Web Publishing Roll-up: Clinton Likes the iPhone, Digital Mags Get a New Definition

This week in web publishing we learn that Clinton loves his iPhone; consumers create more challenges for newspapers; and Wired changes the definition of a digital magazine.

What Would Clinton Read?

On Tuesday, to mark the 25th anniversary of the first .com registration, former President Bill Clinton spoke at a forum organized by VeriSign Inc. He spoke about his favorite tech devices, as well as the grim outlook for newspapers.

In case you’re curious, the former president reads several political sites, including Politico, The Daily Beast and Huffington Post, but acknowledges that many of these sites "don't have to do what a newspaper does every day.” Newspapers, for the most part are dedicated to delivering new objectively and Clinton worries that losing newspapers may affect the kind of information users receive.

The iPhone is among his favorite gadgets, because he can access “so much stuff on it." He also uses a Blackberry, but prefers to read his books in paperback.

They're All My Favorite!

Speaking of newspapers, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism "State of the News Media 2010" report, only 35% of online consumers in the United States have a favorite news website. Perhaps even more sobering: 82% said that they'd turn elsewhere if their favorite news website put up a pay wall.

The study also found that while 81% of the online news consumers Pew surveyed indicated that they were happy to accept advertising in exchange for access to online news content, hardly anyone clicked on ads.

Redefining the Digital Magazine

And finally, magazines designed specifically for the iPad, like Condé Nast’s Wired will now be covered under the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) definition of a digital magazine. This week the board of ABC announced it has modified its definition of a digital magazine in the U.S. and Canada.

Wired was one of the first magazines to seek ABC review of its iPad version, which will qualify as a digital replica edition under the new guidelines, which now state that a replica digital edition no longer needs to be presented in a layout identical to the print version. These new reporting options will apply to U.S. newspapers beginning October 1.

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Tags: audit bureau of circulation, digital magazines, ipad, iphone, journalism, newspapers, pew, president clinton, web advertising, web publishing, web publishing roll-up

This week in web publishing we learn that Clinton loves his iPhone; consumers create more challenges for newspapers; and Wired changes the definition of a digital magazine.