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Launched in 1995, this digital incarnation of monthly Outside magazine has grown to become an online Mecca for outdoor sports junkies. But this isn't your average "dewd, let's
find an adrenaline rush" site. Surfers who have this URL bookmarked tend to be thoughtful types who crave not just the latest advice on climbing, trekking and rafting hardware,
but also breaking environmental news and deeper insights about the planet. The site boasts 175,000 unique users and 1.3 million page views per month.
Content/Contacts
Outside.com readers are "people who go out and do things, not armchair travelers," says Editorial Director Sarah Friedman. As such, the Web site - operated in partnership with
Away.com - offers the tools and resources readers need to plan their own adventures. Click on a story about hiking in the Rockies, for example, and you'll find an insider's
perspective, along with guidebooks, equipment info and tour outfitters serving the region.
The Web site also breaks news related to environmental science, sports, politics, literature, art and culture. "We rest at the intersection of recreation and the environment,"
Friedman says, noting that adventure travel often means humans encroaching on pristine wilderness. "We're always exploring that tension and fighting for balance," she says.
Sarah Friedman, editorial director, sfriedman@outsidemag.com,
Michael Roberts, associate editor, mroberts@outsidemag.com.
Pitch Tips
If you've got an idea, send it via email and cut to the chase. "I want to be spoon-fed," says Friedman. "Why is the story idea relevant to Outside and why should my readers
care? Don't just tell me so-and-so has a new book out. What's the hook?"
If it's a corporate-sponsored event you're pitching, (a la "HP's Laser Jet Challenge") chances are you won't get any further than a calendar listing. Ears will more likely
perk up if you've got breaking news, or the inside dish on a little-known expedition - a group of people setting out to cross Greenland, for example, or a guy traversing China's
Gobi Desert on camelback. "Those [excursions] aren't usually that well publicized, and we might follow them," Friedman says.
Comments
Friedman characterizes her readers as "literary" folks who consider themselves "stewards of the earth." Sure, the site tackles fun stuff (e.g., "Nude Recreation Week" and a
couple's plans to get married on the Titanic, 3,000 feet under the sea). But news coverage also embraces more serious matters, such as Beijing's bid for the Olympics, the start
of wildfire season, and British Columbia's lifting of a ban on grizzly hunting. Note that editors are hungry for analysis, not simply reports of "a whale found off the coast of
an island..."
The instantly updateable Internet makes it possible to keep print readers well informed between magazine cycles.
In The Pipeline
Roughly 70% of site content builds on stories appearing in Outside magazine, but the Web editors leverage their medium (limitless real estate, that is) to take print stories to
a deeper level. For example, a photo gallery features shots that didn't made it into the print magazine. Content that originates in print usually appears online roughly two weeks
after each magazine hits newsstands. Most of the original web site content comes in the form of breaking news and is updated daily.
Editors are always on the lookout for expert columnists to bring into the fold. But the process is extremely selective: New Yorker caliber prose is in order.