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San Diego Magazine, whose publication was suspended at the beginning of the pandemic last year, has been taken over by longtime food writer Troy Johnson and his wife Claire, they said on Friday.
Johnson, who has been the magazine’s food critic and editor since 2010, takes on the role of editor and chief content officer. Johnson, also known for his frequent appearances on food network shows such as Guy’s Grocery Games, said he plans to continue his television work, which includes co-hosting Campus Eats on the Big Ten Network, but intends Working full time for overseeing the city’s longest running magazine and occasionally writing a restaurant article.
The San Diego couple acquires a majority stake in the 73-year-old publication and all of its media partners from Desert Publications Inc. of Palm Springs for an undisclosed price. Jim Fitzpatrick, who was editor of San Diego Magazine for most of the last 27 years through Friday, will keep his minority stake. He will also remain in an advisory capacity.
Troy, 48, and Claire, 34, said they funded the deal with a combination of personal savings and capital from an investor who wants to remain anonymous. Johnson said his passion for San Diego and his concern for the companies that were hit particularly hard during the COVID-19 crisis first inspired him to think about buying – and running – the magazine.
“Basically, I’ve been reporting on this city part-time for 25 years and I realized during the pandemic that I really wanted to invest in San Diego and focus fully on telling the stories of the people here,” said Johnson. “I was confident that I had the concepts that I could monetize to make enough of a living and make a difference in my hometown.
“I wanted to do it on my own, but we approached Jim with the idea of buying San Diego Magazine and it turned out the timing was right.”
Johnson, who began his journalistic career in the music field, was editor-in-chief of SLAMM and music editor of CityBeat. He wants to add more videos to the multimedia platforms of San Diego Magazine. He also wants to set up an in-house creative studio to help brands and companies communicate their stories and then share them across the magazine’s different channels.
The publication’s coverage area is likely to expand to include real estate and development, architecture and home design, technology, culture and philanthropy, and wellness.
The changes Johnson hopes to make seem in line with what most media organizations are trying to do as they adapt to an ever-evolving world of engagement that is increasingly online, said Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University. However, he is concerned about the ability of magazines to thrive if they continue to cut their resources instead of expanding them.
“All magazines are now just a fraction of their former selves, whether it’s Time Magazine or Esquire,” said Nelson, who occasionally writes for San Diego Magazine. “Because of the business model and advertising model that they have relied on for so many years, they have had to cut their people, their product, and find other ways to generate income.
“But they’re doing podcasts now, extra branding, I admire what they’re trying to do and I want them to be successful, I really do. They have done great journalism in the past and I hope they continue and provide deeper coverage. “
The lifestyle magazine, which describes itself as San Diego’s “Guide to the good life”, has made very few changes of ownership since it was founded in 1948 by Ed and Gloria Self. Fitzpatrick bought it from the founders in 1994 and sold it 11 years later to Malibu’s CurtCo Media, only to repurchase it in 2010 in partnership with Desert Publications.
“It’s just great timing for both of us,” said Fitzpatrick. “I’m 75 years old and I should start thinking about retiring. The magazine is coming out of this COVID crisis very strong and it’s great for Troy and Claire and for the magazine to have some young executives coming into the magazine. It’s great for San Diego too because I’ve always believed that having a vibrant city magazine is important.
The temporary shutdown of San Diego Magazine in March last year was short-lived. It had resumed operations in June and was relaxed again with a few bimonthly issues. It had laid off about three dozen employees, but over the past year it increased its payroll. There are up to 23 positions and the magazine relies on a stable of up to a dozen freelancers, said Claire Johnson, who plans to continue working full-time in her current product management job at NBCUniversal.
The monthly publication has 41,000 monthly subscribers and has more than 800,000 unique readers and nearly 400,000 followers on social media
The idea to buy San Diego Magazine came about last year when Troy Johnson decided to start a nightly Instagram live show at the beginning of the pandemic, which allowed people in the restaurant industry to share their stories.
“Troy was at a crucial point in his career,” recalls Claire Johnson. “I’ve seen what it takes to connect with the local community, and I’ve always had a passion for media and the importance of local journalism put it over. Troy is such a creative person and has such a vision that we felt our greatest asset could be using the San Diego Magazine platform to build on. “
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