Zoom-in Online

It's so easy to make mistakes as a media company. So many of them are run by ludites who have a real passion for quality content...and, sadly, that's simply not enough today.

Succeeding in tomorrow's media world is as much about creating quality content that appeals to your constituency as it is about having a really forward-thinking distribution strategy.

The article from this weekend's Times about The New Republic's woes on the web struck me as just one more example of how quality publications are struggling to evolve.

A redesigned Web site is to appear in mid-April, with more video and new features. Mr. Peretz said that the magazine had been "over our heads" on the Web, and had been using "retarded technologies," but was now making a bigger investment.

"The print publication cannot keep up with the news," Mr. Peretz said. So actual news will go up on the Web site, which now has five employees, up from two a year ago, while the longer production cycle for the print magazine will give writers more time for reporting.

Mr. Peretz, 67, has himself become a blogger. He said he was "not enjoying it exactly," but that he had found it addictive.

"When I used to see something irritating, I would typically call a friend," he said. "Now I just go to the blog." He said he is often surprised at how quickly readers will post a response. "It's as if they're waiting for something," he said. "Then they say, 'Ah, here he is. I'm going to pounce.' "