I guess I am a week late on this, but I understand that Jon Stewart lit into the magazine publishing world during a recent MPA event. His session titled, "Laughing Matters: Magazines Celebrate Humor" made fun of some of the industry’s sacred cows. Funny stuff I’m sure (he wasn’t the only panelist), but it has the industry abuzz. The part causing the greatest stir is likely Stewarts comments about print media being irrelevant; this said in a room full of advertisers. "One could almost hear the drain of ad dollars from the room." Here is a summary of what was said.
According to Folio, a magazine industry trade publication, the reaction to the event has been mixed: “To avoid becoming irrelevant, magazine publishers need to stop pretending we’re the only game in town,†says Travis Daub of Washington, D.C.-based Foreign Policy. “If more publishers wake up and realize this as a result of Jon Stewart’s talk, then that $250,000 was the best money MPA has spent all year.â€
Esquire Editor David Granger had this to say: "Comedy is reductive. In order to make a joke, you’ve got to reduce the joke to its most ridiculous point. He did that, but it’s an exaggeration. He does the same thing for every medium and just about every facet of human endeavor.â€
