R.I.P. Duluth~Superior Magazine

Sad to see the Duluth~Superior Magazine cease publication, announced today in a Duluth News Tribune story. DSM made Duluth feel classy. Jim Heffernan comments on his blog (Jim Heffernan’s Blog) on his six year stint writing for this print magazine headed by former Duluth News Tribune publisher, Marti Buscaglia.

26 Comments

Ramos

about 11 years ago

It's too bad. I really looked forward to my monthly dose of profiles on happy, enthusiastic, positive, energetic go-getters.

vheffernan

about 11 years ago

Adam I felt your comment was bad form. Some people make mistakes and become the better for it. People are not only defined by past mistakes especially when they face up to it and move to a higher place. You'll never know just how talented she was and what she did to support our community.

Claire

about 11 years ago

Stay classy Adam! Like no one else you know has ever lied about their credentials. At least she didn't run away and hide after she was sussed out. She admitted it, and made amends by getting her degree. Straight As I heard. No surprise. It's old news, in my opinion. Move on.

BadCat!

about 11 years ago

Well, technically, Adam's comments may be relevant, as her lack of skills may be related to the magazine's demise.

adam

about 11 years ago

I do not discount support and talent and contribution to community.

I disagree that being called out on something in a vetting process is what would be considered "facing up to it." That's called "being called out" for a reason.

I also believe it is highly relevant for such position(s).

[email protected]

about 11 years ago

Adam is right about this one, guys.  This isn't like finding out she was cruel to kittens;  this is an omission directly relevant to the story.

Tom

about 11 years ago

"Directly relevant?" That's an awfully odd statement for a rhetoric expert to make given the facts at hand.

That incident happened before she ever started the magazine. She lied about a qualification in her application for a completely unrelated job (something I suspect may have done), got caught and fessed up. She moved on. She started a magazine as the economy was tanking and the print industry was dying, keeping it afloat for six years. She's working as the vice president of advertising at a paper much larger than Duluth's, and they apparently see enough value in her to keep her around. To suggest that the demise of the magazine is directly related to her lying about her education in an application for a completely unrelated job is kind of a stretch. I mean, isn't her ability to be a successful publisher far more important than what a slip of paper says?

BTW, if anyone cares to look in the DNT's archives, I know Buscaglia's flub was reported (probably on the front page). It's not a big secret they've tried to keep.

I have no dog in this fight; just pointing out some relevant facts.

Aldin

about 11 years ago

RE: Buscaglia

I have no problem with someone lying to get a job.  Most likely the employer is lying too.

But, if you work in marketing and advertising you are a liar and can go pound sand.

vicarious

about 11 years ago

Ramos, I agree completely. People who are successful in their chosen careers are the worst. The worst!

Ramos

about 11 years ago

Maybe you misunderstood, Vicarious. I said I would miss all those fine, upstanding, glossy, airbrushed faces beaming out at me.

vheffernan

about 11 years ago

Many assumptions and issues seem to arise with these comments. 1) being called upon vs standing up to a mistake on one's own without considering that it took strength to do it under any circumstances 2) presuming knowledge about someone else's personal life and business operation 3) a business person is open to the judgement that a politician requires ... and on and on. I guess everyone here is perfect like Perfect Duluth? And everyone here has fessed up to mistakes each has made and done so publicly and then learned from those mistakes? I know, snarky is the credo here on PDD. But I'm allowing higher powers to be the real judge here and taking the approach that I'll give someone a chance. And furthermore, I will admire someone giving it a go to put out a pretty classy print publication that lasted for a number of years and was read by 10,000 people or more.  I think that's a lot more than many have done in this community and I have to give credit where credit it due.

Paul Lundgren

about 11 years ago

The Duluth News Tribune indeed covered the story of Buscaglia's resume enhancement on the front page of its June 28, 2007, edition. Seven years later it is not an awkward omission to leave that detail out in a brief story about her magazine's demise. 

I wrote three articles for Duluth-Superior Magazine at the time it launched, and I've also contributed to its competitors, Lake Superior Magazine and The Woman Today. In terms of quality, I always felt Duluth-Superior Magazine fell in the middle. I could always find something entertaining enough to read in whatever reception area I was sitting in that had a copy, but I was never compelled to subscribe. 

Lake Superior Magazine succeeds because the content is good and it appeals to people all around the lake -- Duluth, Superior, Marquette, Thunder Bay, etc.

The Area Woman succeeds because it is free, so people pick it up and thumb through it even if they have no interest in reading a single article.

To have a subscription-based magazine that appeals just to people in Duluth/Superior, with a fringe market of people in the Twin Cities or former Duluthians abroad is a huge challenge that I doubt anyone will take on again. It is impossible for a small magazine to be timely in reporting any news, and digging into anything juicy that might offend advertisers would also be ruinous. So, as John puts it, "profiles on happy, enthusiastic, positive, energetic go-getters," is the only other content choice. Getting a large-enough subscriber base out of that is a tough assignment. Considering the landscape, Buscaglia and Duluth-Superior Magazine performed very well in my opinion.

Jana Hollingsworth

about 11 years ago

I don't like to comment on my stories, but in this case I will. Paul is right. We have covered the issue regarding Marti Buscaglia's resume, even as recently as her 2012 move to Alaska and her appointment of a publisher in her absence. I didn't find it relevant to this story.

Ramos

about 11 years ago

I'm sorry, Paul, but I don't think that happy, fluffy profiles were the only option open to DSM. If they had published more pictures of kitties, they might have survived.

BadCat!

about 11 years ago

They did print the story of freeway dog!

vicarious

about 11 years ago

My apologies, Ramos. I thought you were being sarcastic.

Paul Lundgren

about 11 years ago

Ramos, your favorite magazine is City of Duluth Quarterly.

Which reminds me, I haven't seen that around in a while, and it was published by the Duluth-Superior Magazine crew. Is that one resting in peace, too?

And whatever happened to Living North magazine? I guess that must have quietly died around 2011.

Ramos

about 11 years ago

We need a magazine called Area Character, featuring profiles of area characters and full-page photo spreads of their crappy apartments ("Chester and Leona like to spend their free time rearranging aloe plants around their one tiny window."). Characters are woefully underrepresented in the glossy-magazine market.

hbh1

about 11 years ago

So many comments to "favorite" and no favorite button to push.

emmadogs

about 11 years ago

HAHAHA Ramos!  Aloe plants and one tiny window, indeed.

Paul Lundgren

about 11 years ago

Ramos will get his happy, fluffy wish. The publishers of The Woman Today are stepping in with a new free-circulation magazine similar to Duluth-Superior Magazine, blending that name with the other aforementioned dead publication, Living North, to produce the new Duluth Superior Living.  

Business North: Established publisher to launch new lifestyle magazine

As for profiles of local characters, we'll all have to settle for the old PDD post "An Incomplete and Random List of Various Beloved Characters in Duluth."

Claire

about 11 years ago

I subscribed to DSM and also wrote an article for them once. What I think happened is that the stories got lazy after Marti moved to Alaska. I remember one story about telecommuters where they actually interviewed the DSM editor. I could not believe it. I think if Patty McNulty had been named publisher sooner, the magazine would have had a chance to turn itself around.

Re Marti, she made a stupid mistake that, seriously, in this day and age, is absolutely idiotic. But don't just blame her ... blame also the employers who don't bother to do a little reference/credentials checking. So easy to do and not done often enough.

Chickles

about 11 years ago

And not a moment too soon! I was getting nervous, as I was certain some well-meaning person on the staff would soon tell me how to wear palazzo pants for spring! 

Sorry, folks, we need to start with the basics, like telling the truth. Fashion trends  are not every north woman's functional cup of tea.

Paul Lundgren

about 10 years ago

Well, this was interesting.

Marti B cuts a rant 

Publisher's Voice

Claire Kirch

about 10 years ago

Wow, not very classy of Mr. Sherman to diss Duluth-Superior Magazine like that. I think the editor of DSM makes a good point ... if DSM sucked so much, why did Sherman try to hire everyone who worked there when it closed down?

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