Digital Drivers - Jonathan Feit

January 27, 2006

Jonathon Feit
Chief Editor/Publisher
Citizen Culture, New York

A twenty-something entrepreneur, Jonathon Feit launched Citizen Culture as a print magazine with under 20,000 circulation in 2004, but then decided to halt paper publication to become the "world's first all-digitally delivered print magazine targeting young, active professionals." The reason? That primary audience of professionals in the 23-to-45-year-old demographic was at their computers, where they are most captive and attentive. "If it were any other audience, [the switchover] wouldn't have made a lot of sense," he explains. "Truth is, I don't think paper's going away. There'll always be people who love the paper magazine." The magazine, powered by Zinio and publishing eight times a year, aims for 150,000 digital subscribers this year in a controlled circulation model, while its complementary website, www.citizenculture.com, bases its audience on unique monthly visitors.

Q. Do you have plans to add video elements, including clips from interviews, music or movie clips for your Arts and Entertainment section? Maybe even video commercials?

A. We're working with Weinstein Co. and New Line Cinema to embed movie trailers alongside movie reviews. In our next issue, out next week, we'll have a trailer for The Matador and maybe for The New World. In our last issue we had a video interview segment with a New York City hostage negotiator. We do plan to have video commercials too. One problem is that online and print "silos" within ad agencies don't talk to one another. And we're working on developing sponsored sections with advertisers—and discussing with ASME to insure we're not crossing any lines. In addition, we'll cross-promote with other magazine publishers through links in our Arts and Entertainment section.

Q. You're also planning "local flavor" and "international flavor" sections, targeting specific cities. How big an international audience do you have? And in the U.S., are you stronger in any one particular region?

A. We've already added New York City, with Philadelphia and Chicago next. We plan to increase submissions and subscriptions from abroad next year, although we already have our first subscribers from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. I'm not even sure how they heard about us. The Northeast is our strongest U.S. region, especially New York and Boston.

Q. Your last issue included an interview with Sen. John McCainn. How did that come about?

A. We interviewed him at the American Magazine Conference in Puerto Rico, right after his panel session. That came about the night before, while he taught Igor Finkel, our Deputy Publisher, how to play craps!

Q. What article or issue has generated the greatest reader response thus far?

A. The biggest single story was in Issue 3 last December—"The Golden Change," a fiction piece by Playboy Playmate Divini Rae Sorenson on life inside the Playboy mansion. More recently, the interviews with Bill Maher and Senator McCain were also big.