The digital age has certainly changed the face of communication. The new technologies are making information faster than ever and accessible to people from all walks of life, no matter where they may live or work. The question on my mind is where will the digital age take us?
This brings me to the "e-zine" or on-line magazine. I have to be honest; this is an area of digital technology where I have not joined the band wagon. Give me a printed magazine over an on-line magazine any day. I like to tote my Time magazine with me to the beach, on a trip or any other place I might want to read. I may skim on-line versions, but if you want me to really read it and take it all in, print it. No Kindle or other electronic reader is going to change that for me. But, I am pretty proud of the fact that have added the Time Blackberry application to my phone, a major step for me. So, I guess I should never say never.
Let me say that electronic magazines offer some very wonderful benefits. Content is typically updated more often and includes information that was not included in the printed piece. On-line magazines also offer the opportunity to be more graphically appealing with the addition of more photos, videos and other bells and whistles. And, on-line magazines provide interactivity between readers and the authors of the various articles and pieces in the magazine.
But, what is the future of the e-zine? Will traditional print publications fall by the wayside? These are tough questions. Many (actually most) magazines are still doing print and complementing the printed piece with a digital edition. And that equals a lot of work. For all of the effort, how much money is being spent on digital platforms and how much is the return?
Stateofthemedia.org has a great article on the future of digital magazines, as well as the new trends in digital media and how those trends are affecting the bottomlines. I encourage you to check it out at http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/narrative_magazines_digitaltrends.php?cat=6&media=9. It's a great piece.
The article notes that on-line magazines still aren't able to attract the readership of some of the largest newspapers and TV outlets, something many have been trying to do. Additionally, revenues from the digital versions were a very small percentage (just two percent in 2007) of the overall income of the magazine. The projected growth in revenue in 2010 is only expected to be seven percent. Not enough to drop the traditional print versions.
To make up the revenue, many magazines/publishers are looking to sell archives, including Life which hasn't been in production since 2000. Time Warner hopes that the archives, as well as the ability to purchase images from old publications, will help generate much needed reveune. Both Newsweek and Time are following suit with similar endeavors. But as noted in the article, if current trends remain the same, the future of most magazines will not rely on the Web.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for e-zines and print magazines. I can't predict the future, but I do believe there are wonderful opportunities for both. During the next few years, you will continue to see a mix of both, with the on-line versions focusing more on the now and providing new opportunities to engage readers. I can tell you that this blogger will probably continue to be "old school" and read her printed pieces. Or, if the magazine is only available online and offers the "print" article feature, I'll be clicking the "print" button.
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I agree there is something to be said for toting around your magazines to the beach, the bedroom, the kitchen while your cupcakes bake, the back porch, the deck, etc. It is my guess that some people have various magazines laying around to make them look a certain way to others. That kind of charm offered from a magazine doesn't really translate to laptops, does it? How is anyone supposed to see that I'm reading the New Yorker if it is tucked away inside my motherboard? The top heading of the magazine peaking out of my oversized purse certainly has more of an impact, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm all for magazines in the print. What I do enjoy, however, are the pages inside magazines that point to extra features on the Web version. This supplemental content is also interesting and useful (like Real Simple online) when I remember to look it up on the laptop after coming inside from my adironack on the front porch :)
Erinn, thanks for the comments. Yes, magazines do add charm, something I'm not sure my Blackberry or a Kindle will do.
ReplyDeleteI'm addicted to the WV Living now and they do exactly what you said about referring to the Web version. Plus, it's easier to print out recipes from an on-line version than to clip or rewrite!
With so many magazines either ceasing publication or shifting its focus to online publication, this post made me think of traditional newspapers and the fate of our traditional, daily source of news and information.
ReplyDeleteAs a result of both the economy and a generational switch to going digital, many newspapers have ceased publication or have decreased its frequency of print. For example, in late 2008, The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News announced that at the start of 2009, it would only home deliver print editions on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. A smaller daily edition, sometimes only a page in lengthy, would be made available on newsstands. In exchange, the newspapers would provide full content online.
Yet, the two major Detroit dailies are not the only major city newspapers that are taking measures to stay alive in a digital universe. Some publications, like the Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have closed completely. This article, which appeared in Time Magazine in March 2009, highlighted the 10 newspapers predicted to go out of business or make the transition to digital publication in the coming months. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1883785,00.html
In reading this article, it was hard to imagine that the Chicago Sun Times and San Francisco Chronicle may not be in existence in the next few years. Too, it was hard for me to see the Cleveland Plain Dealer (my hometown's paper) would cease publication in the near future. It is difficult to imagine that Cleveland, the country's seventeenth largest media market, would not have a major daily newspaper.
It is no secret that advertising revenues have decreased, espeically with more and more advertisers making a switch to online advertising. This is a perfect compliment to online newspapers. While I will miss curling up with a cup of coffee and startging my day with the black and white pages, my only hope is that content and journalistic integrity will continue to exist in this digital revolution.