QUESTIONABLE NEWS PRIORITIES

The Straits Times newspaper in Singapore carried a story about its own subscriptions initiatives as the page four lead story in the main section of last Thursday's edition.

Headlined "Subscribe directly to Straits Times and read rewards", the 'story' detailed how readers who choose to subscribe directly with the publisher, as opposed to through agents, will stand a chance to win S$100,000. The story included a picture showing how readers can also claim a free gift worth up to S$199.

Straits Times is Singapore's best selling newspaper with more than 300,000 daily sales - more than two thirds of which are through vendor subscriptions. Clearly Straits Times will be paying a commission to these vendors so will benefit financially from having more direct subscribers.

But is this really a story, and a story worthy of being a page four 'prime news' lead story at that?

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REWARDING THE BEST ASIAN PUBLISHING

The Fifth Asian Publishing Awards event takes place in Bangkok on July 8, and there are just five weeks left to enter.

Innovative and outstanding publishing endeavors are encouraged to enter their magazines and projects in categories which include Advertising Delivery, Best Use of Screen Tablet Platforms and Best Use of Social Networks.

The deadline entries is April 29. For more information about the event, which is part of the Asian Publishing Convention, and to enter the awards online click HERE.

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BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TWEET

What would you do if someone said something negative about you on Twitter or Facebook?

One Malaysian newspaper columnist is being sued over alleged defamatory comments made about a property developer. The value of the law suit is reported to be RM15 million (THB150 million / US$5 million).

For a long time I've held the view that publishing is publishing no matter how or where it happens. I also read recently about a similar defamation case where a reporter from The Associated Press was threatened with a law suit for comments he tweeted about a basketball referee.

Does something that appears on Twitter or Facebook have the potential to be any less damaging than something that is published by a traditional media source?

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MAGAZINE RETAIL DETAILS

Price stickers can reveal quite a lot about a magazine, including just how "late" a particular issue has arrived on the shelves.

This example is a March edition of a locally-produced magazine which was received by Asia Books, Thailand's leading retailer of English language publications, on 14th of the month. 

I've refrained from identifying this particular magazine because it's certainly not the only one that suffers from distribution or production issues.

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THAILAND GETS NEW BUSINESS PAPER

EXCLUSIVE By The Bangkok Bugle

Business Plus Thailand, a new bilingual newspaper focusing on local business news, is set to make its debut in Thailand next month.

The new publication is believed to be aiming for a 120,000 copy free circulation for its debut issue.

The Bangkok Bugle first wrote about the possibility of a new business newspaper entering the market in August 2009. The man behind the project, Dr. Nikhil, has confirmed to me that a team is now in place for a launch next month.

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JOURNALISM INTERN IN BANGKOK

Do you want to gain experience in the worlds most exciting and fastest growing publishing market? Do you want to be able to add experience at one of South East Asia’s most dynamic multi-media publishers to your CV? Do you have a passion for magazines? Can you effortlessly switch between business and lifestyle writing? Do you want to learn about luxury property and superyachts across South East Asia and business and politics in Thailand? Do you want to live and work in Bangkok and want opportunities to travel throughout the region?

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MALAYSIAN MAGAZINES URGED TO AUDIT

The Audit Bureau of Circulation in Malaysia has issued a rallying call to publishers to get their titles audited.

Speaking last week, ABC chairwoman Margaret Lim told a packed room of publishers that auditing and accountability were critical factors in restoring confidence in media buyers and advertisers. 

According to the Marketing-Interactive website, the debate has been swirling in Malaysia's media sector since The Sun Media Corporation published a front page story saying it was taking legal action against The Nielsen Company (Malaysia) over "false" and "misleading" readership estimates.

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PHUKET'S NEWSPAPER WARS

Newspaper wars could be about to break out on the island of Phuket with the launch of a third weekly English language publication last week.

The Phuket News made its debut on March 4 and joins The Phuket Gazette and The Phuket Post. The newcomer claims to have more than 200 sales outlets across the island, and more than 150 complimentary distribution points.

Competition for readers and advertisers is already hotting up. The Bangkok Bugle has been told stories of several sales outlets that have been refused copies of the established Gazette if they sell copies the News.  

 News' Executive Editor Alasdair Forbes, a former Gazette editor, told me he was so far unaware of any incidents where outlets have been forced to choose.

What is clear is that Phuket, with its three English weekly newspapers, a myriad of magazines, half-decent radio stations and numerous websites such as the respected and award-winning Phuketwan, is a hot-bed for news junkies. 

For journalists and editors the challenge is going to be finding the exclusives that haven't previously appeared ten times over. That's when good contacts will come into their own.

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2 MAGAZINE DROPS MALE-ONLY TAG

In the same week that Thailand sees the debut of its first licensed gay magazine in Attitude, the former English language male-only fashion title 2 Magazine has relaunched as a unisex publication.

The Fierce Publishing- produced magazine, which celebrates its five year anniversary this month, is also debuting a range of tablet editions to mark the move.

In his editor's note Kuan Teo says: "It's [the move to a unisex title] has been coming for a while, because we have been getting more and more feedback from women telling us how much they enjoy reading our magazine". My feeling is that part of the move is also down to an attempt to draw more advertising. The previous 'Tailor Made for Men' logo has now been dropped.

2 Magazine is also one of very few Thailand-produced magazines that is sold regionally, and also further afield in several outlets in New York. The March edition contains 202 pages and sells for 120 baht.

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COVER OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY

My selection for the 'Cover of the Month' for February goes to Money and Banking magazine.

Every month I am selecting what I consider to be the best magazine cover from all magazines published in Thailand, and at the end of the year I'll ask a panel of global media industry figures to select the 'Cover of the Year' from the monthly winners.

February was a disappointing month for memorable magazine covers, in my opinion. What makes the cover of Money and Banking stand out is its use of vibrant pink and text. I'd estimate that more than 90 per cent of magazine covers on the shelves in Thailand use people pictures.

Money and Banking is published by Media Associated Co. Limited. The February edition runs to 228 pages and sells for 80 baht. It joins January winner Vivi in the running for 'Cover of the Year'. 

UPDATE:
@babyfishie on Twitter has alerted me to the fact this cover is very similar (except for the language) to the February cover of Wired. 
The likeness on the news stand can be seen here in pictures posted by @tpagon.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so the saying goes but when does imitation border on copyright infringement? 
I'm still going to nominate Money and Banking as my cover of the month because, in truth, nothing else I saw was worthy of that accolade.

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A MONSTER OF A NEWSPAPER

This is a recent edition of Singapore's Straits Times newspaper.

The Saturday edition, pictured here, is a monster and contains more than a dozen separate supplements. It's close to eight centimetres thick and weights close to one kilogram.

Advertising is especially strong; I counted an impressive 42 different real estate advertisements (many full page) within this single edition. The classified section is also incredibly well populated with ads.

With an audited average daily circulation of more than 350,000 copies according to the latest available data, this newspaper must also rank as one of the most-read in the region.

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THAILAND'S BEST ENGLISH RADIO STATION ?

I've got a new favourite English radio station in Thailand - and it's not in Bangkok.

During my trip to Phuket last weekend I became very well acquainted with Phuket's Island Radio 91.5FM. Their output is so much better and more professional than Bangkok's only English station Wave 88FM, my previous local favourite.

You can listen online and judge for yourself.

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TWO YEARS OLD AND STILL ON SALE !

EXCLUSIVE 
By The Bangkok Bugle

Prominent Thai bookshop chain B2S is selling copies of a two-year-old magazine at its Central Fesitval shop on the island of Phuket.

Six copies of the March 2009 edition of Apartment Living magazine were on sale last weekend, highlighted in the picture (left), alongside current editions of local and global magazines.

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A NEW MAGAZINE WITH ATTITUDE

Gay lifestyle magazine Attitude in the latest licensed magazine to hit the shelves in Thailand.

The UK's best-selling gay magazine, published by Vitality Publishing, will debut on March 9 as a licensed local Thai language edition this week, published by GMM Inter Publishing.

The Bangkok Post has a story and interview with the publisher and editor, in which it's mentioned that the deal took two years to seal. As someone involved in magazine licensing in Thailand I find that to be a very long time. 

There are currently more than 50 licensed magazines in Thailand and I feel there are opportunities for many more. I've looked a several in recent weeks and months but, in some cases, the royalties and minimum financial guarantees demanded by overseas publishers are way out of proportion to what can be achieved in Thailand - both in terms of copy sales and advertising revenues. In some ways this is shown by the relatively high 120 baht cover price that Attitude is adopting. Most local magazine are priced between 60 baht and 90 baht.

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SELLING SINGLE COPIES

The Guardian recently published a story which looked at the percentage of newsstand sales of British daily newspapers as a percentage of overall circulation.

During the month of December 2010, a total of 97 per cent of the audited sales of The Daily Mirror were achieved through single copy sales. Contrast this to the mere 16 per cent achieved by The Financial Times.

These figures ignore subscription copies, as well as copies sold as part of heavily discounted bulk sales agreements, and those copies distributed freely.

And where would The Bangkok Post, Thailand's only audited newspaper appear alongside its UK rivals?

During the first six months of 2010, the most recently audited figures available, an average of 30.6 per cent of its daily sales (13,741 copies from a circulation of 44,901) were achieved at full price through newsstands.

Percentage of single copy sales vs. overall circulation

Daily Mirror: 97%

Daily Mail: 85%

The Guardian: 79%

The Times: 70%

Daily Express: 57%

Daily Telegraph: 49%
The Independent: 46%

The Sun: 41%

Daily Star: 39%

The Bangkok Post: 30%

Financial Times: 16%

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MAGAZINE SALES ON THE RISE?

Se-Ed, Thailand's leading bookshop chain by sales revenues, saw a 4.8 per cent year-on-year rise in its same store sales during 2010.

In its Management Analysis document filed with The Stock Exchange of Thailand, the company attributed the rise to non-book sales, as well as its own own books and those it distributes.

The company, which now boasts 373 branches throughout the kingdom, also recorded a 10.56 per cent rise in net profits to THB 236.98 million, and noted improvements in its publishing and distribution arms.

Non-books? Well, that's has to be magazines.

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