Bob Guccione, Jr. to Guest Edit MEDIA Magazine

June 4, 2008 - PRLog -- Bob Guccione Jr, former Editor and Publisher of SPIN, GEAR, and DISCOVER, will guest edit the September, special double issue of MediaPost's MEDIA magazine (http://publications.mediapost.com), which will kick off Advertising Week in New York City.

This visionary edition will be global in coverage and explore the possibilities, problems and the shape of media in the near and distant future. It will feature articles, essays and interviews by and with some of the most powerful, accomplished and imaginative figures in the world of content, advertising, technology and the communications industry, including scientists and futurists.

Some of the smartest people on the planet will debate and project how they believe media is going to evolve and how it will be consumed.  Besides exploring each category specifically, the issue will evaluate the future of resources (paper, oil, airwaves, time, money and imagination), of journalism, of technology (will future delivery methods be biological?), of the image (how do we verify what we see when the artificial can seamlessly replace the actual?), what will robots read (they will read), and why the internet won't consume print.

Related features include the future of media in India, Africa, Europe and China, a look inside the M.I.T Media Lab, how the ultimate search engine works and how marketers will attempt to hijack it (hint: its also the oldest search engine, and you're using it right now), life in a town with no media, and a neuroscientist on why probably the most exciting and unpredictable vocation of all, working in media, is so sodden with fear.

"We will see media transform and metamorphose hundreds of times in our lifetime and yet never radically change," says Guccione. "It is still and always going to be communication of information, some of it valuable, some of it dangerous, most of it meaningless, between people. The media, our vanities aside, is never the message.  The message is the message."

The Future of Media edition will come to life at MediaPost's Future of Media Forum, which will open Advertising Week.  A cross-industry panel will debate the ideas and discoveries from the pages of the magazine with a keynote address and an interactive round table discussion.

Guccione is bullish about what lies ahead: "Media professionals shouldn't fear the future, they should be more excited than ever: All the rules are subject to change or being thrown out altogether. Creativity has a new, almost infinite sandbox to play in."

About Bob Guccione, Jr. - Born in Manhattan in 1955, Bob Guccione, Jr. was raised in London and now makes his home in Brooklyn, New York.  Bob began his distinguished career at the age of 18 in the UK where he became Britain’s youngest-ever publisher. A year later he returned to America and launched the monthly music magazine, ROCK SUPERSTARS, making him America’s then youngest-ever publisher.  
   
In 1985, Guccione launched SPIN, the enormously successful music magazine that usurped Rolling Stone as the dominant pop culture magazine for 18-24 year olds. Under Guccione, SPIN developed a reputation for award-winning investigative journalism.  In 1997, Guccione sold SPIN to Vibe Ventures and in 1998 launched GEAR, a young men's lifestyle magazine. GEAR closed in 2003.

In October 2005, Guccione completed the acquisition of science magazine, DISCOVER, from Disney and formed Discover Media, LLC.   In the two years Guccione ran the title before stepping down as Chairman in December 2007, the magazine returned to profitability with advertising increasing 20% and newsstand sales increasing 35%.

Bob Guccione, Jr. has an international reputation and name recognition that few can claim within the media industry.

About MediaPost - MediaPost is the leading media resource for advertising and marketing decision makers.  MediaPost's established and respected publishing history began in 1996 with founder and publisher, Kenneth Fadner, creator of AdWeek magazines, and continues with Editor-in-Chief, Joe Mandese, a longstanding veteran in media and journalism. MediaPost publishes MEDIA and OMMA magazines, over 30 weekly e-newsletters and hosts over 16 industry conferences and events a year.

For more information visit: http://www.mediapost.com/thefuture