The Mail

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 1, 2004

A SUBTLE DISTINCTION

In a recent Folio: article ("Just What We Didn't Need," February 2004), author Jill Ambroz mentions that certain G J publications "...missed their promised rate bases by less than 2 percent, which is allowed under the rules of the Audit Bureau of Circulations." Please note that ABC does not have a 2 percent variance allowance within our rules for periodical audit findings, adjustments or error tolerances. Suggesting that variances of less than 2 percent are "allowed" implies that they are somehow endorsed, condoned or waived by ABC, when it's really up to the industry to evaluate our audit findings.

ABC does have a Variance Report listing audits adjusted downward by 2 percent or more during a given audit period. Two percent merely serves as a threshold for inclusion in this report, but smaller variances may still be meaningful to an advertiser. Please ensure that your readers understand this subtle - yet critical - distinction. Marybeth Meils Director, Communications Audit Bureau of Circulations

JACK NOT JIMMY

I enjoyed your editorial in the February. Folio: on challenges to magazines' circulations.

However, your attribution of "life is not fair" to Jimmy Carter brought me up short. I checked my Bartlett's and confirmed that John F. Kennedy said it earlier in a 1962 press conference: "Life is unfair."

Keep up the good work. I agree with others who have observed that the latest version of Folio: is much more relevant to day-to-day publishing operations than the breathless, gossipy version your predecessor edited. Frank Finn Vice President, Editor-in-Chief Douglas Publications, Inc.

DESIGN FOR LIVING

The January "Lifts" feature on Natural Health magazine's redesign may have left your readers with the wrong impression. The editorial repositioning was the basis for the redesign, the essence of which was not clearly communicated in the article.

The new editorial premise is that our bodies are inherently designed to be healthy and is based on decades of research in fields from medicine and health to anthropology. Living according to our true nature, our biology, can exert powerful health effects of far greater impact than any remedy or medicine we can choose. Each editorial section reflects this editorial vision.

Natural Health uniquely focuses on what matters most in women's lives, including creating their best health.

Finally, the publisher is Randy Frank Leeds. Barbara Harris Editorial Director, Natural Health