American Media faces a John McCain like battle against TMZ.com with it's planned relaunch of Radaronline.com

-BETH Late last month American Media Inc, the king of the tabloids announced that it had entered a partnership to take over the website of the now three times failed Radar Magazine, Radaronline.com. In the announcement it was said that millions will be pumped into the development of the site as well as the employment of reporters, camera men, editors etc. in an attempt to take on Time Warner's TMZ.com, the celebrity stalking website and television show that has become a superpower. We are pleased to see AMI getting it's feet deeper into familiar waters, but the question still lingers for us. What in the world took them so long to see the light? Why did they allow a company whose only link to celebrity gossip was via it's magazine publishing division by way of People magazine to get the jump on them? Well it's better late than never right? Many are eager to see what AMI comes up with when they relaunch Radaronline in 2009. Some are so eager, they are already criticizing the current content being published on the stand by site which to us is just ridiculous. How can people criticize something that hasn't taken shape yet? Anyway, it won't be an easy road for AMI if TMZ.com is indeed it's target. TMZ.com is a household name, frequented by gossip fiends 24/7 seeking their hourly dose of celeb dish. The biggest mistake AMI can make with the Radaronline.com relaunch is to do exactly what TMZ.com is already doing. This would spell immediate doom. The new Radaronline.com will have the celeb news machine that is AMI behind it, but most of AMI's news comes from the same places gossipists already frequent. There is no such thing as exclusivity anymore, especially on the web, so the new Radaronline will have to spin their news in a way that TMZ.com isn't. The new site will have to push the envelope a little further. We're talking about reporters and videographers getting the shit kicked out of them to deliver the juice. Another mistake the new Radaronline should avoid is being overly interactive. Many editors make the mistake of making their sites too interactive in an effort to engage readers, but the truth is, all the readers want to do is read what you publish and comment on if they feel the need to. Also, too many interactive features slows down the performance and takes away from the purpose the site was launched to serve. Hopefully an online only Radar will do better than the print.

Radar's passion for failure just keeps em coming back?

So will the atom bomb drop on Radar this time around, or will the mag that loves to fold stick around for a while on round three. Editor Maer Roshan seems to think the time is now for Radar in print again but we will sit back on this one and watch how it unfolds. While many magazines are struggling and/or going online 100%, Roshan seems optimistic that he can get people to shell out money for more of the same. Its like this blog shit, who needs another one? "Who needs another magazine?"It's a question I'm often asked by cynical media reporters (and occasionally by my mother). I started Radar four years ago because I believed there was a place in the world for a smart, subversive title that didn't pull its punches. After five issues and a few bumps and scrapes, I still do. Whatever they're saying this week about the demise of print, I think great magazines of the kind Radar aspires to be are essential as ever. Part II: Hard To Kill, But Why? Maer Explains [ETP]