FRONT PAGE / POSTS
Print is dead, long live magazines!
by Jo Peters| Brighton, UK
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
tags: consumer culture, culture, emergence, europe, technology
We all know print is in decline and as a medium it is unsustainable.
However, these days the business of newspaper publishing comprises print, web and apps, and it is a tale of two trends. Whilst the US and Europe are experiencing a decline, the emerging markets are showing signs of growth with LatAm expecting the largest increase of 4.7% over the next 4 years. The burgeoning free newspaper market is also seeing growth in the Asia Pacific and Latin American regions.
Talking of free, paywalls, or ‘value gateways’ as News International calls them to sweeten the pill, haven’t proved to be the most successful model for online news as people expect their information from the internet to be free
But interestingly people do expect to pay for their mobile sources of information and entertainment. Apps like Flipboard aggregate news from multiple publishers where you can build your own ‘news playlists’. Apple has launched Newsstand on the iOS 5 (although typically they retain all the data). The new Facebook apps allow publishers to be exposed to a wider audience via exposure in the Ticker and on your newsfeed; The Guardian app gets over 1 million page views a day from Facebook. With the increase of information sharing editors or curators are being superseded by friends or ‘people like you’.
Ever since Esquire launched its Augmented Reality enabled edition 2 years ago, magazines have been looking for different ways to engage their readers on multi platforms by innovating and diversifying their offer.
Vice started life 17 years ago as a niche free magazine in Canada and now has over 30 local editions, it runs an international creative agency, an IPTV channel and even a pub! The Reader’s Digest meanwhile makes only 20% out of actual publishing – the rest is from financial & other services. Meanwhile in China, Vogue and local women’s fashion glossy Raili regularly publish editions of 350 pages and have even created TV shows.
Contract and niche magazine publishing are thriving. British photographer Rankin has just launched a new bi-annual, Hunger, whilst ‘We Love Pop’ is a new title from Egmont. Even Conde Nast’s Style.com has launched in print and the BBC has just sold all their titles to a Venture Capitalist so business can’t be all bad.
Magazines are often regarded as an indulgence, a private time away from the glare of the screen. But there’s another reason why magazines may survive. Increased micro-targeting online from both editors and advertisers doesn’t allow for serendipity – as this respondent (IPSOS 2011) research recognises:
“with magazines, you might stumble across an interesting article or an amazing image that you wouldn’t have seen online”
Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Centre for Civic Media at MIT, an internet advocate, agrees that the internet doesn’t match the ability of printed media to bring you information you didn’t know you wanted to know. This presents an interesting argument in defence of ‘stumbling across’ the printed page.
Ultimately, the media owners who survive will be those who offer a unique service to brands, enabling them reach their discrete communities of loyal readers. With insights into their readers, publishers and brands can partner to co-create impactful content with the resources of editorial and in-house creative teams.
© Jo Peters 2012
25 February 2012 at 5:59 pm
Jo Peters says:
Thanks for the feedback, Sam.
What I am questioning is the sustainability of newsprint and you’re right, that’s considering the channel on a more mass global scale. But I do agree that there will always be a place for the crafted periodical or book which offers a tactile experience.
Now, to check out ‘Fire & Knives’… Cheers!
13 February 2012 at 2:57 pm
sam barton says:
I think I’d question the idea that print is unsustainable. Whilst mainstream print media is in decline small publications that combine a digital and material approach are growing. Publications like Monocle, Delayed Gratification, and Fire & Knives are becoming successful based on the innovative way they approach the print medium. With books also whilst ebooks are obviously a huge success the design of books, and the model of limited edition more expensive publishing for niche audiences and enthusiasts has found success.
Your article is great, and for the mainstream totally true. What both my examples and yours speak to is the value of an approach to content creation that integrates multiple channels.