A Print Magazine for People Who Eschew Print

Troy McCullough writes in the Baltimore Sun about a new magazine for an unlikely audience. “An old-fashioned trade publication for bloggers? Seriously?

The new Blogger & Podcaster magazine – “for aspiring new media titans” – has met with a tepid response from a lot of those titans. Some were sure it was a prank, while others laughed at the idea of reaching bloggers with a print publication.

But the magazine is for real and, so far, immune to the irony of its own existence.
Publisher Larry Genkin explained his decision for charging $79 a year for a subscription to a magazine whose core readership would most likely prefer the free online version.

Blogger & Podcaster has shown it has some early potential. The most recent issue included tutorials on podcasting, interviews with “industry experts,” strategies for making money and an interesting story (albeit with an unflattering cover photo) on blogging and tech giant Robert Scoble – all interesting and useful information to a lot of bloggers. But the uphill battle ahead appears especially steep.

Over on Gawker, commenters blasted everything from the design – “Looks like they stole that font from Quilter & Needleworker” -to the magazine’s concept – “Exactly the kind of forward-thinking, Web-optimized content that cements New Media’s prowess. Well played, duck-shaped, pasty cover guy.”