Reader’s Digest editor upbeat about magazine

updated 3:22 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2009

NEW YORK - Nothing, it seems — not even a filing for bankruptcy protection — can dim the sunny optimism of Reader's Digest, a magazine that built its immense popularity over the past 87 years with brief articles and a cheerful disposition.

Just ask Peggy Northrop, the magazine's editor-in-chief since 2007.

Any jitters at the magazine since its parent company, Reader's Digest Association Inc., filed for Chapter 11 this summer? "It's business as usual," she said.

Worried about the much-heralded demise of print media? "All the stories I read about the death of print are in print!"

And what about her publication's declining circulation? "We're still the biggest, best-read magazine in the world."

True enough. With a circulation of just over 8 million at last count, Reader's Digest is still one of the most popular magazines. And in an interview with The Associated Press, Northop made clear she still thinks printed magazines with a broad, general-interest audience can stay afloat — even as the digital tide threatens to engulf the industry.

As the most-read magazine in the U.S., its fate over the next few years could offer some clues about the changing habits of the reading public and whether magazines can survive the shift.

Reader's Digest has not ignored the Web. In fact the magazine thinks its reputation for brevity can help lure information-saturated readers. Its Web site's average unique visitors per month — a critical gauge of online traffic — rose 23 percent year-over-year in July to 1.2 million, according to the tracking firm comScore. (The magazine says online ad revenue doubled in that period but would not provide the dollar figure.)

There's already an electronic version of the magazine on Amazon's Kindle electronic reading device, and an iPhone app is coming soon, Northrop said.

Advertising in the printed edition hasn't suffered the same kind of vertigo-inducing decline that many other magazines have, either. Ad pages were down about 8 percent year-over-year for the six months ended in June, according to the Publisher's Information Bureau. That compares with a 26 percent decline for the U.S. magazine industry overall.

Northrop attributes the milder declines to the magazine's plainspoken, Midwestern sensibility.

"We're not focused on luxury and bling," she said. "We're focused on the things that people need no matter what's going on in their lives."

True to form, the September issue has an interview with Anita Renfroe, a mom from outside Atlanta with a popular YouTube video; a guide to saving money on school supplies; and a short piece on eating a healthier breakfast.

The advertising also tends more toward the practical than the aspirational: Oxi Clean and Bagel Bites rather than Tiffany or Dolce and Gabbana. (Which may be just as well. Vogue ad pages were down 31 percent in the first half; Vanity Fair was down 35 percent.)

Hal Mandel, a 61-year-old manager at a recycling company in Kentucky, would seem to be right in the center of the magazine's target audience. When he was a child, his aunt used the magazine to teach him to read, and he still has affection for it.

"The stories are positive and I can show my children and my grandchildren any of it and not be ashamed," he said.

Yet Mandel can find time to read the magazine only occasionally these days. He let his subscription expire recently. "I have so much on my plate now," he said.

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