New look Spinach 7
Fascinating investigative journalism, light-hearted short pieces and music features made Spinach 7 a real page turner of a magazine, and a breath of fresh air on Australian newsagent shelves. Needless to say it was hugely disappointing when the magazine went belly up late last year. The Australian magazine industry is serious business, huge amounts of money are invested by the big houses in getting their magazines into prime newsagent real estate and the content is the least important factor. Editor Eve Vincent explained the problems at Online Opinion.
Still, it’s been great to see the team band together to set up an online hub. They’ve split off into three cohesive units. Signature, which takes on the investigative mantle, reporting topical issues without jumping into the press scrum. This month they compare the experience of SBS journo John Martinkus, who was kidnapped in Iraq, with Douglas Wood. Soundplay, which as it says looks at music and arts. This time Dan Rule looks at lo-fi country kid and Melbourne expat Toby Burke. Mo:life, the last piece of the puzzle is an email list that looks at the impact of mobile media on media, technology and business.
Media
