Who killed the print publishing industry?
James Carnegie
Innovative creative with 20yrs industry experience in visual comms, developing creative strategy, producing and directing multimedia campaigns.
Adventure Journal's monthly e-mailer revealed that one of their contributor photographers "recently posted a "clients' hall of shame," where he called out publications for taking up to six months to pay. He also said that working with the media is so difficult, he's effectively abandoning the practice."
Editor/Founder of AJ Stephen Casimiro (I respect his commentary) honestly declared that "Nobody is making much money working with Adventure Journal (us included).." which I suspect is many photographer/writers/illustrators reflections of where things have been in print publishing for at least a decade now.
It makes me wonder, who killed it all off? Was it purely our fault for choosing to consume cheap/free digital media over well-crafted, well-researched and edited material? And if so, are we reaping the consequences of that now, taking advice and insight from inexperienced influencers ("How to belay the easy way!!"), waiting for our latest (usually un-impartial) gear reviewers video to drop or learning about challenges facing people and places via tik-tok, which has all the depth of a puddle.
I remember establishing myself and learning the ropes through the many outdoor/adventure/sports titles that were in print during the 2000's. Nothing made you sweat like picking up the phone to introduce yourself to the Editor or Art Director in the hope they'd let you bring your portfolio in for review. I remember resorting to making up titles I'd worked with just to get my foot in the door.
Perhaps I shouldn't cry over the loss of an industry that supported 3 day press trips to Alpine chalets, mingling with Tour riders and hanging off the back of motorbikes. Inflight magazine feature commissions (all expenses paid obvs) to exotic European destinations and working alongside insanely experienced journalists and creatives who helped me on my journey. It was fun while it lasted, but it's sad this generation of photographers won't ever know that. The little (well paying) editorial commissions there are out there generally won't filter down to them. I remember watching the commission rates plummet from ￡800 to ￡450 to the ￡150 I was offered to spend the best part of a day travelling to shoot a runner in a park, edit for a few hours and return. I thought the Editor was joking: he wasn't. I said no and walked away.
领英推荐
Whilst the magazine industry certainly isn't dead amongst the outdoor/sports world - amazing titles such as Like the Wind Adventure Journal The Red Bulletin and Sidetracked Magazine & Sidetracked Studios deserve and have earned their place on magazine racks - the subscription model isn't going to sustain the volume of sales we knew 15-20 years ago and it's a reality that young/most people can't afford to pay ￡10+ for such well crafted media. When it was ￡3.50 a mag, you'd happily pick one up for a train journey or flight to entertain you. I save up my Nat Geo deliveries for such an occasion: it beats staring at the back of a Ryanair seat 5 inches in-front or an iPhone screen for 3hrs.
Clearly the editorial industry can't sustain the quantity of photographers, writers and illustrators out there, even just a handful who might have once made an alright living from magazine commissions. Maybe it shouldn't be expected to and this an archaic mindset?
Which leaves us as creatives with the odd/awkward conundrum; Do I give away my work for less than it's worth, almost out of pity, just to sustain a magazine I love and see images in print? Or should I choose only to work with (the very few titles) that pay sustainable rates and demand incredibly high standards of quality because, that is how you remain credibility? My Dad once advised me that "it's better to see your work published than not, whatever they pay" but as with his advice on me driving too fast as a 17yr old, I'm going to disagree. This was precisely the mantra that saw so many (great) magazines run themselves into the ground, driving supplier rates down and down to manage plummeting sales until they were resorting to sending the few remaining staffers out with cameras to "do their best".
Magazines, I love you. I wish you could defeat the throwaway content culture singlehandedly and slap influencer-insights into the past, but I know that isn't going to happen. I want to tell stories: that's why photography exists for me. Beautiful, crafted, collaborative researched things printed onto lovely smelly paper that transport and inspire readers to do great things..
Editor-in-chief of Phoenix New Times
10 个月I did a lot of thinking about this very topic, albeit in an adjacent branch of print journalism, in creating this docuseries for Audible. You might get a kick out of it, if you don't mind the rec: https://audible.com/holdfast
Brand Storytelling & Documentary Filmmaker | 10+ Years of Editorial Experience | Passionate about sports, travel, and technology | Formerly: Evernote, Scribd, Branch
10 个月?? Matthew Davis
Founding Editor at Trails Magazine
10 个月I struggle with the premise of this. Print publishing definitely isn't dead—it's transforming. The model of cheap magazines paid for by advertisers is on its way out. Consequently, the magazines that rely on that business model are collapsing, not paying contributors well or on time, etc. For such a long time, that was the only model for print, so when those publications start struggling, it feels like the whole industry is biting the dust, but that has more to do with advertisers pivoting to digital than it does readers. So find a different source of revenue. Plenty of mags have done that: Sidetracked, Adventure Journal, Advanture Magazine, and plenty of other publications outside of the outdoor space like Fretboard Journal, Whalebone, etc. have done away with ads in favor of a more subscriber-focused model. Do away with the ads, make a nicer product and readers will absolutely pay enough for it to keep printing, pay contributors fairly, etc. The death of print has nothing to do with print and everything to do with print advertising. Readers are still stoked on tangible media. If we can learn to lean into that, the industry will be just fine.
Decided a long time ago to never wear a suit. Founding Editor, Advanture Magazine.
10 个月I'd love to chime in here. Having had a few years pre social media contributing to print mags around the world, to now re-visiting it well over a decade later, has been a beautiful thing. Thanks to all the advances in tech and the lower entry cost to doing print, I can now publish my own title Advanture Magazine. Those mags I used to admire on the racks at WHSmiths, many have gone. But now my very own one is sat alongside some of the legends ??
Publisher and Editor at Like the Wind Media / former CEO at Gung Ho Freestak / Runner, Hiker, Outdoors + Endurance Sports
10 个月'We' didn't. People were distracted by shiny new things (the internet and especially social media). Brands shifted all their marketing budgets - on which so many titles were reliant - to the shiny new things. And those magazines that could not sustain themselves closed. But all is not lost. Because not everyone has been entirely enticed by the shiny new thing. Doom-scrolling is not for everyone. Algorithms don't dominate everyone's lives. Some people remember. They crave some non-digital media. They are buying books. Buying vinyl. Leaving their phone in their pocket when they have dinner with friends or loved ones ... buying indie magazines. The rise of Web2.0 and social media and the impact on ink-on-paper is a little like the growth of 'out-of-town shopping centres' that cratered British high streets. They were the shiny thing too. But people are remembering. They are coming back. So fear not, James Carnegie. Magazines like Like the Wind (ten years old in March) are here for you. It might be different than before. But the revival is in full swing.