 Welcome to Asia-Pacific Business Strategies, coming to you from the ThinkTech studios in downtown Honolulu. At the controls today is Jay Fidel, the executive producer at ThinkTech. I'm the host, Michael North, speaking from the office of Asia-Pacific Group in Beijing. Our guest is Christopher Theodore, the editor and publisher of The Reader, an innovative magazine from the San Bernardino area, California. The Reader reaches nearly 400,000 households without charge, across a region known as the Inland Empire, with Palm Springs to the east, San Diego to the south, and Los Angeles to the west. Chris has big plans to take the Reader National across America, and we'll get a hint of those plans today. There was a challenge getting the connection fired up between Hawaii, California, and China today, so we pick up the discussion in progress now. Magazines are closing down too, and all journalists are looking for jobs, and they're all going to the electronic media, their start blogs, and so on. And the conventional wisdom is there's no real business model, with the exception of some franchises like The Washington Post and The New York Times and so on. There's no market for a print. So what I'm interested in hearing from you is why is your particular niche, your particular style, enduring and thriving in this time when, as a whole, the print publishing industry is definitely shrinking and moving across to electronic media? Well, I think that one of the most important things that I could share with your viewers today is that oftentimes there is truth in conventional thinking, but oftentimes in our generalizations, other truth gets lost. And so while there is shift to digital, some of the very important truths, and not just important but significant from a market perspective, are there too that do not get told in this narrative. So amongst the big narratives that we hear about the shift to digital, a lot of times we miss things such as this, that college students, it was reported in The New York Times, are showing a preference in their books for print rather than digital. So it isn't just people like myself in middle age who are interested in print. It's the young people as well. So that's an interesting aspect of it from a ground level perspective. But when you look at it from the top level perspective and look at the data about how much money is being spent on print in the local advertising market last year, it was half of all local advertising dollars, or $70 billion out of the $140 billion was spent on print. That was more than spent on digital. So that is the underpinnings of why it makes sense to still operate in print. But it's not as if we are not interested and not developing and offering now a digital and mobile solutions as well. We are, but what we are doing is we can go into a new market and provide something that local advertisers understand, want to spend money on, and do spend money on, which is print, and at the same time enable those advertisers to have a connection with all the good people in the community. And that's something that no digital platform can do. What is the circulation now of the magazine based in Redlands, California? Yes, it is 390,000 people who receive the reader, pretty much 70 to 90 percent of all people in the nine cities that we operate in receive our publication. So if you are a business person that is living in these communities, you can imagine that's a pretty cool thing to be able to have, a connection with a guaranteed, as you have said, Michael, a guaranteed connection. So we're talking a lot about the market side and why it makes sense as a business, but a really crucial aspect of... How do you guarantee that those 390,000 people are going to see the reader? How can you guarantee that to advertisers? Well, we spend a lot of money with the United States Post Office to guarantee that. And thankfully, the U.S. Post Office, which has been in operation before the founding of the United States in the 17th century, over 300 years, has developed one of the most uncelebrated and underappreciated information technology distribution networks humanity has ever put together. And that is something that we are able to leverage, and then we are able to go into these communities. And with the magic of time, we are able to develop a relationship, a journalistic relationship, and really present great content that these communities might not be getting elsewhere. So that infrastructure, which dates literally from the person buggy area, has now been updated, is now being used in the information superhighway, if you like. And I guess they maintain a pretty clean list of all the residential and business addresses in your market area. So you can know by documented fact that the reader, which is a glossy magazine, it's not just a newsprint bag, it's a beautiful looking magazine, and we'll see some samples in a moment. You can guarantee that every single person and every single business is going to receive that. So if I'm a local restaurant, if I'm a car wash, or if I'm a beautician, I can know that everybody's going to get my message. Whereas with, for example, Google, or Facebook, I can do all the targeting I want to do. But I'm never going to be able to guarantee the volume and the saturation that the reader can in your local market. Is that a correct summary? Yeah, it's a fair summary. And I think a fair metaphor, Michael, is in terms of our business strategy in which we are delivering a physical media product, and then encouraging users to migrate to a purely digital relationship is Netflix. Because Netflix actually leveraged the United States Post Office, and probably all of us, ultimately with that, because we used to receive the red CDs. And that was a physical media product. And just like the reader does, we leverage the U.S. Post Office, and then we are migrating users to a purely digital relationship. So as time moves on, we will be able to go with the flow of tastes while still holding on to our print publication for the same reason Jeff Bezos of Amazon loves his Washington Post, because it is a fundamental part of so many people's lives to have something that doesn't need a battery or a plug, and you can just have. It's something physical. And there's something about, can you comment on the physical medium of the Glossy Tever reader, as opposed to the ephemeral connection of a link or a pop-up that you see on your phone? You know what, Michael, I could comment on that, but I bet all of everyone hearing my voice understands that. You know, I think it's very human to be excited about the next new thing, but there's a reason why paper is a 2,200-year-old information technology, 2,000 years older than the word sustainable. That has roots, and I think the physicality of paper is something I actually get more out of when I'm learning and reading. You know, whether I was in print or not, if I took a lie detector test, it would be the same answer that I tend to get more out of print. Also, you may keep that magazine sitting on the coffee table or in the bathroom or in the kitchen. You know, that may be there for two or three months, right? Whereas the ad that comes through on your screen may be there for two or three seconds. So it's a different kind of impression that it's made. And I think a super important point to make is that it's not necessary to say, hey, one is better than the other. What we're really glad about is that so many people have underappreciated the power of print, and everybody's focusing on digital. We're focusing on digital, too. We're developing great digital products, too, but we're also understanding that our business is a great business because it has something that these digital products don't have. It has a guarantee to get within a community and mean something to that community. They can dovetail together. They can work. They can synergize. And they should. Yeah, and they do. In the control room there in Honolulu, can you bring up the first screen, the 00 screen? And Chris can comment on that. This is a screen capture from that I sent to you yesterday that it's a title that says, The Reader Magazine, Creating an Awakened and Engaged in the Empire, An Environmentally Responsible Revolution. Give us a little narrative on what that means. Sure. Happy to, Michael. So one of the aspects that's pretty exciting and cool about The Reader is its environmental impact. In the United States, every year, 96 billion pieces of direct mail are sent. 42% of those never get opened. The result of that is that it's a further impetus for there to be an environmentally responsible solution to all of the direct mail that everyone in the studio, everyone here in Mammoth Lakes, gets every day. And so what The Reader does, Michael, is by having a journalistic model rather than a high-frequency, low-quality model, The Reader has been seen to be kept 80%, which is almost double the rate of normal direct mail. So we can all imagine the impact on the environment if 42 million trees annually are being destroyed every year in the United States for mail that never gets opened. So that is why we mentioned that. I hear the portal. The quarterly magazine. Is that correct, Chris? Yes. It is a quarterly publication. Michael, we're about through the halfway. That's Michael LaNor. He's our host of Asia-Pacific Business Strategies. His guest is Chris Theodore, co-founder of Noble Media, which is the publisher of The Reader. And we're talking about The Reader as an example of print press that still works and thrives. We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back to continue this discussion. Okay, we're back. We're live. This is Asia-Pacific Business Strategies. Our host is Michael North. He joins us by Skype from Beijing. And his guest is Chris Theodore, who's the co-founder of Noble Media, which is a publisher of Reader magazine. And they've been talking about that. So back to you, Michael, for more. Thank you, Jay. In the control room, can we bring up the graphic that says 01? It has a bunch of covers of The Reader. This is just a few of the covers of the quarterly magazine over the past several years. There's a great diversity of topics that's covered by The Reader. And this is not just generic journalism. This is high-quality original journalism that has a socially conscious and environmentally sensitive pitch to it. Chris, can you comment on why you're doing that? Other than the fact that it's an area that's of interest to you, there has to be a business reason why you've chosen this particular theme for The Reader magazine. I would say this, Michael. You've probably heard that fantastic quote that says, do what makes you come alive because the world is hungry for people who are doing what makes them come alive. And I think that your life represents that, in my opinion. And in a similar way, when you create content, any good filmmaker will tell you that the best films that they've ever made mean something. It's about stories that they had to tell. And for me, I have an understanding that when you make media like that, that people can tell you care a great deal about it, so everyone may not agree with the perspective or even maybe the choice that you've made in order to center your issue on, let's say, climate change or the abolition of nuclear weapons or anything that really questions the underlying issues of society. I think that is something that is in great need today. So from a personal perspective, there is an alignment. It dovetails into what is needed in the market as well. I would say media is really kind of dead. There's too many filters from the editorial structures. By the time it gets to normal people, it's been so filtered out of the life and the juice that it doesn't really mean something to the audience. So advertisers are drawn to audiences and audiences are drawn to truth and passion and the information that isn't being talked about. Can we look at the next screen, because I think it exemplifies what you're talking about. Chris, we're now looking at a screen that has a headline, scientist Daniel Swain on unprecedented climate conditions contributing to deadly California wildfires. This is on the website right now and I presume coming to a print edition. This is an example of a current issue that you're taking on in your community, right? Yes, and what's really interesting, Michael, to me is that if you'll notice in many of the mainstream media outlets, they will talk about the wildfires and even scientists that are brought onto the show have been in some ways told not to bring up climate change. So there's a real disconnect between the structures of a lot of mainstream media and people as well as reality. So it's a really interesting time to be in media because there's a moral opportunity that does tail with a market opportunity. How many times in American history has there been an opportunity in which you can tell the truth and have on some really profound issues and find a market opportunity by doing so? So your area around Redlands and San Bernardino and so on is a kind of a red area, kind of a blue area, sort of shifting back and forth. It's kind of purple these days. Do you get pushback from your readers and say, don't cover all these radical ideas? Absolutely, yes, we do, but I would much rather have that pushback, Michael, than not. But we also get letters telling us, thank you, thank you for being what you are in this community. And so that's worth it to me to get the pushback from some. We've had some repercussions, negative repercussions from a market standpoint as a result of our content. But on the other hand, you know, it balances out. And on the long term basis, it would be much better and we believe it is much better to have a voice because people still are hungry for that. Okay, let's go in the control room there. Can we go to the next graphic, which is the numbered 0, 3? And we're looking at another story here. U.S. wealth inequality is extreme and Republican tax plans would make it worse. So this is, I chose this because I wanted to emphasize that you do sometimes take partisan political positions, but you're not necessarily Democrat or Republican. Is that correct? Yeah, that's correct. I would say that most Americans have a lot of anxiety over the dysfunction of both political parties. And what we're interested in doing is raising the quality of the conversation and making sure that communities and people and families can have a high level of political consciousness and a higher level of being able to debate with each other. I know that some time ago when it was really front-page news, you took on the issue of Syrian refugees on your cover. And it was very interesting that you would take on an international issue like that and highlight it. Can you talk to us about why you did that and what the stories were that you were telling? Yeah, thanks. I'm so glad you mentioned that issue, Michael, because that is one of the issues that I'm proudest of that we had something to do with. And it came together really in a really fantastic way. I was in New York at the time at the Fast Company Festival and I made contact with a Dutch couple who had visited refugee camps in Lebanon and was allowing these people to tell their stories. And it was really, really powerful, her imagery. She had photographed for Vogue for the New Yorker magazine. And I want to tell something that's very, very important, that this story and her participation actually illustrates, Michael, and that is that she being this very high-priced photographer gave our company the right to publish these fantastic photographs because she had promised these people that she would tell their story. And so the reader magazine, this local media channel in California, was able to have world-class photographs of these people because we were interested in telling their story and so was she. So that what we were interested in doing, essentially, was letting them speak and not getting in the way between our community as well and these people who were marginalized and oppressed. And we want to champion people like that because, to be honest with you, I think more and more Americans feel that they are on the sidelines, that they are not really being considered and so as they see us championing the oppressed, a part of them, I believe, sees us. I'm glad that there is a publication that is taking up the cause and championing those people who need a voice. Right. Now, in the control room, can we advance to the slide that is reader05? First, what we're looking at here is a two-page spread of the inside of the current issue of the magazine. I wanted people just to have a sense of how local is local and what does local mean. So one of the ads here is for $5 off. It looks like an art supply store. Another one is for the All Red Children Development Program call for enrollment. Another ad is Mountain Vista Optical, the Inland Empire's Premier Optical Choice. So these are local businesses, not necessarily national brands, although they could be associated with national brands. And this is your constituency. These are the people and the businesses that are actually voting for you with their fees and with their wallets to say, they trust you with their message to reach their people. Can you just comment on one or two of those advertisers and somebody who's been with you for years and intends to continue to stay with you because they know that you're doing the job and they also believe in the message? Yeah, thanks, Michael. I'm really glad you brought them up because without advertisers, there is no reader magazine. So one of them that you brought up was Mountain Vista Optical and my wife Sharon is actually, she's an eye surgeon and she has helped Ryan who owns that company with some of his eye problems that he's had. But what I think is the coolest thing about bringing small businesses up is that this is the stuff of life, five dollars off on something. And small businesses together across the United States, all 28 million of them are a force. They are a political, they are a social cultural force. Most American are either employees or connected family members of small businesses. So when you think of what the reader is, the word used was constituency. I couldn't imagine a better constituency to have than the 28 million potential small businesses as potential customers who contribute a third of the entire 30 trillion GDP of the United States. And so these small businesses like Ryan need good advertising. And I would add one more thing if I may. And that is one of the crucial aspects of the reader's model, Michael, in terms of what keeps us honest is the fact that we are accountable to the Ryan of Mountain Vistas of the world. If he doesn't like what we are publishing, he can stop advertising and have an effect, an immediate effect on the content. Compare that to him stopping as a subscriber to Comcast cable television. It doesn't matter, but on a local business, accountability is a very, very crucial aspect of what keeps the reader honest and a potential force for a lot of good in the United States. Well, Michael, we're going to have to leave it there where it's just about out of time. Thank you so much, Michael North and Chris Theodore. Chris is the co-founder of Noble Media, the publisher of The Reader. We've heard a lot about it. And it's a stirring story, a remarkable conversation. Thank you so much, Michael. Thank you so much, Chris. Aloha, until next time. Aloha.