Magazine Publishers Divided Over Giving Digital Issues for Free

Offering full, digital copies of magazines on tablets for free to existing print subscribers is a critical misstep, basically destroying the economic model for publishing, according to John Loughlin, executive vice president and general manager of Hearst Magazines. “We are at a critical juncture for magazine publishers to reassert value of content, and that value needs to be paid for,” argued Loughlin, while speaking during a panel discussion about the future of publishing at the Open Mobile Summit on Thursday.

Time Inc.’s senior vice president for consumer marketing, Nate Simmons, posited that the concept is similar to Time Warner’s TV Everywhere