Cyndi Stivers: 'The Magazine Industry Is Facing Serious Problems'
The editor of Time Out New York and chair of this year's American Magazine Conference reminds us: "When things get tough, people get creative."

I Want Media, 10/16/01

Cyndi Stivers is president and editor-in-chief of Time Out New York, the weekly guide to entertainment in New York City. She's also the chair of this year's American Magazine Conference, Oct. 21 to 23. The leading magazine industry powwow is scheduled to attract luminaries such as Jack Welch, Oprah Winfrey, Kenneth Chenault and George Pataki. Stivers spoke with I Want Media about challenges facing the industry, the possibility of electronic distribution for magazines, and how her own magazine was impacted by the events of Sept. 11.

I Want Media: How did the Sept. 11 attacks affect Time Out New York?

Cyndi Stivers: We had to shut down and miss an issue. Several people on our staff were personally affected. One person went through the whole thing: He was in a meeting on the 33rd floor of Tower 2 [of the World Trade Center], and his friend that he was meeting with didn't make it. So naturally he's very upset.

IWM: Why did you decide to cancel the publication of your first issue following the week of the attacks?

Stivers: Our office was off-limits. We're located below 14th Street, the area of Manhattan that was closed off the first day or two after Sept. 11. We couldn't get back into the building until that Friday. Once we got back in, we found that we had very limited phone service. And we realized that we would have an issue hitting the stands in which a lot of the events we'd list would be canceled.

It was all that we could do to round up our staff. We got everybody together on that first Friday, and right as we started our meeting we were evacuated in a bomb scare. The threat wasn't aimed at us; it was [directed] at our block [on Broadway between Bleecker and Houston Streets]. After that, some people just went home. It was pretty chaotic.

We posted event changes on our Web site that Friday. And every day since then we've been updating our site for special benefits related to the tragedy. A lot of these events come up on three day's notice, which means we would miss them in the magazine cycle. We're receiving good feedback from our readers for doing this.

IWM: Is everything at the magazine back to normal?

Stivers: Everybody's still a bit nervous. Stress affects everyone at different times and in different ways. The whole country -- and particularly this city, I think -- is still dealing with all sorts of emotional, physical and economic reactions.

IWM: What is your role with the American Magazine Conference?

Stivers: I'm the chair this year, so I'm responsible for working with the [Magazine Publishers of America] to set up the program and get the speakers. I also inherited the presidency of [the American Society of Magazine Editors] this year, so I'm really overloaded now!

IWM: The conference originally was planned to be held in Phoenix. Why was it moved to New York?

Stivers: We were starting to lose some of our speakers. A lot of our members are editors of newsmagazines who needed to be able to cover the major news story that's now going on, so a full day's travel was not an option for them. And companies were telling their people to cut nonessential travel, both for financial and safety reasons. Many of our members are on the East Coast. We felt that moving the conference to New York seemed like a perfect way to show support for the city. New York really is the seat of our industry.

IWM: What do you expect will be the main attractions of this year's conference?

Stivers: We were able to add some exciting elements because of what's happened. We now have a fantastic panel, "How Do You Handle the Biggest Story of Your Life?," with New York Magazine's Michael Wolff moderating. The panel is Jim Kelly of Time; Mark Whitaker of Newsweek; Steve Shepard of Business Week; Ellen Levine of Good Housekeeping, on family and the how-to-deal-with-kids angle; and Tom Wallace of Conde Nast Traveler, on how to deal with this tragedy in relation to the travel industry.

IWM: What are the biggest challenges facing magazines today?

Stivers: Circulation, advertising and the postal situation are the three big ones. As we know, people aren't using traditional mail as much as they used to, so the postal service wants to raise rates. If mail gets more expensive, then a magazine's subscription costs go up. Wholesaler consolidation has resulted in fewer options to be on the newsstand. We all know about the cutbacks in advertising, and magazines that have lived off mostly ad dollars are running a little scared right now.

IWM: A lot of magazines have shut down recently -- Mademoiselle, The Industry Standard, Maximum Golf, Individual Investor ... What's going on?

Stivers: It's a cyclical thing; it's nothing new. A whole bunch of magazines closed at about the time that Time Out New York launched in '95. In the early '90s there were tons of shutdowns, particularly city magazines and city newspapers. I've worked for a bunch that aren't around anymore. It's related to some extent to downturns in the economy.

IWM: A recent Los Angeles Times article about the closing of Mademoiselle quoted a journalism professor who said that the prevailing attitude in magazine companies today is "cut your losses, get out now." Would you agree?

Stivers: No, certainly not. The magazine industry is facing serious problems right now, but we'll figure them out. This may sound incredibly corny, but magazines really do have powerful bonds with their readers. And that relationship is not going to go away anytime soon.

I think that the way we deliver magazines is going to have to evolve. Sooner or later we're going to have to do some sort of electronic distribution, whether it's the way NewsStand is doing it, or another way. Some magazines would work well on handhelds. Right now there are different software standards for different kinds of distribution. But I have to believe that sometime down the road electronic distribution is going to happen. That's from my own particular crystal ball.

IWM: Do you think we'll be seeing a lot more magazines closing in the near future?

Stivers: My crystal ball is completely murky on that one. What does war against terrorism mean? How long will it last? What will it do to the economy? How much money will people have available to spend on advertising in magazines or buying magazines? There are so many imponderables.

IWM: This has been a tough year for magazines. What good news is on the horizon?

Stivers: That's part of what the conference will explore. When things get tough, people get creative. You figure out new ways to take costs out of producing your product and getting it into the hands of consumers. Magazine people are just going to have to get ingenious. We've done it before, so I have to think we'll do it again. I'm such an optimist here!

IWM: In this age of increasingly diversified media, what are the particular strengths of magazines?

Stivers: Magazines aren't as ephemeral as the Internet, newspapers, television or radio. They stick around on the coffee table longer. They have more staying power in the minds of readers. A well-edited magazine speaks so clearly and has such a personality that it becomes an entity in the reader's life. Magazines have amazing impact.



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