January 02, 1999

LENS PUBLISHING ANNOUNCES MANAGEMENT CHANGES

MINNEAPOLIS--LENS Publishing Company, Inc., parent company of Utne Magazine, has made several management changes to reflect its recent growth and to position the company for expansion into new business ventures.

Nina Utne was named chair."Since our family has grown up along with the magazine, I'm finally able to become more active in day-to-day operations, " she said. "The magazine’s mission and values have always been close to my heart, and I'm looking forward to the outreach opportunities my expanded role will provide."

Eric Utne, who founded Utne Magazine in 1984, will continue to serve the company in an advisory role, creating special projects such as the recent Y2K Citizen's Action Guide, which is in its third printing with 700,000 copies distributed.

Robert Welsch, LENS president/CEO, maintains responsibility for strategic direction while also taking on the role of co-founder and CEO of a new venture, iCulture.net, an online portal company in which LENS is a founding shareholder.

Margaret Klis, former CFO, was named Chief Operating Officer and oversees all LENS operations, which currently include Utne Magazine, Utne Online (www.utne.com), Utne Web Watch Daily and Utne Magazine Books.

Tom McKusick, a 12-year LENS veteran, was promoted to VP/Group Publisher. In that role, his responsibilities include circulation, production, and advertising sales for Utne Magazine as well as online advertising sales. The magazine has enjoyed 9 percent growth in advertising pages in 1999.

Utne Magazine is the nation's leading digest of alternative ideas. The bimonthly magazine has a paid circulation of 225,000 and has been nominated three times for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Cafe Utne (www.utne.com) is one of the nation’s most active online discussion communities.