(2009-10-12) Conde Nast Closing4 Mags Gourmet

Conde Nast is closing 4 of its Magazine-s, including Gourmet, where Ruth Reichl is editor, along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and parenting magazine Cookie. Conde Nast said it will focus its food publishing on Gourmet's sister magazine, Bon Appetit (driven by Rachel Ray). Reichl is still involved in the Gourmet in-process Cook Book-s and TV show.

Christopher Kimball, creator of Cooks Illustrated (which Conde Nast had bought and shuttered), gives his perspective on Business Models For Information. The shuttering of Gourmet reminds us that in a click-or-die advertising marketplace, one ruled by a million instant pundits, where an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up. They can no longer be coronated; their voices have to be deemed essential to the lives of their customers. That leaves, I think, little room for the thoughtful, considered editorial with which Gourmet delighted its readers for almost seven decades. To survive, those of us who believe that inexperience rarely leads to wisdom need to swim against the tide, better define our brands, prove our worth, ask to be paid for what we do, and refuse to climb aboard this ship of fools, the one where everyone has an equal voice.

• Kimball's biz was discussed during a recent Mequoda summit. The rest of the audience pitched in to note that Chris Kimball really drives his brand by being the face of America's Test Kitchen. "People bond to people faster than they do to a more corporate brand," Nicholas noted.

  • At the same Mequoda summit, Mark Ragan's RaganCommunications was also discussed as a good example.

    • Oct27'2009 update: Joseph Jaffe counters that Ragan does bait-and-switch by making content free temporarily, then moving behind a pay-wall.