January 11, 2007 9:55 PM EST

My viewpoint of the overall "culture" of the Magazine

“Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.”

- Albert Camus (1913-1960) French novelist, essayist and dramatist.



Running an independent online magazine can be hectic especially for someone who is a novice like me. But, one of the most rewarding aspects of running this magazine comes from when I receive emails from my readers who tell me that they are enjoying what we are doing and to keep up the good work. One of the biggest reasons for the success of the magazine is the overall “culture” of the staff that runs the magazine. Since the magazine’s conception (launched on the Internet—December 09, 2005), I have attempted to maintain a certain level of professionalism with my staff while creating a family atmosphere while running the magazine. Currently at this time, online publications are on the rise in the market. The Internet is a vast wealth of information that provides valuable resources and tools to its users. A recent article stated that “while still important, print media is no longer the primary source of information and inspiration for many leftists, especially those under 35. The Internet and its future interconnection with Cable/TV/Ipod technology is becoming the main information source of the future” (Sargent, 2007).

With that knowledge, I knew that I my decision to launch an online publication was right on. Now the real test is what type of online publication would Junior’s Cave be in comparison to other similar magazines. My staff and I have approached running the magazine from an independent viewpoint—giving our audience our perspective from the everyday man or woman’s eyes. We knew that we did not want to be the next Time Magazine or People Magazine—we wanted a product that would separate us from the other “types” in our industry. In looking at our position in the publication arena, we are appealing to the audience who are looking to read about people who would not normally appear in the larger publication—the boy or girl next door or the local hero that goes unnoticed in the larger media. The magazine’s current strategy, organizational structure and management practices are all approached through the mentality of providing the market with a fresh innovative product that focuses on the “everyday” person. Junior’s Cave takes time to find that person who is doing something to make a difference, that person who is trying to live out her dreams, or that person who is overcoming extreme obstacles.

What the staff at Junior’s Cave has discovered is that there’s a market for this type of publication that was missing in smaller communities. The magazine is located in the Coastal Georgia area of this country—booming with all types of wonderful tales to be released to its community. That is the main purpose of Junior’s Cave and its overall culture makeup. What is the predominant culture type of the organization is a question that one can look at to help discover why Junior’s Cave Online Magazine is successful. The most obvious ones are the ability of the magazine to speak to its audience through their stores, spotlights and interviews, their ability to make their audience feel like they are reading stories from a personal close friend, and their ability to make the everyday man or woman shine like stars. In essence, the magazine’s ability to provide everyday people information that relates to them is one of the publication’s strong points. There is a hand few of online publications that seem to operate in the same manner as we are operating with similar results from their readership. One magazine that comes to mind is the ethnic magazine aimed at the Latino community called Hispanic Online Magazine, a totally web-Internet publication, providing a wealth of information to its audience.

We, as a society, are moving away from the big Hollywood stories to the mom’s and pop’s publication. Another question being asked is how does this type of culture benefit the organization? It benefits our magazine in many ways including being able to feel that our stories and interviews are being read by people who really are going to enjoy learning something that is hitting close to home. Our staff, on the other hand, enjoys working on these stories because we are able to provide to our community and its audience some neat features to the public of “everyday” folks in our area doing amazing things in their life. That would be one of the best rewards from publishing the magazine daily. Audience feedback reveals that the “independent” edge that the magazine carries while people are reading the magazine enables them to forget that they are reading a publication and feel like they are reading someone’s journal or private thoughts. That is an amazing feeling for me and my staff; we are accomplishing this goal. With any organization, there are negative feedbacks to how the organizational “culture” is set up. One of the biggest hindrances of running the magazine from the larger counterparts’ viewpoint is that the magazine gets too personal in its stories as the level of professionalism is sometimes questioned with the tone of the magazine. But, to answer those critics, that is why my staff and I work in this type of “culture” because we enjoy the down to earth—mom’s and pop’s attitude of the magazine and how it relates to presenting materials online.

In fact, in one of the letters to the Editor, a reader wrote in to me and stated that she has always enjoyed reading our various stories on the magazine—she always feel that she is reading about her next door neighbor or someone in her community that she knows (Juniorscave.com, 2006). Letters of this nature that I receive makes me realize that I am on the right path. Changes to the culture that I would change would be absolutely nothing. The magazine will continue to provide information to our audience from an independent perspective. We have always worked with one goal in mind; to connect the human race. We want our audience to think of Juniorscave.com as the “Human Network” online — bringing humans from all walks of life into one online experience. Overall, if one looks at the culture of Junior’s Cave based on the beliefs of Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, two business leaders who have reduced culture to two dimensions, then Junior’s Cave would be identified by Solidarity. This is the degree to which people think together in the same ways, sharing tasks and mutual interests. The main driving force in decisions is logic (Changingminds.org, 2007).

References

Changingminds.org, (2007). . Changingminds.org, Retrieved January 09, 2007, from changingminds.org/explanations/culture/goffee_jones_culture.htm

Hispanic Online Magazine, (2006). Main Page. Hispanic Online Magazine, Retrieved January 09, 2007, from www.hispaniconline.com/

Juniorscave.com, (2007). Editor's Page. Junior's Cave Online Magazine, 2, Retrieved January 09, 2007, from www.juniorscave.com/index15.html

Sargent , L (2007, January ). We’re Still Here . Z Magazine Online, 20, Retrieved January 09, 2007, from zmagsite.zmag.org/Jan2007/sargent0107.html


We are growing and will continue to grow. If anyone has any ideas that can make this online magazine better, please call 912-554-3997 or 912-571-1230 or email us at the general email address feedback@juniorscave.com

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