The recent announcement that Larstan Publishing is launching a new trade magazine called Blogger and Podcaster made me wonder about the direction some leading personalities in the industry are going.
CMS Wire comments on it saying, "we figured it was only a matter of time before a publisher recognized the growing need for a unifying industry voice." A unifying industry voice? Is there a lot of demand for that? It sounds very traditional media to me.
One thing that makes me bristle right up front is it seems they are already trying to be way too respectable. They tell us that the content will be "closely" edited 
by two longtime journalists. And also that those editors will pay great attention to the voice and print tone of the publication. That sounds to me like the edge has been taken out of the publication before it even gets going.
Even if someone asserts the need for a unifying voice in any industry, in reality it can never happen. People just aren't looking for unification. And with the sheer number of online voices through blogging and podcasting, the magazine will only represent an extremely select few that everyone knows already anyway.
The print version is being offered at $79 a year in the U.S. and $99 internationally. There will be a digital version provided for no cost. It will also appear in podcast form as well, which is also complimentary.
CEO Larry Genkin of Larstan said, “There are two things holding back the industry: helping practitioners to earn a full-time living from their craft and providing vendors a cost effective vehicle to communicate with and generate significant sales from bloggers and podcasters. We aim to help the industry on both fronts.”
To me the jury will be out for a while on this initiative. It will probably be worth checking out to see what their "voice" will be. It seems to be starting off in the wrong direction with editors creating the voice of the publication rather than those creating the content.
Some of the monthly columnists will include:
Paul Colligan, co-author of The Business Podcasting Bible
Rob Walch, co-author of Tricks of the Podcasting Masters
Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations
Tee Morris, author of Podcasting for Dummies
Gary, believe it or not, I agree with you. I wouldn't ever be so presumptuous to think that we could ever speak for the industry. The vast diversity of voices and opinions is what makes our industry strong. As far as Blogger & Podcaster's "voice" goes, what we mean by that is that our content will be professionally edited and/or fact checked. What we don't mean is sanitized and homogenized. Over the ensuing months we will give voice to many opinions and differing points of view. I view our role as the industry's business publication to provide bloggers and podcasters with access to the information that will help them succeed in their blogging and podcasting endeavors. That's it. If we do that, then we'll develop a well deserved loyal following. And, if we don't, shame on us.
Thanks for the fair commentary.
- Larry
Publisher
Blogger & Podcaster Magazine
www.bloggerandpodcaster.com
Posted by: Larry Genkin | May 6, 2007 7:58 PM | Permalink to Comment