The American edition of The Week is trying something new. It is about to publish an issue that will only be available on the web. The extra issue is scheduled for April 20 and will be available online for a week. Its theme will be the environment. That, the publishers say, is another reason the issue will not be the usual paper and ink. It will save, a spokesman said, a lot of trees.
The special issue – which is being sponsored by the Lexus Division of Toyota Motors does not displace a regular issue. The Week, which is part of Dennis Publishing, only publishes 48 issues a year. Mid-April is one of the periods when no issue is scheduled.
This is the first time, it’s claimed, that a special issue of a magazine has been designed solely for the web. Lately several publications that have folded are keeping their name, and image, alive by publishing online versions. Among them Elle Girl, Premiere, Child and Life and Teen People This is the second time in recent months that the US edition of The Week has done a special deal with a big advertiser. In November an extra 100,000 copies of the magazine – featuring a promotion by Philips Electronics – were distributed free to commuters in New York. That promotion – which involved no ads, just additional editorial material – was budgeted at $600,000.
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