Who Cares About Portfolio?

Posted by Al Perlman

Another interesting thing going on in the magazine world is the inordinate amount of attention being paid to Portfolio, the new business magazine from Conde Nast. It’s the Paris Hilton of the publishing world, a well-financed, highly visible celebrity that hasn’t done much yet other than call attention to itself. Perhaps it’s because I’m in the media business and because I’m in New York that I see so much stuff about Portfolio, but, really, does anyone outside of those two circles really care? Do I think Portfolio has any chance of success? Nope. It’s way too print-oriented, it’s expensive to produce and, most importantly, it doesn’t serve an unfulfilled need for a growing or underserved community. I learned long ago that publishing is about the audience-delivery business, and Portfolio will have a tough time trying to establish a need or desire for its targeted audience to read it on a regular basis, especially with so many people turning away from magazines in general.