Today, the day of reckoning is upon us as Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. have announced their plan to save the world, anti-trust laws be damned. (Let’s just assume their lawyers are better than ours.)

Here’s the prescription: all of the old white men from all of the companies will work together to “develop open standards” for a “digital storefront” — that is, or sounds like, the much ballyhooed iTunes for Magazines. Then comes the development of technology that will allow readers to “enjoy their favorite media content” on portable devices including phones, e-readers and laptops. From today’s press release:

The goal of this digital initiative is fourfold, to create: a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication; a robust publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes; a consumer storefront offering an extensive selection of reading options; and a rich array of innovative advertising opportunities.

It’s as ambitious as ever, but when every competitor with money is all in, the risk is either enormous or nonexistent, depending on how you look at it. From a business standpoint, no company will likely be outdone by another because of the teamwork aspect. But if it fails, are we kissing magazines goodbye for good?

The project, as previously noted, will be headed by an interim leader, Time Inc.’s John Squires, who notes that “Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform.” It’s only the purchasing that sounds problematic, considering magazine websites can already be accessed “anywhere, anytime” on cell phones, computers, readers and even mp3 players. For free. But hopefully, the technological firepower this group will have at its disposal will work to improve on the current e-iterations we have. If it’s out there, this supergroup plans to perfect it.

And what of the money?

Advertisers will be able to utilize innovative formats that benefit from the highly engaging, interactive nature of this new medium. In addition to entirely new magazine and newspaper reading experiences, content selections may ultimately include books, comic books, blogs and other media.

Enjoy the free blogs while they last.

The full release is below:

LEADING PUBLISHERS FORM VENTURE TO OFFER CONSUMERS
NEW DIGITAL STOREFRONT AND PORTABLE READING EXPERIENCE

Initiative Will also Offer Marketers Rich Array of Innovative Advertising Opportunities

New York, NY, December 8, 2009 – Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. today jointly announced that they have entered into an independent venture to develop open standards for a new digital storefront and related technology that will allow consumers to enjoy their favorite media content on portable digital devices.

The goal of this digital initiative is fourfold, to create: a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication; a robust publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes; a consumer storefront offering an extensive selection of reading options; and a rich array of innovative advertising opportunities.

Beyond the publications of the equity partners, the venture will welcome other publishers to offer their content via this new digital platform. Publishers will derive revenue from content and advertising sales, as well as from print subscriptions.

“For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops,” explained John Squires, the venture’s interim managing director. “Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform.”

For publishers and advertisers, the venture will offer an attractive, cost-efficient, consumer-focused environment. Advertisers will be able to utilize innovative formats that benefit from the highly engaging, interactive nature of this new medium. In addition to entirely new magazine and newspaper reading experiences, content selections may ultimately include books, comic books, blogs and other media.

For the hardware, software and retail industries, the initiative will provide dynamic new business opportunities by organizing a library of quality content with a common format and technical specifications. The venture partners represent an unduplicated audience of 144.6 million according to Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI). By the end of 2010, Forrester Research estimates that 10 million e-readers will be sold in the U.S., and according to m:Metrics (comScore), there will be over 50 million smartphones in the U.S. by the end of 2010.

Some of the biggest rivals in magazine publishing are close to a deal that would combine their forces in an effort to resuscitate a dying print industry. Titans of the media world — including Condé Nast, Heart and Time Inc. — are working to form an alliance that would recreate magazines for a digital age, in a plan that includes new mobile iterations sold in an iTunes-like store, as well as print magazines, according a report in The Observer. It’s like a publisher’s version of Voltron.

That means most of the country’s largest, most influential magazines — People, Time, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker — all in one place, so desperate to survive this Great Print Depression that one group no longer believes they can provide the fix that will put them ahead of their peers. The only way we’ll get out of this, they seem to be saying, is if we all pour every resource into the reinvention of a medium. Together.

Leaked Time Inc. memos hinted at such a supergroup back in September, revealing the consideration of an alliance to compete with devices like Amazon’s Kindle. “Handwritten notes indicate Time Inc. executives have discussed the new venture with other magazine publishers, including Conde Nast, Meredith, and Hearst,” reported one source.

Now, the deal is “imminent.” In his piece, Observer media maven John Koblin reveals Time Inc.’s John Squires as the interim chief of the project, charged with “generating interest” and insisting publishers “pull together.” The anonymous sources Koblin uses to bolster his case seem optimistic, but cautious and vague:

“The really, really hard part is that you’ve got so many different kinds of devices running on different operating systems. And how do you handle that? The consortium provides one point of contact for the consumer. When you come to the main store, you can get the content any way you want.”

And though Squires refused to comment for the piece, Koblin added relevant quotes past interviews with the Time Inc. digital futurist:

“With magazines, the form has to change,” [Squires] continued. “All I’m saying is that there are ways to design magazines differently for that kind of experience that’ll be attractive and will feel different to a consumer.”

It smells too big to fail, but is the innovation there? If the names being tossed around are a proper indication, money won’t be an issue, but as a consumer, you’re left waiting, hoping the ideas will follow.