I sometimes have to tell skeptics, “No, university magazines are not being swept aside in the massive, virtual wave of digital publishing.”

Although a few universities have shuttered their flagship publication — despite it being the vehicle with an institution’s most comprehensive reach — they knowingly or not are muting their message to as much as half of their constituency. That’s the difference between putting your print magazine in an alum’s mailbox and trying to persuade them to go online to search for your message. Most university administrations see that their print product has staying power. 

Please don’t confuse that point with the delusions of a Luddite. Back in 2010, LMU Magazine was among the first to adapt to an iPad-friendly edition, and we saw no evidence then that any other universities beat us to it. Our approach long has been to be as much as possible where the readers are: print, iPad, online, mobile and even podcast. And now digital.

This issue of LMU Magazine is the first truly digital edition of the university’s flagship publication. Rather than load print features into online templates, we’ve decided to produce an issue that makes use of some of the most current digital functionality: embedded video, parallax scrolling, motion graphics, animations. We’ve conceptualized stories about voting, freeways, L.A. sunsets and more that are particularly tell-able with those elements of a visual overlay. Of course, we hope you like it. We also hope you find it informational, smart, provocative, surprising and amusing.

We haven’t abandoned print, by the way. Our next print edition will appear in spring 2025. We’re working on that, too.