The Publications ‘Influentials’ Are Reading

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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Which magazines do trendsetters read? Mediamark Research Inc., which tracks magazine readership for publishers and advertising agencies, just released a report detailing what percentage of the readership of 230 magazines are made up of those they describe as “influentials.” They define “influentials” as people who drive public opinion and influence the consumer behavior of others. Their characteristics were described in a book called “The Influentials” written by two former Roper researchers, Jon Berry and Ed Keller, which was published last year.


In the MRI study readers needed to answer yes to just three out of 11 questions to make the grade. If they said that yes they had indeed engaged in such activities as delivering a speech in public, held or run for office, written a letter to a newspaper or magazine, or attended a political rally, that was enough to deem them “influentials.”


So which among these “influentials” was their absolutely favorite magazine? The Atlantic Monthly, with about 60% of its audience made up of these activists and trendsetters came out no. 1. Others that did well were The New Yorker, Scientific American, the Wall Street Journal, and the Smithsonian. One surprise: A magazine that had special appeal to this group is The Saturday Evening Post, which, yes, is still being published. The Post’s current issue is heavy on health features and has an illustrated Christmassy cover. Maybe influentials are still nostalgic for Norman Rockwell.


On the lower end of the MRI list were Parents Magazine, which was rather unexpected, and Maxim. No surprise there.


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Who is the Media Person of the Year? The personality who inspired the most debate, sparked the most interest, and left the most lasting impression? The “media icon of 2004” is decided through an online poll conducted byiwantmedia.com. And if you absolutely have to know who the winner will be tune into to “Topic A With Tina Brown” on CNBC at 8 p.m. this Sunday when the big announcement will be made.


Who are some media “influentials” voting for? Well, according to U.S. News and World Report’s editor in chief and publisher, Mortimer Zuckerman, the winner should be “Roger Ailes because of the extraordinary performance of Fox News.”


The somewhat surprising choice of the New York Times’s media correspondent, David Carr, is the Fox News superstar Bill O’Reilly. “He is a one-man franchise – makes news, reports it, in a ‘fair and balanced way.'” Richard Johnson, the Page Six editor at the New York Post agrees, “[O’Reilly] took a crippling hit from a scheming underling who set him up for an extortionate lawsuit by taping embarrassing phone conversations. But he survived the scandal with his dignity intact, and his ratings went even higher.”


While Chairman and Chief Executive of Deutsch Inc., Donny Deutsch, and Ken Auletta of The New Yorker voted for Karl Rove. Mr. Auletta commented “Most days, Karl Rove scorns the media. But President Bush’s uberstrategist made decisions that reverberate… Rove enforced iron discipline on Bush’s media message, refusing to admit mistakes, and repeating, like a mantra, that this election was about fighting terrorism. A candidate who might have been perceived as ineffective was hailed as resolute. Now that we enter Bush II, Rove and the administration will make fateful media regulatory decisions.”


Jon Stewart also received considerable support. A columnist at New York Magazine, Kurt Andersen, declared, “At a moment where cant, disingenuousness, dissembling, intellectual dishonesty, and ideological predictability are the default modes of the left and right, Jon Stewart’s square-shooting candor is bracing and lovable.”


Mr. Stewart’s best-seller “America (the Book)” was also just named Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly. I’d wager he’ll get the most votes. In the past, winners of the iwantmedia “Media Person of the Year” poll were Martha Stewart in 2002 and Bonnie Fuller in 2003. All things considered, maybe winning the title isn’t so lucky.


You could call it Extreme Makeover: Holy Book Edition. Several Christian publishers are planning to repackage the Bible in hopes of making the all-time no. 1 best seller more appealing to teens and young adults.


Zondervan, a Christian publishing unit of Harper Collins that published the current mega-best seller “The Purpose-Driven Life” by a California minister, is planning to pitch “Today’s New International Version” to the 18-34 market. It’s the newest translation of their “New International Version,” a Bible that has sold 215 million copies. The edition that will be launched in February has updated language and will be promoted with ads in publications like Conde Nast’s Brides and Wenner Media’s Rolling Stone.


Zondervan is also issuing several different versions of the Bible to appeal to different audiences. There is “The Story” a novel-like version, complete with colorful “Tolkien-like” maps, also aimed at the young. Then there’s a women’s version called “True Identity,” with women’s magazine like illustrations and “Strive: The Bible for Men,” that has as its tagline, “Becoming the man Christ wants you to be.”


These remakes of the Bible are a growing publishing trend. Last year, Christian publisher NavPress also published a paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary language, while Thomas Nelson started a series of “biblezines” for teenagers that cast the New Testament in magazine format. There was even one called “Becoming” that resembled a beauty and fashion magazine and mixed morality with makeup tips. These magazines sold 750,000 copies altogether. And Tyndale, another major Christian publisher, is planning “NT: Sports.” Yes, a New Testament sports magazine aimed at teenagers.


You may ask: Is nothing sacred? But the publishers claim both that mission and marketing is spurring them on. As a business professor at Fordham, Albert N. Greco, commenting on the trend, told Advertising Age, “If you’re in a business and your age cohort is graying, you have to think about your economic future.” Besides, according to a Harris Interactive poll sponsored by Zondervan, 59% of 18 to 34-year-olds think the Bible is relevant to their lives. They just don’t read it – yet.


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