, and the full experience. I do think newspapers need some improvement in terms of content, but I do not foresee the end of the newspaper any time soon.
No! Newspapers are not dead! I love having the newspaper to hold in my hand. Sometimes I can’t stand to have something electronic attached to me and just simple want an old fashioned newspaper. Besides newspapers are so convinent. I just grab one as I walk to class. It’s easy and also very importantly FREE! We all love free stuff right! Yes! So the question should not be are newspapers dying, but how can we, as the new upcoming creators, give newspapers are go go boost, energy shot, make-over, B12 shot, Red Bull shot, adrenaline boost, ect, ect…