It seems to be that the only people who are familiar with the flashy covers of Seventeen magazine are not in fact seventeen, but rather, are reaching their mid-twenties and thirties. The print industry is cast under a shadow of its former self; it seems that in today’s modern economy, our appetite for magazines is fading while our craving for digital media looms.
The reality is that magazines can no longer survive solely on topline sales- the digitalized world today has stolen the former glory of magazine advertisements which are now flourishing as sideline ads on Facebook and Google. In 2014, Vogue contributing fasion editor Lynn Yaeger says that print is on its way out; magazines will become the stuff of novelty like a ‘typewriter or horse and buggy’.
As we see established senior editors of Vanity fair, Time, Elle and Glamour, all step down, the declining trend in magazine publishing is becoming clear. The magazine industry’s financial outlook remains bleak; revenue at Time Inc. has declined every year since 2011 while analysts expect double-digit annual declines to continue. Publishers grasp for new revenue streams, where big-name companies turn to online avenues to reel back its audience. In response to its hemorrhaging of revenue, Time Inc. has a new streaming TV show, “Paws & Claws”, which “will feature all of the adorable, viral and buzzworthy animal stories of the week.” The long-lived print product business is becoming overshadowed by the emergence of live events, podcasts, and other mediums that magazines just can’t deliver.
How has the satisfaction of flipping those thick glossy pages been replaced by the scroll of a webpage or swipe of a finger? As attractive as the flashy magazine covers are, people have opted for a much more dynamic digital experience. The digital era has curated an entirely new and personalized reading experience, where readers can skim and search for stories that interest us rather than reading what magazine editors think we’d like to read. We have the flexibility now to go from reading about the top 10 superfoods to reading about Kylie Jenner’s pregnancy conspiracy.
These changes represents a fundamental shift in our society, where “Sentimentality is probably the biggest enemy for the magazine business,” says David Carey, the president of Hearst Magazines. “You have to embrace the future”– a future where magazine covers are replaced by gifs and magazine stands are replaced by app stores.
“Eventually, they’ll become like sailboats,” he said. “They don’t need to exist anymore. But people will still love them, and make them and buy them.” So now the question lingers: is print media a dying industry, or simply one that is adapting and changing to our ever-changing world?
Word Count: 443
Works Cited:
Maclean, L. (2010, May 20). Are magazines really dying out? | Lisa Maclean. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/20/magazines-zines-internet-ipad
Out Of Print & Out Of Touch: The Magazine Industry Is Dying. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.uptownbourgeois.com/style/magazine-industry-dying
Sydney Ember And Michael M. Grynbaum. (2017, September 23). The Not-So-Glossy Future of Magazines. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/business/media/the-not-so-glossy-future-of-magazines.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness-media
Warren, R. (2015, January 21). The Dying Magazine Blues. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roz-warren/the-dying-magazine-blues_b_6517738.html