News releases announcing new web sites are becoming quite rare. Why? Because practically nobody cares about a new web site, really. That's why I was surprised this morning to see this release via PRWeb about a new website, and even more surprised to read such unabashedly gushing quotes from the people responsible for it. The new website is for and by 'nationally recognized Tax Lady Roni Deutch.' Here's a brief excerpt from the release:

"I am so pleased with how beautiful my new website looks. Every single page looks fresh and inviting to people looking for help with IRS tax debt relief," claims Ms. Deutch. "My web team is comprised of talented individuals who have put together an amazing new website that I am proud to associate my name with."

Well, you know I had to go there and see for myself. You can, too. Well? Hey, I'm no website expert. In my opinion it looks a lot like a lot of other websites. I don't know that it rises to the definition of 'amazing.' But guess what? Roni Deutch has a blog, and you can access it via the website. That's probably the best and more important feature of the whole development project to date, and yet there's no mention of it until paragraph nine of the news release, way down in the About Roni Lynn Deutch motherhood paragraph!

The blog's not bad. There seems to be some fascination with new cars sprinkled in among the mainstream posts, but there's fresh content about tax issues and problems, IRS news and so forth. One problem is it uses the Google blog platform which doesn't enable trackbacks, but you can leave comments. A truly amazing development team might have used WordPress perhaps?

Last comments: when was the last time you read a news release that included the word 'vibe?' Pretty hip, yes?

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Today in Media Life, staff writer Diego Vasquez interviews the new publisher and editorial director of a magazine called Success which since 1891 has been washed out and folded up more times than your favorite t-shirt. I especially like the use of the word 'vision' in the subhead to this story entitled, "The relaunching of Success, yet again."

Hey, it's a free country. If you want to open a drive-in movie theater in New England, bring back peanut butter in a barrell, launch a line of Victorian wear, re-introduce Bowler hats, it is your right to do so., right? To paraphrase Dick Nixon, "You're entitled to your opinion even though you're wrong."

It just seems to me that the two words success and magazine — especially a new old hard copy magazine in this most unsuccessful of times in print media — is akin to the common coupling of love and marriage nin song and verse at a time when 50% or more of all wedded couples fall out of love and stop subscribing to marriage.

In fairness, there's some talk in the interview about an online component to this new and improved, or more Successful magazine. But here's what I don't get: if the online component is really, really good, what compels me to spend $5.95 for the hard copy magazine unless I'm attempting a 1930's retro re-decoration of the house in tribute to an era when people actually bought and read magazines?

If magazines were a brand new idea today, knowing what you know about the immediacy, economy, and reach of the online world, if someone came to you with the idea of a printed volume featuring long lead times, comparatively huge distribution costs, and an estimated worldwide audience of 100,000 people, what would your reaction be? Oh goody? Just what we need?

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