This print is dead mantra is lazy thinking
Publishers are rolling over to the online-is-best orthodoxy without considering that people want content in print that works in print
The rise of e-readers and tablet computers inevitably leads to questions of whether print is on its way out. Magazines bear the brunt of this speculation, with many mainstream titles' circulations falling.
The most common argument regarding the future of print magazines is that readers would prefer to consume what they currently offer electronically. This much is obvious – why get the latest gossip, trends and reviews in print when these are even more up-to-date online? That print magazines are still chiefly offering this, however, does not prove that print is untenable, but that publishers and distributors are blind to where electronic media excels and crucially, to what works better in print.
Despite the falling sales of major titles, the popularity of niche magazinescontinues to grow, suggesting not only that the public still wants print but that the print they want is increasingly exploring very specific personal interests.
The huge following of women's websites like Jezebel, which subject women's magazines to criticism and derision, shows that many women are sick of being pushed unaffordable fashion and ludicrous sex advice. But they still want women-focused media.
It was thinking about how women perceive mainstream titles that led me to develop a different type of women's magazine. I never expected publishers and distributors to welcome us with open arms, but I did think that as businesses, they would take an interest in new ideas. Their response, however, answered my questions about of the popularity of Jezebel and the correspondingly falling sales of the major titles: they are desperately out of touch.
When I asked publishers what research they used to decide on new titles and editorial directions I was told simply that they didn't use any, but used a "gut feeling". Gut feeling is all well and good when your business is thriving, but when it's not, it would seem to be time to start casting your net a little wider.
Entrepreneurship means staying ahead of the curve, but for many UK magazine publishers, contemplating this curve just isn't part of their organisational culture. But other countries are better at finding the cutting edge. Recent New Zealand launches like sustainable living magazine Good and intelligent women's magazine Mindfood have become top sellers. German women's title Brigitte recently banned professional models from its pages, a widely heralded move that significantly bolstered its profile. These bold but carefully considered innovations are clearly big wins.
About as close as UK magazines seem to get is a mere flirting with the idea of being different. When Scarlet magazine folded recently one writer put this down to the magazine being "too subversive and niche", but most of those who commented seemed to feel that it wasn't subversive enough, in fact. Perhaps the only truly niche launch in recent times has been Wired UK, but we waited for the US to show that it worked before trying it.
One thing seems clear: people want content in print that works best in print. I speak with a number of independent magazine publishers worldwide, and none of us took the decision to print lightly. All contend that they made the right decision, and one thing we have in common, like Wired, Mindfood, Good and Brigette, is that we offer in-depth discussion and inspiring photography – content that print excels in delivering.
Print may not be the future but right now, when the content is right for it, there still seems to be a lot of people who prefer it. Print magazines could easily endure if major publishers were to overhaul their titles and get with what's working. Instead, they give us what we'd rather get electronically in print, and fail to give us, their increasingly niche-interested readers, what we want to hold in our hands.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/25/print-is-dead-long-live-print/
Print is Dead! Long Live
Print?
Editor’s note: Jordan Kurzweil is Co-CEO ofIndependent Content, an agency that helps media companies launch new digital products and businesses. Prior to starting Independent Content Jordan worked at AOL running original programming, and News Corp bringing its traditional brands to digital. You can follow him on Twitter @jordankurzweil.
It’s been said before, but it needs saying again (and again and again): PRINT IS DEAD. Across the publishing industry, year-over-year declines inrevenue, subscriptions and circulation, are well documented. Yes, there have been a few quarters of blood-stanching flatness (yay!), but – you heard it here first (or few weeks ago from The Annenberg School, or over the summer from Clay Shirky) – print periodicals are going to go away – forced out of this world by the march of technology and changing tastes, and replaced by new powerhouse brands – TMZ, Buzzfeed and HuffPo to name a few — which are poised to own the future, because they know how to adapt to (and even anticipate!) evolving user behavior. As John Paton, CEO of one of the largest newspaper companies in the U.S., put it recently “‘You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone’ is not much of a business model.”
Just this week, Gannett gave us a stunning reminder of just how little it understands the world it lives (and dies) in, and how myopically it views its business when it announced its $100M bet on establishing paywalls in all 80 of its local newspaper markets. A gambit predicated on “the public’s strong desire for local news and in readers’ longtime trust in Gannett’s papers,” according to Gannett’s CEO Gracia Martore. Oh my. The paywall, whether for Gannett or other publishers, is a finger in the dyke, a cover-up for tectonic shifts in their businesses. For Gannett, local paper audiences are old (that’s what “longtime trust” means), and may well age out of relevance before Gannett’s gosh-darned paywall gets erected. And where’s the proof that the public wants local news? Readership is declining, local news website traffic is infinitesimal, and even pure digital plays like Patch can’t seem to find readers or revenue. The fact is, the thirst for local news can be sated by a single hometown blog, run pretty much by a single entrepreneurial blogger (granted they’d be very busy – and underpaid).
What can Old Print do to survive?
To use a trite metaphor (or two) – stop rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, grow a pair, and change your businesses. Pivot out of the corner and reclaim your heavyweight title. RUMBLE, Old Man, RUMBLE:
1. Face reality:
- The audiences of traditional print brands on paper and pixel are aging.
- Digital upstarts are capturing the new audiences, and stealing your least loyal current readers.
- The cost structures of Old Print companies are out of whack with the times.
- New technology is further commoditizing content, and fragmenting audience.
- In-house digital innovation at Old Print companies is largely non-existent, stymied by outmoded, editorial-first ego at the top, and fearful protectionism of current revenue sources: print subscriptions, ad pages and banner impressions.
