How did Time Magazine publish so fast?
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Jeruba (
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November 3rd, 2012
This is the second time I’ve been blown away by the publishing and delivery speed of this magazine. My current copy (with cover date of Nov. 12th) arrived today, Nov. 3rd, containing story and photos of Hurricane Sandy. Time magazine, whose main office is in New York, has managed to get the storm coverage written and the magazine put together, printed, and home-delivered five days after the event. I’m impressed.
The same thing occurred in May of last year: the issue covering the death of Osama bin Laden was in my home on Friday. The raid had occurred the preceding Monday, less than a week before.
Taking nothing away from other feats, such as those that newspapers pull off daily, I am just wondering how a weekly newsmagazine could achieve this kind of speed. When did the presses have to roll in order to make delivery today?
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3 Answers
I have no idea how press works, but I would imagine to get out there and beat competitor media they might have 24 hour or ‘emergency’ staff and operating systems.
I’ve been reading about how reputable old school photographers are against the use of something called Instagram photography by this magazine. I’m exactly sure what Instagram photographs are and how they work, but I think it how something to do with how they are transmitted and might explain how they were able to get photos into the editorial department so quickly.
To me, @Jeruba, the miracle isn’t in the pressroom or the editorial or advertising departments, the miracle, and real question to me – is in the delivery of the magazine.
I really don’t know the answer to this question, but I know why they are trying so hard. They are desperate.They are seeing serious competition from online sources that can deliver news instantaneously (Salon.com was mentioned in the boardroom), making their coverage obsolete even after the remarkable 5 day deliveries. The new CEO, Laura Lang, has tried everything she knows to keep the print alive. The last CEO was fired in less than a year. In the quarter ending on March 31st of this year, they lost 38% of their operating income. They lost 5% of their advertising revenue during the same period. With the latest change to more provocative covers (Lang’s idea), they’ve lost subscribers because many readers opined that the mag was getting more like the NYC afternoon rags, such as The Post. Lang is in big trouble. There are serious discussions now to drop the print and just go with the online mag. If print isn’t dead, it certainly is dying.
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