Four trends which will change the publishing world
Seth Godin believes in the power of the
Internet: Blogs and the Internet will kill magazines,
"The shakeout is happening
before our eyes". Having been an Editor and
Editor-in-Chief myself, for print magazines, I don't doubt Seth's statement in
general. Just look at Think Secret's post about the declining sales of Mac magazines
over the last 10 years. The circulation is declining and it is a real problem
for magazines, which used to be the sole information source for so many
consumers before the Internet got big. Of course, it is not only an issue for
mac magazines, other magazines are affected as well. However, these questions
remain to be answered: Is the Internet really killing the magazine business?
What are the strategies magazine publishers should
adopt?
Early Adopter vs. Social Class
Tech magazines, like Macworld or PCWorld, were the first who felt the impact of the Internet. First, they benefited from the internet boom, then they lost some of their readers to the Internet. The trend shows that high tech magazines were affected the most so far because the Internet users correlated highly with high tech magazine readers. It is also clear that high tech magazines appeal to certain social classes (highly educated and middle class) more than to others. The members of th educated middle class are the early adopters of the Internet. What's next?
As readers of other magazines mature and are using the Internet on a daily basis, even traditional magazines will be affected by the Internet because their readers will embrace the new medium more. The only barrier which seems to remain is access to the new medium. People in rural areas and people without access to the Internet (based on their position in a social system) will remain to use yellow-press magazines and even more importantly, the TV. Bottom-line, magazines who appeal to the educated middle class will be hit the most. High tech over no tech.
Online Content vs. Offline Content
Magazine readers prefer the Internet for their news consumption. To stay on top of daily trends and events in their fast changing world they have to know about what is changing their life today. Therefore, short news clips, headline news, and ticker news are the appropriate vehicle - the Internet is the ideal delivery platform for this kind of content.
However, when it comes to deeper analysis and longer articles, the Internet is not the preferred medium for most users. Print offers higher quality, the medium is completely mobile, and is not limited by the battery life of a device. As devices and technology matures, more content will be consumed digitally. For the next 5 to 7 years, magazines publishers should focus on the story behind the news and they should make use of the qualities of their medium: to be ultra-mobile and readable.
Layout vs. Text
Another important and distinguishing factor seems to be the visual component of reading. Magazines offer highly sophisticated and structured layouts, which make reading easy and fun. Fueled by matching type faces, the power of images, and well balanced headlines, magazines have a clear advantage over the mostly text based layout methods of the Internet.
As soon as the Internet will mature and offer the same layout quality as print, readers will change their reading habits. Technology is advancing faster than people gaining social mobility. I think, that within the next 3 to 4 years online layouts will be as readable and matured as their printed counterparts.
Journalists vs. TAPpers
Last but not least, the question about content quality. The majority of the blogs are not professional by any journalistic standards. As a professional journalist, I spend premium time to plan, research, write, and change my story. Bloggers follow a TAP-approach: type-and-publish. Journalists have to follow certain ethics and standards. I know my toolkit and know how to write a feature, a comment, or a report. Blogs are basically comments and more often PR tools for the corporate world.
Professional online journalists, however, can tell you a story about their last 6 years. First, they received millions of dollars from their publisher to build online editorials, then their budgets where slashed to zero, and it was all about content syndication. Now, after 5 hard years, the professional online journalism seems to be recovered.
Magazine publishers SHOULD see the Internet more as an opportunity than a threat. I believe that the next 12 to 24 months will decide about who is going to make it in the digital world. Conservative publisher, hoping the print medium will grow, will face hard times. Most of the ad revenues will shift away to the Internet over the next 5 to 10 years. Print content will become more expensive and more focused in order to survive.
Early Adopter vs. Social Class
Tech magazines, like Macworld or PCWorld, were the first who felt the impact of the Internet. First, they benefited from the internet boom, then they lost some of their readers to the Internet. The trend shows that high tech magazines were affected the most so far because the Internet users correlated highly with high tech magazine readers. It is also clear that high tech magazines appeal to certain social classes (highly educated and middle class) more than to others. The members of th educated middle class are the early adopters of the Internet. What's next?
As readers of other magazines mature and are using the Internet on a daily basis, even traditional magazines will be affected by the Internet because their readers will embrace the new medium more. The only barrier which seems to remain is access to the new medium. People in rural areas and people without access to the Internet (based on their position in a social system) will remain to use yellow-press magazines and even more importantly, the TV. Bottom-line, magazines who appeal to the educated middle class will be hit the most. High tech over no tech.
Online Content vs. Offline Content
Magazine readers prefer the Internet for their news consumption. To stay on top of daily trends and events in their fast changing world they have to know about what is changing their life today. Therefore, short news clips, headline news, and ticker news are the appropriate vehicle - the Internet is the ideal delivery platform for this kind of content.
However, when it comes to deeper analysis and longer articles, the Internet is not the preferred medium for most users. Print offers higher quality, the medium is completely mobile, and is not limited by the battery life of a device. As devices and technology matures, more content will be consumed digitally. For the next 5 to 7 years, magazines publishers should focus on the story behind the news and they should make use of the qualities of their medium: to be ultra-mobile and readable.
Layout vs. Text
Another important and distinguishing factor seems to be the visual component of reading. Magazines offer highly sophisticated and structured layouts, which make reading easy and fun. Fueled by matching type faces, the power of images, and well balanced headlines, magazines have a clear advantage over the mostly text based layout methods of the Internet.
As soon as the Internet will mature and offer the same layout quality as print, readers will change their reading habits. Technology is advancing faster than people gaining social mobility. I think, that within the next 3 to 4 years online layouts will be as readable and matured as their printed counterparts.
Journalists vs. TAPpers
Last but not least, the question about content quality. The majority of the blogs are not professional by any journalistic standards. As a professional journalist, I spend premium time to plan, research, write, and change my story. Bloggers follow a TAP-approach: type-and-publish. Journalists have to follow certain ethics and standards. I know my toolkit and know how to write a feature, a comment, or a report. Blogs are basically comments and more often PR tools for the corporate world.
Professional online journalists, however, can tell you a story about their last 6 years. First, they received millions of dollars from their publisher to build online editorials, then their budgets where slashed to zero, and it was all about content syndication. Now, after 5 hard years, the professional online journalism seems to be recovered.
Magazine publishers SHOULD see the Internet more as an opportunity than a threat. I believe that the next 12 to 24 months will decide about who is going to make it in the digital world. Conservative publisher, hoping the print medium will grow, will face hard times. Most of the ad revenues will shift away to the Internet over the next 5 to 10 years. Print content will become more expensive and more focused in order to survive.
Posted: Sat - April 22, 2006 at 10:01 AM |
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Published On: Apr 22, 2006 11:19 AM
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Published On: Apr 22, 2006 11:19 AM