Active Interest Media acquires Yellowstone Journal

BOULDER, CO –Active Interest Media, Inc. (AIM) has acquired Yellowstone Journal Corporation (YJC), AIM President and Chief Executive Officer Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III announced. The new acquisition adds to AIM’s growing portfolio of enthusiast magazines, consumer shows, books, and Internet sites (www.aimmedia.com), and further advances its expansion into the outdoor and Western travel markets. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1994, YJC is a tourism focused media group that produces two print publications, Yellowstone Journal and 99 Things to Do in Yellowstone County, as well as the industry-leading website, YellowstonePark.com. Together, YJC’s print and online products reach over 4 million people annually, influencing both prospective and committed Yellowstone Park tourists during their trip planning and visit.

For over fourteen years, the Yellowstone Journal has been the most trusted voice on local Park and recreational news, providing in-depth, comprehensive coverage on everything from grizzly bear management to backcountry adventures to geyser gazing. 99 Things to Do in Yellowstone County is the definitive guide to
Yellowstone Park and the surrounding regions, relied on by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year for its detailed overview of available activities and destinations in the area. Both publications are distributed to visitors in the six states surrounding Yellowstone Park (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and South Dakota), and together boast an estimated total readership of approximately one million.

Since its launch in 1996, YJC’s website, YellowstonePark.com, has won numerous national and international awards. YellowstonePark.com was honored by the Webby Awards’ People’s Voice in 2005 as the Best Tourism Site in the World. In 2007, a redesigned YellowstonePark.com swept the tourism category, winning both the People’s Voice and the Critical Judges’ Award for Best Tourism Site in the World, as well as numerous other prestigious honors.

Today, YellowstonePark.com is widely regarded as one of the premier tourism website in the world, serving as a total trip-planning resource for travelers, offering timely and relevant travel tips and tools that influence prospective travelers around the world. The site is also available in French, Italian, and German.

“The Yellowstone Journal Corporation is an excellent company with outstanding future growth potential, and represents the best kind of multi-platform media properties we seek to acquire,” said Andy Clurman, Chief Operating Officer of AIM. “Its family of print and web products provide a perfect fit with AIM’s Backpacker and American Cowboy magazines, both in terms of sharing content, audience, and trip planning tools, and because of the potential it provides for combining YJC’s model and expertise with AIM’s resources to expand to other travel markets.”

Shelli Johnson, original founder and CEO of Yellowstone Journal Corporation, as well as the rest of the YJC team, will remain with the company.

“This is an exciting day for us,” said Johnson. “We founded this company as a little newspaper, and over the years we have worked hard to build a thriving business. This acquisition will not close the book, but rather turn the page to the next chapter. We are excited about our partnership with AIM and look forward to realizing an even grander vision that will extend the reach of our tourism partners, providing more extensive content and even better experiences for our customers around the world.”

To learn more about YJC, go to www.yellowstoneinternational.com
About AIM: Based in El Segundo, California, AIM (www.aimmedia.com) is a consumer enthusiast media company that serves a base of loyal constituents through print, event and online products that connect consumers with their passions.

AIM operates in four distinct vertical segments; Healthy Living, Marine, Homebuyer, and Western Art and Living. Its titles include Yoga Journal, Backpacker, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, Optimum Wellness, SNEWS®, Whole Foods Market® magazine, Southwest Art, American Cowboy, Log Home Design, Log Home Living, Timber Home Living, Building Systems, Black Belt, The Collector’s Guide, New Old House, Old-House Journal, and Yachts International. AIM produces and markets conferences, DVDs and books, and produces 12 shows on log homes and more than two dozen building seminars. The company also produces the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show®, the largest boat show in the world.

About Backpacker: Backpacker brings the outdoors to readers’ doorsteps, inspiring and empowering them to get out and enjoy nature more often. The authority on active adventure, Backpacker is the world’s first GPS-enabled magazine, and the only magazine whose editors personally test the hiking trails, camping gear, and survival tips they publish. Backpacker’s Editors’ Choice Awards -– an industry honor recognizing design, feature, and product innovation –-have become the gold standard against which all other outdoor-industry awards are measured. The magazine won the 2008 National Magazine Award for Editorial Excellence, the highest honor in the magazine industry.
Backpacker’s award-winning website, www.backpacker.com, is updated daily and features more than 3,000 hikes, a searchable and comprehensive database of outdoor gear (www.gearfinder.com), special sections for beginners and female hikers, the most active community forums in the outdoor space, and a wealth of trail tips, videos, and GPS know-how.

About American Cowboy: Published for devotees of the cowboy and the West, American Cowboy (www.americancowboy.com) covers all aspects of the Western lifestyle, delivering the best in travel, entertainment, personalities, rodeo action, human interest, art, poetry, fashion, food, horsemanship, history, and every other facet of Western culture. With stunning photography and you-are-there reportage, American Cowboy immerses readers in the cowboy life and the magic that is the great American West.