Comments on: Gourmet magazine’s death and the wisdom of crowds http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/2009/10/06/gourmet-magazines-death-and-the-wisdom-of-crowds/ Brian Fuller's blog on the state of media and communications Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:03:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Brian http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/2009/10/06/gourmet-magazines-death-and-the-wisdom-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1148 Brian Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:26:35 +0000 http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/?p=972#comment-1148 Lou hit the nail on the head. Time and Newsweek, reacting to TV, fluffed up their content and their circ rolls have to be a mess because of it. Newsweek this year has tried an about-face to be more Economist-y. It has an opportunity to make some hay there, but with a vastly shrunk circ list. The Economist is impenetrable for many people who nevertheless want insight and "quality" information, just delivered in less dry fashion. Many of us love the Economist for that reason, but it's not a zero-sum game. Lou hit the nail on the head. Time and Newsweek, reacting to TV, fluffed up their content and their circ rolls have to be a mess because of it. Newsweek this year has tried an about-face to be more Economist-y.
It has an opportunity to make some hay there, but with a vastly shrunk circ list. The Economist is impenetrable for many people who nevertheless want insight and “quality” information, just delivered in less dry fashion. Many of us love the Economist for that reason, but it’s not a zero-sum game.

]]> By: Lou Covey http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/2009/10/06/gourmet-magazines-death-and-the-wisdom-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1147 Lou Covey Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:45:54 +0000 http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/?p=972#comment-1147 The purpose of Gourmet magazine was, ostensibly, to show people how to cook great food, not watch it being done. Brian is saying when it moved to the latter, it violated the implied contract with it's readers. Time and Newsweek have, essentially, done the same thing. Their contract with their readers was to provide what the Economist continues to do: provide information by which one makes political, social and economic choices. As a result, they are losing both readers and advertisers. As someone who loves to cook, I really hate the Food network because it says if you have a kitchen equipped with all this wonderful equipment then you can prepare these elaborate meals. Then on BBC you have Gordon Ramsey showing that with a knife, some olive oil, a decent skillet, and readily available food, you can feed the British Army. That's what I watch. As someone who wants to know what is going on in the world, I used to read Time, Newsweek and Businessweek. Now I read the Economist because that's where I get real information. The purpose of Gourmet magazine was, ostensibly, to show people how to cook great food, not watch it being done. Brian is saying when it moved to the latter, it violated the implied contract with it’s readers. Time and Newsweek have, essentially, done the same thing. Their contract with their readers was to provide what the Economist continues to do: provide information by which one makes political, social and economic choices. As a result, they are losing both readers and advertisers.
As someone who loves to cook, I really hate the Food network because it says if you have a kitchen equipped with all this wonderful equipment then you can prepare these elaborate meals. Then on BBC you have Gordon Ramsey showing that with a knife, some olive oil, a decent skillet, and readily available food, you can feed the British Army. That’s what I watch.
As someone who wants to know what is going on in the world, I used to read Time, Newsweek and Businessweek. Now I read the Economist because that’s where I get real information.

]]> By: Loring Wirbel http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/2009/10/06/gourmet-magazines-death-and-the-wisdom-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1146 Loring Wirbel Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:02:29 +0000 http://greeleysghost.brian-fuller.com/?p=972#comment-1146 OK, but what about the trend of Time and Newsweek becoming less interesting to the extent they follow "here's what we consumers are feeling" styles. The more vital newsmagazine follows The Economist line of impartially saying, "Here's what happened around the world this week, and we are not including celebrity news, only the stuff that a schoolmarm tells you you SHOULD know." If we used the Gourmet model, we might say that Time and Newsweek are urging readers to become static social-network-like participants in lives (though it's all narcissistic and devoid of information), while The Economist tells us to watch the world impartially. In this case, the elite case is telling us to watch rather than participate. My point is that the rolling-your-sleeves-up-and-getting-your-hands-dirty model is not always the most detailed and informative - sometimes it's the most superficial. OK, but what about the trend of Time and Newsweek becoming less interesting to the extent they follow “here’s what we consumers are feeling” styles. The more vital newsmagazine follows The Economist line of impartially saying, “Here’s what happened around the world this week, and we are not including celebrity news, only the stuff that a schoolmarm tells you you SHOULD know.”

If we used the Gourmet model, we might say that Time and Newsweek are urging readers to become static social-network-like participants in lives (though it’s all narcissistic and devoid of information), while The Economist tells us to watch the world impartially. In this case, the elite case is telling us to watch rather than participate.

My point is that the rolling-your-sleeves-up-and-getting-your-hands-dirty model is not always the most detailed and informative – sometimes it’s the most superficial.

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