Corrections or additions?
This article by Richard K. Rein was prepared for the April 30, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
On New Magazines
Faithful readers will recall that just a month or two
ago we concluded our little discussion of how to create a community
newspaper and how to think critically about the final product. We
noted that, once a community is defined and an editorial scope is
determined, the actual process of putting together a single issue
requires the reasoning prowess of a typical fifth grader.
For that reason no one should be too surprised that in the brief period
of time since that discussion, I have encountered three new publications
serving our central New Jersey market. Just to exercise our critical
thinking — and not to tell any other publisher how to run his
or her business — I think we should take a look at them. Before
we do, though, let me repeat the observation made in the last column
of our ongoing “media watch:” publishing people can dish it
out, but they often can’t take it.
We received the equivalent of icy glares from two of the publications
we “reviewed” in our March 19 column, despite the fact that
we had major praise and only minor criticism for each. And we also
got a few long faces from some of our own U.S. 1 staff, who felt they
had been publicly chastened for putting out a paper that wasn’t as
entertaining as “U.S. Fun” had once been. That said, and hoping
that the newfound entrants in the media wars won’t take this too personally,
here we go:
Princeton. You have to like the title of this new magazine,which appears to be a quarterly, since the issue I saw was “Spring2003, Issue 2.” The cover proclaims that is dedicated to “arts,culture, & living” and above the logo, which is rendered in thestyle of New York magazine, are other towns within its orbit: Trenton,Bucks County, and New Brunswick.The staff box inside notes that the magazine is published by MediaResources Group LLC of 379 Princeton-Hightstown Road. What I likeis that the fourth name listed in that box, editor-in-chief Gary R.Wien, is the same as the sixth name, production assistant Gary R.Wien. Welcome to the business, friend. I have been here 19 years aseditor and publisher and two weeks ago I earned the title of refrigeratordecontamination specialist.As always, I wonder what vision the editor has for the paper and howmuch control he or she has to implement that vision. This issue ofPrinceton magazine, oddly, has an excellent collection of pieces onNew Brunswick’s cultural and social scene. But how do you explainthe fawning tribute to the new Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village,written by the editor-in-chief, no less? Maybe the full-page ad onpage 13 helped create that vision.And then there is an appreciative — but not fawning — portraitof editor George Taber, owner of the New Brunswick-based NJBiz Magazine,written by Diana Lasseter Drake. No problem there, except that noone bothers to tell the reader that Drake toiled for many years asan employee of Taber. It’s a grain of salt that readers deserve whenevaluating an article.Bucks. If you like the glossy feel of Princeton magazine,you will love Bucks, which is both bigger and glossier — Town& Country in its heft — and packed with color photographs. Bucksis based in New Hope, but it is showing up in upscale mailboxes inPrinceton. The magazine’s editorial director, Richard Jaccoma, proclaimsin the premiere issue that the magazine is “regional, not provincial”and that it considers its “suburbs” to be New York, Philadelphia,and of course Princeton.That may sound like a reach, but the first issue acquits itself nicelywith a photo feature on Princeton architect Robert Hillier’s BucksCounty home. And a mini-portrait of actress Blair Brown, who justcompleted a run in “The Tempest” at McCarter, reveals thatthe actress has a country home in Sergeantsville, on the New Jerseyside of the river.The biggest challenge for this editor may be that he reports to notone but two publishers — the co-founders of the magazine are highschool classmates from a quarter century ago who are now publisherand creative director and publisher and advertising director. Mosteditors would prefer cleaning out contaminated refrigerators to reportingto two publishers.Prime Time Arts & Entertainment. Here is another publicationbased in New Hope, but which started appearing in a news box on NassauStreet just last month. Unlike the other two publications, this oneis printed on newsprint. Its editor (or at least the person who writesthe editorial introduction on page 2) is also the president and publisher:Trina Robba.This publication concentrates on the visual and performing arts, withsome dining, movies, and destinations thrown in. Because of its apparentlow overhead and lean management at the top, it would get my bet forstill being around in another year or so.But maybe not. I hear there’s a fifth grade class in West Windsor-Plainsborothat’s about to launch a new publication of it own. We shall see.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
