Another magazine has shut down its print edition and moved towards the "mobile-first, social-first," digital-only model. Glamour UK joins W magazine, Nylon and countless others, though they will still publish a glossy, collectible print edition twice yearly. Magazines used to be where cool news broke, long-form journalistic articles were printed and trends were reported and interpreted. Not anymore, especially for magazines with a focus on fashion and beauty: Why buy them when we have YouTube, Instagram and blogs that are updated constantly and we can access 24/7 for free?
"It has felt over recent months like an era is passing in magazine culture. In the US, the editors of Vanity Fair, Time, Glamour and Elle all departed. Not so long ago, Rolling Stone was sold. And in recent weeks Hugh Hefner and Si Newhouse, two giants of magazine publishing, have died." (BBC)
Less than a month ago, Nylon announced that it was shutting down its print operations in order to focus on online video content, influencer relationships and its internal creative agency, Nylon Studios. Anyone who is a fan of Vogue magazine has noticed that it is getting thinner and thinner, with less "real" content. So what does Glamour's move signify? It means a combining of their editorial and commercial departments in order to produce more highly trafficked beauty content like makeup tutorials (all sponsored content of course). It means less (if any) high quality journalism.
Why are so many print magazines moving to the digital only model? Because of advertising revenue. Many of these publications have seen their ad sales go from 95% to just 5% of total revenue. Advertisers want more online advertising analytics because of their cost-efficiency: They can easily customize advertising based on audience and location, and build in interactivity (surveys, user-generated content for social media). They want to be able to measure ad click-throughs, downloads, and viewer times on individual stories across multiple platforms.
"At a time of belt-tightening, celebrity editors, with their big salaries and expensive tastes, are increasingly passé. Budget-minded executives at publishers like Hearst and Condé Nast are looking more critically at requests for six-figure photo shoots and $5-a-word writers." (NY Times) This is something I do agree with. Celebrity editors are a thing of the past. It's time to embrace younger editors who understand the power of multi-platform content creation and know how to engage with their audience without resorting to click-bait/tabloid sensationalism. I've been saying for years that Anna Wintour needs to resign. She's completely outdated and irrelevant. Her magazine is on the decline and nobody thinks of Vogue as being the cutting edge provocateur that it used to be. That title is for Elaine Welteroth, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue.
It should be noted that I am not arguing for magazines to go digital-only. In a perfect world, I'd love it if my favorite publications could embrace both print and online models. I still love holding a physical magazine and turning the pages. When it comes to long-form journalism, I prefer a physical copy over endless scrolling on a mobile or laptop.
Which magazines do you think are next in line to follow the digital-only model?
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