For Immediate Release
March 17, 2009

Contact:
Chad Harder
charder (at) missoulanews.com
(406) 543-6609

The publisher of the Missoula Independent plans to launch a new quarterly lifestyle magazine, Montana Headwall, focusing on the Big Sky State’s outdoor recreation scene. The debut issue should arrive on newsstands during the first week of May.

Editor-in-chief Matt Gibson says Headwall will cover a wide array of outdoor activities to attract the broadest possible audience of outdoor enthusiasts and general readers.

“We’ll definitely pay close attention to the elite adventurers, but we recognize that the vast majority of us just want to get outside and enjoy ourselves,” Gibson said. “By making the magazine fun, smart and stylish, we think people will want to read it, whether they ski gnarly backcountry lines or troll Flathead Lake with live bait. It’s all about taking pleasure in the beauty of Montana.”

Gibson says a typical issue will include two feature stories, a gallery of reader-submitted photos, getaway travel ideas, gear reviews, regular columns about food and natural history, and an essay penned by a prominent local writer.

Initial plans call for 10,000 copies of Headwall to be distributed in and around Missoula, in the Bitterroot valley, and throughout the Mission and Flathead valleys. The magazine will be available free of charge at most locations, but a handful of copies, primarily those displayed in supermarkets and book stores, will carry a price of $4.95.

“It’s kind of a hybrid distribution strategy designed to make Headwall accessible to as many readers as possible,” Gibson explained.

For more information, contact Headwall managing editor Chad Harder at 406-543-6609.