While the number of new magazine launches in 2007 is lackluster at best, there is no reason to think that this is the first step down a slippery slope to the death of the magazine industry, according to Dr. Samir Husni, a.k.a. "Mr. Magazine." The Chair of the Journalism Department at the University of Mississippi and "the country's leading magazine expert" predicted two years ago that we would see something like this during 2007 and 2008 with a rebound to normal form in 2009.

With 342 new launches through the end of June 2007, this number is well behind the 555 new launches that 2006 saw by the same point last year. This year also witnessed a drop in the total number of specials and annuals.

This drop shouldn't mean panic for the publishing world. The number of launches will ebb and flow and serves to remind us that change is a constant in this industry. We have to remember that the only way we can remain relevant in a constantly advancing world is to take note of the change and adapt to it as it comes.

In the case of public relations professionals, this means a change in the way PR has been done and a movement toward what the rest of the industry is slowly waking up to--the problem is with the message, not the medium.

Since the advent of desktop publishing in the 1980s and the increasingly easy means by which anyone can start a magazine, new titles have popped up in record numbers and are starting to see an increase in lifespan on the newsstand. Over 15,000 magazines are presented to the general public each month on newsstands and in their mailboxes for their choosing. Many of these magazines share similar content and design.

Because of this, the old way of blanket press releases cannot work anymore. Where one person could write a press release and blast e-mail it to hundreds of outlets, it is now time to become more individual in the way we disseminate information. We must tailor these media relations outreach efforts to specific audiences and for specific publications.

Simply put, before contacting the media, we need to go back to a pure, basic common sense approach to media relations. Remember to think of your audience, think of the magazine's audience and keep in mind that you are the matchmaker, putting the two together.