Print is dead.

It’s been said so often and by so many that I’m almost tired of hearing it. But it may be so, especially in B2B, the corner of the publishing business that I inhabit.

The old B2B model left over from 1950 no longer works. People want more detailed information than you can serve in a magazine and sponsors want leads.

What’s that mean in practical terms?

It means producing tailored content for vertical segments, aggregating material from multiple sources and presenting it online in byte-size bits, as my former boss Hershel Sarbin says. It means giving choice to the readers. And it means providing a host of services for advertisers, including custom publishing (an area I am exploring myself) and creative forms of lead generation. (Sorry to mention these tawdry considerations, but publishers have to eat, too).

Things are similar in consumer publishing. Forget all those titles featuring half-dressed celebrities on the cover. What are they offering, anyway? A monthly package loaded with its own dead weight.

In contrast, editor Anne Russell is producing VIV, the “first luxury digital magazine for women,” solely online. It provides a fluid reader experience that you can’t replicate in print, and advertisers know exactly whether an ad produced results. (Although I have to chuckle: In 1995, as editor of Folio:, Anne noted that Omni had closed its print magazine and would exist entirely online. But it was before its time).

My own involvement with online publishing dates back to 1994, although I don’t claim credit—that goes to Hershel Sarbin, the former CEO of Ziff Davis and Cowles Business Media. On my first day at Direct magazine, Hershel said he wanted to do something daily on AOL. We came up with Direct Newsline.

That holiday season, a big story broke about Metromail. I finished our version, then posted it at 10:30 on a Friday night. Seconds later, I got an AOL message from Tim Litle about it.

That was a century ago in terms of technological development. But I still get that rush, whether I’m twittering, doing a blog post, or publishing an article with footnotes.

Which brings us to the biggest question—at least for an editorial person. What’s the future of journalism?

Some experts say that it, too, is dying. They point out that newspapers are gutting their staffs as they move online, and that the J schools are empty. Amateur bloggers with no understanding of libel law or grammar have taken over.

All this is true to some extent. But serious people will always prevail, and I will mention some in alphabetical order: Richard H. Levey, Patricia Odell, Ken Magill, Brian Quinton, Larry Riggs and Beth Negus Viveiros—the team on Direct and Chief Marketer. Then there are Melissa Dowling, Tim Parry and Jim Tierney on Multichannel Merchant.

They’re ready, willing and able.

Print is dead.

It’s been said so often and by so many that I’m almost tired of hearing it. But it may be so, especially in B2B, the corner of the publishing business that I inhabit.

The old B2B model left over from 1950 no longer works. People want more detailed information than you can serve in a magazine and sponsors want leads.

What’s that mean in practical terms?

It means producing tailored content for vertical segments, aggregating material from multiple sources and presenting it online in byte-size bits, as my former boss Hershel Sarbin says. It means giving choice to the readers. And it means providing a host of services for advertisers, including custom publishing (an area I am exploring myself) and creative forms of lead generation. (Sorry to mention these tawdry considerations, but publishers have to eat, too).

Things are similar in consumer publishing. Forget all those titles featuring half-dressed celebrities on the cover. What are they offering, anyway? A monthly package loaded with its own dead weight.

In contrast, editor Anne Russell is producing VIV, the “first luxury digital magazine for women,” solely online. It provides a fluid reader experience that you can’t replicate in print, and advertisers know exactly whether an ad produced results. (Although I have to chuckle: In 1995, as editor of Folio:, Anne noted that Omni had closed its print magazine and would exist entirely online. But it was before its time).

My own involvement with online publishing dates back to 1994, although I don’t claim credit—that goes to Hershel Sarbin, the former CEO of Ziff Davis and Cowles Business Media. On my first day at Direct magazine, Hershel said he wanted to do something daily on AOL. We came up with Direct Newsline.

That holiday season, a big story broke about Metromail. I finished our version, then posted it at 10:30 on a Friday night. Seconds later, I got an AOL message from Tim Litle about it.

That was a century ago in terms of technological development. But I still get that rush, whether I’m twittering, doing a blog post, or publishing an article with footnotes.

Which brings us to the biggest question—at least for an editorial person. What’s the future of journalism?

Some experts say that it, too, is dying. They point out that newspapers are gutting their staffs as they move online, and that the J schools are empty. Amateur bloggers with no understanding of libel law or grammar have taken over.

All this is true to some extent. But serious people will always prevail, and I will mention some in alphabetical order: Richard H. Levey, Patricia Odell, Ken Magill, Brian Quinton, Larry Riggs and Beth Negus Viveiros—the team on Direct and Chief Marketer. Then there are Melissa Dowling, Tim Parry and Jim Tierney on Multichannel Merchant.

They’re ready, willing and able.