Another Print Media Giant Goes Down
Did the “Davids” of the blogosphere lay the print giants low, or is it just the economy?
Several of us have heralded the coming fall of traditional print media, for good or ill, and it looks like the trend just took a big leap forward as Conde Nast is dropping several major publications… not the least of which is Gourmet magazine.
I just saw an article about this in the SFGate, and from the sounds of things the economy is the biggest factor, which make some sense. Conde Nast publications are known for their high-end finish, and that’s expensive to maintain in any environment. Given that advertisers are being a lot tighter with their dollars, it’s no surprise that the big, glossy mags are feeling the bite.
What the heck does this have to do with hog hunting, or hunting in general?
Very little, I guess. It does concern me a bit about the future of our hook-and-bullet magazines, though. I think I commented a while back on the layout and production changes in Field and Stream and Outdoor Life, wherein they’ve pushed the margins all the way to the edge of the page, and changed the paper quality as well… not to mention the dismissal/retirement of two classic writers, Jim Carmichel and Patrick McManus. It’s expensive to run a quality magazine, and as cheaper, more efficient alternatives arise, we’ll probably see the old-tech fade away.
Anyway, those of us who still enjoy the look and feel of a paper-based magazine may want to pay close attention to the trend. The economy may be starting to bounce a bit, but the long-term repercussions will be felt for quite some time. Pretty much every major magazine has expanded into “new media” in one way or another, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see more of them going purely digital in the next three or four years.
As the luddites and pre-tech generations hand over the market to the Gen-Xers and their kids, there may very well come a time when you’ll need a mouse or a touchpad to flip through the pages of your favorite rag.
Here is something that I anticipate:
Someone will come out with a top quality color printer that is affordable.
There will be an add-on for your word processor that will allow it to print a magazine article just like it came from the printing press with little or no fuss.
Or you might go to the F&s or OL website and custom make your own magazine that then gets printed out.
The permutations are endless!
It could happen…
Albert
October 5th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Phillip,
I think that Albert has made a great point, and I definitely think that could happen. I’m only in my early thirties, and I love the internet and everything that comes with it, but I still like sitting down with a regular magazine. I would hate to see them go.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:12 am
I don’t know what it’s like nationwide, but I can tell you advertising is doing far worse this year than last year. The student newspaper I run is headed for a huge deficit. I know things are particularly bad in California, but if the national scene is even close to what we’re seeing, Gourmet won’t be the last to fold. My paper has an enormous contingency fund that will float us this year, but I’m guessing most magazines aren’t as blessed.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:24 am
Albert, you may be onto something, although I get the feeling we’ll be seeing the end of most print-based media altogether.
The biggest thing stopping most of the outlets from going online (besides the fact that there’s still an “un-wired” consumer base out there) is the difficulty in coming up with a profitable business model to monetize a web-version of their publications. With so much free content (and some of it very good stuff) out here already, selling subscriptions is a real challenge. “Why pay for the cow when the milk is free,” to abuse an ancient axiom.
Without subscriptions, they have to rely entirely on advertisers. This may be “do-able”, but it’s a challenge under the current business model of full-time, paid staffs, writers, photographers, etc. Some significant organizational and procedural changes will have to take place from the ground up. On top of all that, as Holly notes (and as echoed in the Conde Nast article), ad revenues are pretty light right now.
I like the start that Field and Stream (and to some extent, Outdoor Life) has made with blogs, special “web features”, and making archived articles available for free. But while I’m not privy to their business, I’m fairly sure they’re still relying most heavily on their print publication as the key revenue generator. It seems like a pretty solid, blended solution and I hope it works.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:04 am
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