Bakotopia postpones print issue
Brian Willhite
Issue date: 2/17/10 Section: News
Bakotopia, one of Bakersfield's local culture and arts magazines, has taken a break from print publication and has returned focus to the Web site that started it all.
The magazine, which was based on citizen-submitted material, began publishing over two years ago. It was launched as an addition to the growing Web site Bakotopia.com, which is now operating in its fifth year online, according to Logan Molen, chief operating officer for the Bakersfield Californian's interactive media division and Bakersfield.com which oversees Bakotopia magazine and Bakotopia.com.
Bakotopia, however, is owned by a company called Mercado Nuevo, which is a subsidiary of the Californian. Mercado Nuevo also owns MAS Magazine and The Bakersfield Voice, two other local publications.
In late 2009, Molen and the team at Bakotopia and the Californian decided to end Bakotopia Magazine's print run, citing insufficient income from advertisers that wasn't meeting the costs to print and produce the magazine.
"We just never made enough money to cover the costs, and when the economy went south last year, we just couldn't afford to keep on subsidizing the costs. So we spent a lot of time looking at alternatives and crunching numbers before we came to the conclusion in December to put the print edition on hold," Molen said. "We haven't completely eliminated the idea of print magazine, but the time just wasn't right now to keep it going."
Bakotopia is not ending altogether though. In fact, a restructuring of the Web site is in progress which will include offering a downloadable version of Bakotopia magazine.
The online version of the magazine will be created using a program called "Printcasting," that will allow readers a better experience in reading the magazine online and the option to print it out in its entirety, according to Molen. Readers will also be able to access the new Bakotopia Magazine through the use of RSS feeds.
"We're looking at using those tools to create a digital version of Bakotopia, so it'll be a magazine, it just won't be exactly like what we had with the printed product," said Molen.
The magazine, which was based on citizen-submitted material, began publishing over two years ago. It was launched as an addition to the growing Web site Bakotopia.com, which is now operating in its fifth year online, according to Logan Molen, chief operating officer for the Bakersfield Californian's interactive media division and Bakersfield.com which oversees Bakotopia magazine and Bakotopia.com.
Bakotopia, however, is owned by a company called Mercado Nuevo, which is a subsidiary of the Californian. Mercado Nuevo also owns MAS Magazine and The Bakersfield Voice, two other local publications.
In late 2009, Molen and the team at Bakotopia and the Californian decided to end Bakotopia Magazine's print run, citing insufficient income from advertisers that wasn't meeting the costs to print and produce the magazine.
"We just never made enough money to cover the costs, and when the economy went south last year, we just couldn't afford to keep on subsidizing the costs. So we spent a lot of time looking at alternatives and crunching numbers before we came to the conclusion in December to put the print edition on hold," Molen said. "We haven't completely eliminated the idea of print magazine, but the time just wasn't right now to keep it going."
Bakotopia is not ending altogether though. In fact, a restructuring of the Web site is in progress which will include offering a downloadable version of Bakotopia magazine.
The online version of the magazine will be created using a program called "Printcasting," that will allow readers a better experience in reading the magazine online and the option to print it out in its entirety, according to Molen. Readers will also be able to access the new Bakotopia Magazine through the use of RSS feeds.
"We're looking at using those tools to create a digital version of Bakotopia, so it'll be a magazine, it just won't be exactly like what we had with the printed product," said Molen.
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