Editor's Reflection: The Pivot to Print

Abstract

Editor's Reflection:The Pivot to Print Kevin M. Lerner This number of The Journal of Magazine Media marks the end of an era. When the journal launched, it was one of very few journals of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication that published in a digital-only format. The 18 volumes of the journal to have been published so far (this issue marking the last of volume 18) have followed that format. Our production process has not evolved much since the turn of the millennium. Submissions come to us by email. We track manuscripts on a spreadsheet. We send them to our reviewers by email. We track our (wonderful) reviewers by email. We prepare manuscripts in Microsoft Word, according to a style sheet that I hand wrote in a notebook when the guidelines were sent to me by former editor Carol Schwalbe. We wouldn't get anything done if it weren't for the journal's editorial assistant, Caroline Chan, emailing us every two weeks with a to-do list. But with the next volume of The Journal of Magazine Media, we are taking a step into the future of the journal by taking a step into the past. We are moving to print. The journal has signed a contract with the University of Nebraska Press to publish us. None of the editorial staff will change (though Caroline will graduate soon), but we will be moving to a fully functioning manuscript management system, and we will have the support of the terrific staff at UNP, who have already mocked up some sample covers and interiors for us. I can't wait to see it. In the meantime, all of the back numbers will be available where you have always found them, and we will keep readers apprised of their final disposition once we have made the transition completely. Volume 18, No. 1, however, contains treats. We open with essays from Elizabeth Hendrickson and Abe Peck about the changing nature of editorial work, introduced by David Abrahamson. We also feature three peer-reviewed articles. First, Susan Jacobson, Jacqueline Marino, and Robert E. Gutsche, Jr., investigate whether or not interactive news applications enhance the news reading experience for Millennial users. Terry L. Britt looks back more than three decades at the "halcyon days" of home computer magazines through the discursive frameworks they established. And finally, Pamela Hill Nettleton examines the discourses of violence directed at women in Maxim. As a trio, they speak to the journal's transition: Jacobson, Marino, and Gutsche look to the future of interactivity; Britt examines a moment when the best way to learn about electronic media was through print media; and Nettleton undertook a study that was impossible without print, since exceedingly few academic libraries maintain digital archives of Maxim. And to continue the celebration of print, we also present a whopping eight book reviews. As always, thank you to Caroline Chan; to Joy Jenkins, our Associate Editor, who handles correspondence with our reviewers, and who I always trust with our more quantitative work; to Miglena Sternadori, the indefatigable reviews editor; and to Carol Schwalbe—who turns all of these pdfs into an actual journal. If all goes well, her job should get much easier after this issue. And of course, thank you to our anonymous peer reviewers, who have made this journal what it is. Kevin M. Lerner Marist College kevin.lerner@marist.edu Copyright © 2008-2018 AEJMC Magazine Division