In the news: How Hurricane Sandy has affected magazine publishers.

When Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast at the end of October, there was much media coverage of the destroyed houses and beachfront landmarks. Most industries were affected by the devastating storm, and magazines were no exception. FOLIO: had scheduled its MediaNext conference for October 29-31 and was forced to postpone until January. Because of widespread damage and power outages, several publications, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, were forced to close their offices to nonessential employees and temporarily take down their paywalls.

Other area newspapers had to deliver their October 30 editions with their October 31 issues, as conditions were too dangerous for delivery on Tuesday. Magazines like Time got creative with their coverage and commissioned photographers to cover the storm on Instagram, a photography-oriented social media site.

Read more about affected newspapers and magazines here.

Also Notable

Promoting Print

A recent article by Deborah Weinstein on MMM (Medical Marketing & Media) Online warns publishers not to ditch print editions prematurely. According to a study in the UK by the Professional Publisher's Association, a whopping 96 percent of tablet owners have read print editions in the past year. However, Weinstein notes, "While these findings are a significant endorsement for print, none of the reports encourage publishers to slow their digital development." Read more of her analysis here.

Tumblr and Web Publishing

Could Tumblr be a solution for digital publishers looking for an easy-to-use content management system with monetization potential? Last month during Hurricane Sandy, several publishers, including Huffington Post and Gawker.com, published content on the social media site when their own systems had been damaged by the storm. Gawker in particular made lemons out of lemonade by and sold ads on the site. The success of these publications and others has raised a question for a lot of magazine publisher: Could Tumblr be the digital publishing solution some of them need? Gawker's success during Hurricane Sandy certainly makes for a compelling case study. Read more about Tumblr publishing here.

Requirements for Digital-Only Publications

A recent AdWeek.com article discusses new requirements that digital-only publishers will face versus print publishers. Recently, the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations) suggested new guidelines for publishers who shutter their print editions in favor of digital. Not only will these digital publications have to report circulation numbers more often, but they will also have to offer print subscribers several options to replace their print editions. If these new guidelines pass, they could be in effect as soon as summer 2013. Read more here.

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