Magazine Journalism

Much has been written and said about the death of the magazine due to the advent of Internet. Interestingly what is emerging now is a print-digital collaborative business model.
Six online experts have reasoned out 'Why Magazines Have a Future.'

Globally, some magazines survived recession while some succumbed. Here's what Alex Lockwood has to say in an article titled 'Magazines: Can online make an industry recession-proof?' posted by on March 2, 2009 on www.journalism.co.uk.

Magazines have shown themselves to be an accurate barometer of the recession so far. Since the property market crashed and people lost jobs, car and home magazines obviously lost out on circulation. Almost every major publishing house saw its range lose circulation in the last one year.

The author argues that magazines are like cheap cosmetics during times of recession. You know it's a luxury but you still want to indulge in at least something. Magazines give people something to do during recession, states Lockwood.

News and finance titles, such as The Economist and What Investment, are also showing circulation growth, as people look to absorb credible information about the credit crunch.

It is probably true, however, that the titles with falling circulations all target younger groups who have less disposable income and are more likely to be affected by job cuts. That's certainly the case in the women's weekly market, where women are cutting back on how many magazines they buy.

But perhaps the biggest individual factor outside of the credit crunch is where consumers are looking. The move towards delivery of magazine-branded content on different platforms was, before the recession hit, the number one concern for the magazine industry: how will print survive in the age of the internet?

Isobel McKenzie-Price, editor of Ideal Home magazine, the market leader in the home styling sector, is responsible for IPC's home magazine websites, idealhomemagazine.co.uk; homesandgardens.com and livingetc.co.uk. While her ABC figures are down, she argues that her magazine is as recession-proof as any, and a lot of that is to do with being online.

So magazines can no longer be measured simply by quoting their ABC circulation figures. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the men's magazine market. IPC's Nuts, down 13 per cent year-on-year, argues that looking at print circulation is an outmoded way of judging a magazine's value: you have to look at what a title is doing and who it is speaking to, via its TV channel, website and mobile platforms.

Emotional connect of magazines and more on this story...