JPG and 8020 Snap the Shutter
Monday, January 5, 2009

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One of the more interesting experiments in Web-to-print cross-pollination, JPG Magazine, announced cancellation of its print product and Web site today at the company blog. Published bi-monthly by 8020 Media, this remarkable experiment in user-generated editorial let amateur and pro photographers submit and vote on their favorite photos, which were in turn published in the lush print issues. In announcing the entire site would come down on Monday, January 5, editor-in-chief Laura Brunow Mino says, “We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success.” Nearly 200,000 photographers have participated in the project, the site claims.

NYTimes.com columnist Brad Stone reports that 8020 Media is shutting down altogether. Primary investor Halsey Minor, founder of CNet, apparently ended it all after failed attempts to raise more funds or sell the venture to other magazine firms. Stone cites sources who said 8020 had courted Meredith and Conde Nast with no success.

The JPG closure of course raises questions about the viability of the crowd-sourced model that parent company 8020 Media was pursuing here and in the travel category with Everywhere Magazine, which shut down in August. 8020 executives were not immediately available for comment, but the company had Conde Nast veteran Marshall Fox in the lead. The 8020 model has gotten wide press coverage largely because it extends the online community trend offline. Just as important to the foundering magazine world was 8020’s low cost of production, since much of the content came from users. As the story behind JPG’s failure unfolds, it will be interesting to see where the flaw in the model lay. Are readers themselves just not embracing user-generated content in print or are advertisers? Or both?

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

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