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Thank you to Emily Harris, Allison and Julie at OPB for facilitating this much needed and very worthwhile discussion. At the very least, the subject of "Good" news needs to be brought forward so people can begin to realize they have choices about where and how to spend eye and earball time. It's about balance, equity, choice and discovery of a much broader, more inspirational level. The world is NOT all gloom and doom. We can have hope and we can learn by becing expsoed to the positive actions of others. Thank you OPB and Think Out Loud. - Janna Mock-Lopez, Publisher, Goodness Magazine, Portland, Oregon

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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As a publisher of a niche magazine in newsprint format, Portland Family, I value hearing all the dialog. In January, we will be changing formats to a "magazine" (i.e. gloss) format. I did public relations consulting for 10 years and worked with nearly every publication in town. It seems that newspapers in general are floundering because they have tighter deadlines, higher pressures from above, less staff and as a result--across the board, (from local to national) the quality has tanked. There are less and less human interest stories about people making real positive differences in the community. The slant continues to go towards the sensationalized, negative, headline driven approach.

In the magazine world, especially niche publications, we encourage stories to unfold. We can focus on people. We're not faced with the same daily news peg competition to survive. I believe niche publications thrive because like those who view or listen to OPB, people want choice, they want to think, they don't want to be dumbed down and they want to feel good when they are done picking it up. My readers have chosen to pick up Portland Family becuase they wnat to, not because it's the only thing there for information. There's nothing like holding a magazine in your hand on a lazy Sunday morning while sipping a cup of coffee. Nothing replaces that intimate connection. I don't think print is dying. I think it's changing. And from a business and consumer perspective, adaptation to the new world which includes multi-media channels including the web, is an exciting opportunity!
Janna Mock-Lopez
Publisher
Portland Family

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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