The rise of news magazines but the fall of entertainment magazines thanks to the digital age
In April of this year it was announced that the magazine ‘Now’ was going to be producing its last ever print issue. ‘Publisher TI Media (formerly Time Inc UK) said last month it planned to close the weekly title following steady circulation decline and a “drop-off” in advertising revenue that meant it was “simply no longer sustainable”.’ (Press Gazette, 2019) Interestingly though the brands website will still remain live, showing how important having a digital profile is in this day and age.
There are multiple reasons behind the fall of entertainment magazines, firstly ‘ celebrities are able to connect with their fan bases on social media, so the tabloids are not needed because the need has already been satiated.’ (Documedia, 2019) The digital age has seen multiple changes due to the power of social media. We now have automatic access to all the trends and celebrity gossip from the comfort of our home, meaning we no longer have to go out and buy a magazine to find out this information. Others have mentioned how we no longer count down for the day that specific magazines are released and excitedly lay it out on a shelf for display. ‘The changes represent one of the most fundamental shifts in decades for a business that long relied on a simple formula: glossy volumes thick with high-priced ads.’ (Ember and Grynbaum, 2019)
On the upside a certain genre of magazines has seen a skyrocket in recent sales. News magazines have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, certain editors, such as Sarah Penny, the editor of Fashion Monitor, put it down to the uncertainty within the political world. ‘With the likes of Brexit and Trump’s election, the unsettled nature of society drives readers to seek out factual news and understand the effects on the economy for themselves from reputable titles that have an authoritative voice.’ (McIntosh, 2017) Thanks to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, magazines such as ‘The Spectator’ and ‘The Economist’ are increasingly popular and are taking over in popularity from gossip magazines.
Overall the digital age has had a great impact on the magazine industry. Magazine genres that used to be extremely popular, such as celebrity magazines like OK, are on the decline. Whereas other genres, such as political magazines and news magazines, such as ‘The Spectator’ sales are steadily increasing. There are multiple factors affecting both of these trends, such as the rise of social media, making it easy to see celebrity news on the go and also uncertainty surrounding the current political world.
Bibliography
Documedia. (2019). How the Digital Age has changed print Magazines | Documedia. [online] Available at: https://www.documediagroup.com/how-the-digital-age-has-changed-print-magazines/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Ember, S. and Grynbaum, M. (2019). The Not-So-Glossy Future of Magazines. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/business/media/the-not-so-glossy-future-of-magazines.html [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
McIntosh, S. (2017). How print is surviving the digital age. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40897967 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Press Gazette. (2019). X Factor’s Louis Walsh says ‘keep buying magazines’ in final Now mag. [online] Available at: https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/now-celeb-magazine-closes-louis-walsh-keep-buying-magazines/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
