Reader’s Digest as Content Creation Company

When it comes to media, Reader’s Digest is about as old school as it gets. Founded in 1922, it was for many years one of the country’s best known and most popular publications specializing in jokes, cartoons, inspiring stories, and how-to tips. In addition to its flagship print publication, it grew to more than 70 specialty Web sites and started to peddle books, music, and videos. Despite that growth, or maybe because of it, the company became burdened with debt, and it August 2009 it filed for bankruptcy. In February it emerged from bankruptcy protection and today it named Lisa Sharples of Allrecipes.com fame as president of the community division. In her new role, Sharples will “oversee all aspects of the company’s brand,” according to this article from TechFlash. President and CEO Mary Berner, quoted in the TechFlash article, said Sharples will help the company grow its multimedia platforms.

“We are fast becoming a content-creation company that engages customers globally through any channel they desire,” said Berner. “We intend to accelerate this strategy by putting the Reader’s Digest brand under Lisa’s direction. Her Seattle-based team has built the world’s largest food and cooking website that’s one of the company’s fastest-growing brands and an example of the significant strides being made toward realizing RDA’s vision to create the world’s largest communities based around branded content.”

To find out more about the company’s recent difficulties, you can read this report from Reuters. To discover four ways of looking at a flower, 25 ways to make your marriage work, and 13 things your tax accountant won’t tell you, you can read today’s edition of Reader’sDigest.com