TG
Tall Grass Media
@tallgrassmedia
Chief Permalancer
Northern Illinois
Consultant to magazine media publishers. Chief dog walker, foster dog dad, future shelter person. You can find my weekly newsletter about all things magazine (and sometimes other stuff too) here: https://tallgrassmediaservices.substack.com/
157 Posts
Can Bookazines save magazines?
Can Bookazines save magazines? I don't think so. Bookazines are singular, they're made for fans and don't expect anyone to come back to them. Magazines are made for fans too, but for fans of what the magazine is all about, and for fans of the magazine. I explore that in this week' Can Bookazines Save Magazines?
By Joe Berger What do you do when something you love becomes something else? Maybe you loved the frog, but now it’s a prince. Or that job you really enjoy doing has changed because there’s new management, new procedures, a new owner? Nostalgia is a very powerful and distorting emo Should this be my away message this week? #ooo #outofoffice #mentalhealthday #WFH #freelancer #freelancelife Clearly I got into the wrong business. #career #careerpath #careeradvice Do people really put magazines back on the rack?
Wait! So there are people who actually put magazines back in the rack after reading them in a bookstore cafe? Of course the marketing person in me now wants to know if they got merchandised back to the right spot...(Narrator: "Of course not!") This weeks newsletter looks at: -The d It's Tuesday: Most customers put their magazines back?
By Joe Berger We’re well on our way through the downslope of the first quarter. Spring is just around the corner. Out here in the flatlands by the lake we honestly haven’t had all that much of a winter. Oh sure, there were a few weeks of sub freezing weather and a smattering of sn The Gig Economy, Donald Trump and Billy Bush all went on a bus ride...
I’ve been thinking a lot about that bus ride that Trump and Billy Bush took. And while I don’t mention it in the post, I think about the other people on the bus and the woman they met at the end of the ride. We’re deep into the age of the gig economy. More of us are freelancers. W Not Entirely Bonus Content:
By Joe Berger Editor’s Note: Not only is this “Not Entirely Bonus Content,” but this is also not entirely original content. I first wrote a version of this post back in 2017. However, I started thinking about all this again after reading a NY Times article about “gig” work. I’ve be It's Tuesday: And the world's still turning...
If you work in magazine media (or any media for that matter), it doesn't matter that it's only the third week of February. We've already been through a whole year. And it is not a great year. So let's look back to a simpler time. A time when TV shows about young adults yearning to It's Tuesday: And the world's still turning
By Joe Berger If you work anywhere in the media business, you’re forgiven if you’re feeling a little tired of all the “unprecedented times” we’ve been living in since, well, since March 2020. In fact, there’s a small piece of me that kind of yearns for some of those pandemic times. As someone who is old enough to have attended the very first showing of the very first Halloween movie, this is not the kind of "friendly reminder" I want to see in my #RentalCar #justsayin #halloweenmovies Layoffs, Unions & Billionaires! Oh my!
The deep freeze has let up a bit our here in flyover country. We even had an hour or two of sunshine yesterday just to taunt us. In this week's newsletter I reprise my case that April is not the cruelest month. No, the cruelest month is January. Why? Ask the boys in shorts. Also t It's Tuesday: Layoffs, Unions & Billionaires oh my!
By Joe Berger T.S Elliot’s famous poem, “ The Wasteland ” begins like this: “April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land…” I get it. Here in flyover country, April is something of a tease. A warm wind will come in from the west. Dirty grey snowbanks melt into pudd You're not going to believe this but...
You mean that my nightly “News 4 You” report and my neighbor “Don” on Nextdoor might have it all wrong? Shocking! Shocking, I say… “A CCJ analysis found that the median value of stolen goods increased from 2019 to 2021 and that the overwhelming majority of reported shoplifting inci More...say what? on Sports Illustrated
As much as I dislike the NY Post because of their ownership, they do continue to have the best reporting on the comings & goings in the magazine industry. This article on the continuing weird/odd/say what meltdown of Sports Illustrated, Arena Group and ABG is a decent example. Plus That Awkward Moment when the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Points at Sports Illustrated
Is this really how you want your storied brand to end? There was that awkward moment last week the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate pointed to Sports Illustrated. In this week's newsletter: - The staff at the Onion may go out on strike. That's not an Onion headline! - Cocoa Girl Magazin When you say…”“cost-cutting measures to initiate a transformative shift toward a streamlined business model.”… We say….You screwed up, now you’ve got to fire a lot of people and make you’re business a lot smaller…. Fare thee well, SI… #sportsillustrated #magazine #printmagazine #dig It's Tuesday: That awkward moment when the Fickle Finger of Fate points at Sports Illustrated
By Joe Berger Consumer America is filled with many iconic brands. Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Target, even Barnes and Noble. All of those names are immediately recognizable. Hear the name and a picture instantly forms in your mind. It’s the same for certain magazines and new File under: Further evidence that capitalism without guardrails is an endless series of robber barons and maybe something you don't really want to live through. #justsaying #media #journalism #baltimore Are print magazines an elite pursuit? Or is the story of print magazines in the 21st century one of survival and innovation?
We're halfway into the first month of the New Year. So, how's it going? In this weeks #newsletter , the question is: "Are print magazines an elite pursuit?" That seems to be the opinion of GQ writer Chris Black. And it's a valid one. Except, of course, I have some feelings. Also thi
