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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Jeff Nilsson talks about the history of The Saturday Evening Post in the museum at its offices in Indianapolis. Associated Press  (click to enlarge) The nation's oldest magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, is changing its look and its approach to broaden its appeal beyond its mostly older readers.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, July 4, 2009 Venerable magazine retools for 21st century Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS -- The Saturday Evening Post, a centuries-old publication that helped make illustrator Norman Rockwell a household name and showcased some of America's greatest writers, is returning to its roots to show readers the value of a quiet read in an increasingly frenetic digital age. A redesign launching with its July/August issue combines the Post's hallmarks -- art and fiction -- with folksy commentary and health articles. The revamped Post promises a more relaxing option for people who are used to doing much of their reading online, or are simply tired of special-interest magazines crammed into tight niches. "There is a void of magazines now that do emphasize art and creative writing and fiction," Publisher Joan SerVaas said. But industry experts say the Post -- which traces its origins to Benjamin Franklin, though it had a hiatus from 1969 to 1971 -- risks alienating its core readers while trying to buck a decades-long shift away from general-interest magazines. "The Saturday Evening Post is no longer my father's magazine; it's my grandfather's magazine," said Samir A. Husni, who publishes an annual guide to consumer magazines as director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi. Although the Post is making concessions to the digital age, through weekly updates to its Web site and a profile on the social-networking site Facebook, Husni said those efforts could shatter the habits of longtime readers without necessarily drawing new ones. "Reading the magazine from A to Z should be a complete experience that I don't need to go some other place to fulfill that experience," he said. And Husni warned that the changes to the print edition might come across to longtime readers as a lesser version of what the Post once was. The magazine, whose circulation peaked at 6 million in 1960, now has 350,000 readers, most of whom are women over 45. That's low compared with the general interest, health and lifestyle magazines with which it competes, such as Prevention, with circulation of 3.3 million, and Guideposts, at 2 million. Many publications have tried new approaches amid advertising and circulation challenges in a digital age. The large-format Rolling Stone shrank to standard magazine size last year, in part to help boost single-copy sales because it now fits better on magazine racks. TV Guide, meanwhile, grew into a full-size magazine in 2005. "We've yet to see what will work," Husni said. Maureen Mercho, chief operating officer for the Post, said ad sales had dropped because of the recession, prompting the magazine to look for ways to broaden its base. "That probably pushed us" to do the redesign, she said. Post officials also hope that by mixing the magazine's popular art and health features with such content as commentary by former CBS News "Sunday Morning" host Charles Osgood, poetry by Ray Bradbury and fiction by John Hemingway, grandson of Ernest Hemingway, the magazine could boost circulation to 500,000 in the coming years. Mercho said some people are surprised the Post still exists. She suspects that's because the magazine is primarily available only to subscribers; fewer than 5,000 copies an issue are sold on newsstands. But she believes the relaunch will increase awareness of the magazine. "The thing the Post has done well over the years is interpret America for America," Mercho said, echoing George Horace Lorimer, who edited the magazine for more than 30 years in the early 1900s. "America is going through seismic changes, and we want to make sure the Post keeps up with what is going on," she said. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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