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Fashion Magazines Try NFTs

Posted on Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 11:02 PM

In the news: Could non-fungible tokens be a lucrative revenue stream for fashion magazines? Vogue is about to find out.

This week, Maghan McDowell of VogueBusiness.com explores Vogue Singapore’s foray into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its September 2021 issue. “Fashion magazines are jumping on the NFT opportunity, giving non-fungible tokens the sign-off from the industry’s glossies,” McDowell writes. “Already trending among luxury brands in games and via augmented reality, NFTs offer a potential revenue stream for magazines, while the positioning gives readers a chance to evaluate exclusive, digital items of value.” Vogue Singapore’s September issue has 15 NFTs for sale, including alternative covers with NFT and AI-generated fashion items.

NFTs are a bold new frontier for magazines trying to find more ways to remain profitable -- and current. McDowell says: “NFT and fashion magazine tie-ups can help translate the value of non-fungible tokens for the fashion crowd as well as give print media a new angle of relevance.” Read more here.

Also Notable

Vice Reimagines Editorial Content

Vice Media Group is continuing with its video-first strategy, reports Max Willens of Digiday.com. The strategic shift is marked by “a number of changes designed to formally put stories and vertical video at the forefront of its content operations.... The editor in chief of Vice’s digital team ... will now report to an executive who oversees video strategy and output.” Vice has been relying more heavily on visual storytelling, and the shift has led to other staffing changes, Willens says: “Vice also laid off a small number of staffers, the majority of whom are writers and editors at Vice Media Group-owned brands, including Refinery29 and Vice.” But the shift doesn’t mean the end of quality reporting, says chief digital officer Cory Haik, who “framed the move as one that would allow Vice’s editorial teams to focus less on aggregating and more on original content.” Read more here.

Washington Post Launches Voices Across America

To further diversify its crop of journalists, the Washington Post has launched its Voices Across America page. It features columns from writers from all over the US, says Evelyn Mateos. Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt tells Mateos that the Post considers “race, nationality, gender, experience, ideology, and geography” in its diversity initiatives and that it “has reached out to writers with reporting experience and who can respond engagingly to events that take place in their region.” Read more about the new platform here.

Headline Testing for Engagement

For some publishers, testing multiple versions of a headline for the same article is paying off. The tactic allows editors to see which titles best drive clicks and reader engagement. “Headline testing drives value in two ways,” writes What’s New in Publishing. From a quantitative perspective, it directly lifts engagement for each story that’s tested. Informed by that data, content teams can then learn how to write more engaging headlines.” Over time, research suggests, editors gain better insight into the types of titles that work best, making testing less necessary over time. Read more here.

An Evening Edition Revived

The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington, has relaunched the Spokane Chronicle, formerly its evening print edition, as an eight-page digital edition for print subscribers. According to Kristen Hare of Poynter.org, “While many legacy newsrooms are working on attracting new subscribers, the Chronicle isn’t a play to build new audiences. It’s meant to keep the audience the 127-year-old paper still has, who’ve seen their subscription costs rise every year.” Read more here.

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