Success Story of New Yorker - Research Paper Example

The New Yorker Introduction The New Yorker is a weekly magazine of reportage, criticism, commentary, fiction, essays, poetry, satire, and cartoons published by Condé Nast. It was launched in 1925 by Harold Ross. At the time, the magazine’s demographic focus was the residents of New York. In 2004, annual demographics from Condé Nast indicated that the magazine had surpasses the 1 million readers weekly mark. The statistics also showed that the magazine had an increasing audience outside of New York with its highest percentage of circulation in the top ten American metropolitan areas. In 2010, the magazine employed sixteen fact checkers after sharp criticism concerning their fact checking process arose. In the following year, Adam Klasfeld in his article “Gawker Brought into New Yorker Fracas”, on the Courthouse News Service reported that the New Yorker had been sued by Peter Paul Biro for defamation on a July 2010 article. The magazine was unsuccessful in fighting for a dismissal of the case in 2012. Over the past two decades, the magazine has adopted the digital platform in its publishing and storage of material. Since the 1990s, the New Yorker published archived and the then current reports over the internet. In 2004, every cartoon printed since the inception of the magazine was published on compact discs. The magazine débuted on Kindle and Nook in 2009 and went on to launch its iPad app the following year. The magazine was influential in the political scene in 2012 when it launched its online hub that centered on the coverage of the campaigns during the presidential election (New Yorker, web). This paper seeks to discuss the New Yorker’s move to go online and show why this decision is justified. The paper will also detail the application features and the benefits of this move to both the newspaper company and its audience. Application Features With technological developments, many users and organizations have favored the use of the internet for various basic functions such as communication, sales and advertising. As such, the use of smartphones and tablets has increasingly become a common occurrence among many people. These digital devices have user applications commonly referred to as “apps” that are designed to carry out a particular task. These programs are designed to run on the most common platform; android, Windows and iOS. Many businesses and organizations have adopted the use of these applications to interact with their target audience. The New Yorker is one such company (Jane, web). The magazine’s applications, known as the Goings on and the New Yorkers festival, provide all the magazine’s contents as well as other digital goodies such as bonus cartoons, slideshows and videos. They have an aesthetically pleasing user friendly interface that provides listings by category. The applications have a search feature that enhances the user’s browsing experience. Users can get useful information such as reviews of restaurants, galleries and theatres, venue information and events updates. The Goings On also provides an interactive map of New York City showing locations of all the social sites and an audio tour. Print subscribers have free access to all the contents though users can get a digital only subscription offer. The applications allow users to create their own personalized libraries where they can save their favorite magazines. Benefits to the New Yorker and its Audience The New Yorker’s application allows readers to access the print edition of the magazine. Due to technological developments over the last two decades, many people have turned to digital devices for news on the local and international scene, sports, fashion, weather and business. One can conclude that the use of smartphones and tablets has become a fashion trend in today’s society. As such, many companies and governments are turning to the internet and digital devices as a means by which they can deliver on their objectives and interact with their client base. In America, tablets, iPads and smartphones are fast replacing traditional and more manual channels through which information is shared between companies, stakeholders and clients (Jack, web). In order for the New Yorker to maintain their clientele, they have had to keep abreast with this emerging trend by using the internet and digital devices to deliver their magazine and other features to their clients. Youthful readers are more pro-digital. In order for the magazine to reach this client group, therefore, the migration to digital media was necessary. The magazine can therefore retain their client base and attract the attention of the younger generation. The Goings On application provides a lucrative platform through which the agency can achieve this. The application allows the New Yorker to provide up-to-date information to the youth on the major social event happenings within the city. Reviews of social sites also enables the agency give advice on the best social places to visit and as a result of this, its popularity is improved among tourists and younger users. Through these means, the agency can enhance its reputation and that of its magazine (Jack, web). Online channels can enable the New Yorker enlarge its client coverage. Advancements in technology have meant that online magazines can be accessed from any location in the world. Therefore, the agency can maintain its existing clientele while at the same time appeal to new ones. Faithful subscribers can read their magazine even on their travels through the use of the New Yorker’s apps and its website. The global coverage of the internet also means that the magazine can get new readers from any part of the world. The applications are present in app stores and can, therefore, be installed and used in gadgets anywhere in the world. As a result of this, online editions of the magazine get more coverage than printed versions. Another benefit of going online bears upon the financial implications of e-editions over print copies. Printing and distributing magazines on a daily or weekly basis is a costly endeavor. Running printers requires a lot of resources. Funds are necessary for maintenance and running of equipment. In addition, personnel are needed to run the printers and distribute hard copies of the magazine to the key distribution points within the city. In contrast, online editions are much cheaper to develop and distribute. After editing, final copies do not require further processing. Pending their approval by relevant staff, magazines can be distributed for reading. The internet provides a cost effective channel through which the magazines can be distributed (Jack, web). Another reason behind the move is because e-editions of the magazine can be easily changed or updated. During the week of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, the issue of the magazine distributed covered various topics without mentioning what had happened in the city on the 9th of September. The cover of the issue released on the 17th of September focused more on the oncoming New York Fashion Week that was then cancelled due to the terror attacks. As a result of this, New York City inhabitants questioned whether the agency cared at all over the wellbeing of its readers and the New Yorker’s reputation was dealt a huge blow. To avoid such occurrences in the future, the magazine adopted the use of up-to-date digital platforms through which emerging occurrences could be addressed. Through online sources, the magazine is able to interact better with readers and other parties. Another reason behind the move, therefore, was that the agency could interact better with clients and get immediate feedback with regards to the magazine and their services. From this feedback, the magazine can effect the necessary amends to better improve their relations with readers (Jack, web). Benefits to the Audience When Apple released the iPad in 2010, the editors of the New Yorker awed at the ability in which technology could quickly convey material with a significant amount of digital capacity. It could carry all content published in the daily edition including more photographs, illustrations, videos, and writer’s audios (Pontin, web). The online editions of the magazine make use of Adobe Acrobat PDF format that allow e-editions to bear identical pages to those of the news print, right down to the photographs and topography. The digital editions, therefore, retain a certain comfort factor that encourages readers, especially print purists, to comfortably migrate to digital versions. Using pdfs, a reader can easily locate texts and mark certain words or pages using yellow highlighter. In addition, readers can easily navigate between pages, schedule downloads automatically and archive entire issues. This enhances the user’s reading experience. Digital editions are ideal for readers who cannot acquire print copies of the magazine due to their schedule demands or distance. Digital copies can be remotely downloaded from devices at any time from any location. This makes it easier for busier readers to obtain copies of the magazine without having to break schedule. The digital edition also contains entire sections of the Metro unlike print copies. Furthermore, e-editions become ideal for readers who may have been away for long periods. Where readers miss on their news because of travel, e-editions can enable them catch up on events since they are kept available online. The e-edition of the New Yorker is also cheaper than the print copies even though the content is much more on the digital versions. This gives the e-editions better value for money. The low cost of production arises from the fact that their development cost is much less in digital copies. No printing and distribution costs are incurred when it comes to the digital copies. Apart from this, digital copies can be easily shared among family members and they can be read concurrently among several readers. Plain printed magazines are more bulky than their digital versions and therefore many readers find them more reader friendly (Jack, web). The e-editions safeguards topography that are print information-rich and this gives them an advantage over HTML versions. Original typefaces and placements are retained in pdfs and this serves to give the e-edition readers clues with regards to the intended ranks and plays of some of the news stories, according to editors (Jack, web). Readers can store digital versions of the magazine much more easily than they would print copies. Print copies usually require a lot of space, but e-editions eliminate this need. Proper archiving can also help readers easily obtain issues of magazines they intend to read and as such, information required in the future becomes easier to obtain. Conclusion The reasons pointed out suggest that the New Yorker’s move to go online was rightly justified. As a result, the agency is able to interact more with readers and increase its coverage outside the city of New York to other continents. In addition, the magazine can deliver more to readers at a lower cost and all these factors build positively to the reputation of the New Yorker. Readers also benefit from the move due to the relative ease at which they can access and store catalogues in a relatively smaller space. Evidently, the reasons behind the move are more profound compared to possible reasons against the move. It, therefore, becomes clear that the move benefited all interested parties. References Jack, S. (2014). Honey, They Have Shrunk The NewsPaper. Slate, 5 May 2004, Web. Viewed on 11 May 2014 http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2004/05/honey_they_shrunk_the_newspaper.html Jane, S., Katerina, E., & Amy, M. News Magazines: Embracing Their Digital Future. State of the media 2013. Viewed on 11 May 2014 http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/news-magazines-embracing-their-digital-future/ Klasfeld Adam. “Gawker Brought Into New Yorker Fracas.” Courthouse News Service, 12 December, 2011, Web. Viewed on 11 May 2014 http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/12/42167.htm New Yorker (2013). time line. Viewed 11 May 2014, from newyorker.com: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/timeline Pontin, J. Why Publishers Dont Like Apps. Mit Technology Review, 7 May 2012, Web. Viewed on 11 May 2014 http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427785/why-publishers-dont-like-apps/ Read More