Current Status
On May 17, 2007 Active Interest Media, an El Segundo, CA-based magazine publisher, announced that it would buy Backpacker magazine from Rodale Press. A May 10th article in the New York Post reported a sale price of $14.5 million. Active Interest Media, which also publishes Yoga Journal and American Cowboy, moved Backpacker to Boulder, CO in the summer of 2007, and Jon Dorn continues to lead the magazine as editor-in-chief.
Backpacker publishes nine issues per year, which includes an annual gear guide in March. Combined issues are published for January-February, July-August, and November-December. The magazine is divided into the service-centric Basecamp section (which won a National Magazine Award for 2005), a feature well, a gear review section, and concludes with maps of local trails corresponding to six regional editions. Every April Backpacker presents its "Editors Choice" awards to highlight the best gear of the year.
Starting in 2004 Backpacker began publishing regional editions of the magazine that include map cards for local trails. The regional concept developed from survey results that showed the magazine's readers were interested in hikes near where they lived. It discontinued these map cards in the April 2008 as part of their effort to become a 100% carbon neutral magazine. The regional sections are now on-line. An all digital version of the magazine was also made available.
In November 2006 Backpacker began posting podcasts and videos on its website to complement the content that appears in the magazine issues. Additional videos appear on Backpacker's YouTube channel.
In April 2007 Backpacker received its third National Magazine Award nomination in two years, this time in the single-topic issue category for its October 2006 "Survival" issue. National Magazine Awards are presented each May by the American Society of Magazine Editors, and are considered the magazine industry's highest editorial honor. Also in 2006 Backpacker received the MIN Best of the Web award in the Uses of Interactivity category for the backpacker.com/hikes website.
In May 2008 Backpacker won a first-ever National Magazine Award for "General Excellence" in the circulation category, 250,000 to 500,000. To win this honor, Backpacker beat national magazines like Cookie, New York, Wondertime, and W.
Backpacker is also used as part of the American Hiking Society's membership package.
Backpacker's primary competition in the magazine world includes Outside and Men's Journal.
Read more about this topic: Backpacker (magazine)
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