Hoboken: The New (Print) Media Capital of the World?

In an age where magazines are read on phones and tablets, and publishers are racing to adapt to a digital age, print media seems actually to be thriving right here in Hoboken.

This true tale began last winter when hMag, an oblong shaped, high-end luxury bi-monthly magazine started by Tisha Creative's Joe Mindak and Kevin Cale, was launched. Their goal, according to their Web site, was to "highlight all things positive in the Square Mile" and "promote the treasures in town."

They distribute hMag—not sure why the "h" is lower case, I guess it's supposed to be hIPPER—to retailers and drop one copy off at every doorstep, always polybagged, and they now have dispensers in downtown Hoboken, just like several other publications.

In March, the mailboxes of Hoboken's more than 35,000 Hoboken residences and businesses received another bimonthly publication, this time a digest-sized magazine, aptly named Hoboken Digest (in the interest of full disclosure, I'm this magazine's editor). Each edition is single-themed: the launch edition covered Hoboken's history, including an interview with town historian Lenny Luizzi; followed by health and beauty, and most recently published a summer destination guide. The community took to HD right away and the book size has increased with each issue. Entrepreneur Jason Underberg, originally from New Jersey, launched several Digest's in Tampa, FL seven years ago before moving back to the Garden State.

Other publishers took note of these two puissants overtaking their turf so changes had to be made. Palisades, published by the Hudson Reporter, recently added the tagline "Hoboken and Beyond" to its cover, to bring awareness of its Hoboken coverage. The Jersey Journal also rebranded its "Waterfront Weekly" publication for this area to the "Hoboken Now" version.

The Hoboken Progress, another direct mail publication, published by Bryan La Placa in Elmwood (he also prints a Secaucus and Sayreville version) is delivered to your door every week, bagged with circulars.

The most tenured local publisher is Hudson Reporter (founded in 1983) is located inside the old Hudson United Bank at the northwest corner of 14th and Washington streets. They paved the way for local coverage, as they publish a Reporter edition for each Hudson County municipality – Bayonne, Jersey City, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, West New York, and of course, Hoboken. 

There are also several non-Hoboken related, but cover New Jersey and New York City, that are distributed throughout town. Most notable are amNY, Metro, the Village Voice, and L Mag. There's also Steppin' Out (Collins Communications, Fair Lawn), who claims to be the "most successful weekly entertainment magazine in the New Jersey and New York City area" though it comes across as a cheap combination of Maxim and a Val-Pak. El Especialito (Union City) who publish 12 different editions in New York, New Jersey and Miami, including one just for Hudson County targets the large Hispanic community. Dining Out has a northern New Jersey edition. Lastly, Competitor NY (whose editor lives in town) is the premiere magazine for sports enthusiasts and endurance athletes.

All these print publications in one square mile do provide some hope for the future. Radio was supposed to die when television was introduced, yet we're still listening to it. The same is being said about digital readers replacing print, but we're still escaping with a form of entertainment that's been around for hundreds of years.