THE RISE AND FALL OF PRINT MEDIA
By Mona Loring
Early this year, MLC PR publicist Jordyn Borczon wrote a piece about the dying breed of print magazines. It seems that she was right on the money and the print media industry has sadly, only gotten worse. According to recent statistics, so far this year 92 print magazines have gone under... I am getting word daily of more magazines hanging on by a thread including XXL, INTERVIEW, and many others.
According to MediaFinder.com (an online database owned by Oxbridge Communications) and other sites offering news of the magazine and online media industry, there were 187 new magazines started in the first half of 2009. But there were an unprecedented number of magazines folding - 279 - which means a net loss of 92 titles.
The magazine category faring the worst was regional publications with 27 titles closing, including DENVER LIVING, FLORIDA INSIDE OUT, OCEAN DRIVE EN ESPANOL. The lifestyle category saw 14 titles shuttering and business saw 10, including Conde Nast's PORTFOLIO.
Trade magazines were not spared with construction-related titles hitting the hardest with 18 magazines gone due to the difficult conditions in the American real estate market.
TV GUIDE* is trying to survive and owner private equity firm OpenGate Capital appointed Jack Kliger, former Hachette CEO as interim CEO and senior adviser to the company. The magazine has already cut staff, trimmed its rate base from 3.2 million to 2.9 million, and reduced its frequency from 46 to 40 issues this year. The magazine recently launched its website at tvguidemagazine.com, but it may suffer from the confusion with tvguide.com, which was sold separately...
Music magazines are being hit hard as well. VIBE, the urban-music magazine founded by Quincy Jones, ceased publication effective June 30, due to "lack of additional financial investments." Danyel Smith, Vibe's editor-in-chief wrote: "On behalf of the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today. We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It's a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine's sixteenth anniversary, it's a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you." The magazine has been stumbling along for several years, dropping ad pages 36% since 2005 and with newsstand sales falling 11% in the second half of 2008 from the previous year. The owner, Wicks Group of Companies, last February cut Vibe's circulation 25%, reduced its frequency from 12 to 10 issues a year, and slashed salaries 10% to 15% but neither was of any help.
The future of the music magazine genre looks bleak. BLENDER* is gone, ROLLING STONE* and SPIN* ad pages are down 21% and 26%, respectively. And, THE SOURCE, XXL, FADER, PASTE – may not make it past 2009...
For teens, COSMOGIRL and TEEN magazine have shut down and numerous online teen websites are taking their place and successfully, too.
That leads into this: what can we do as people in the PR industry to fix this? Turn to online media that is just as credible and popular among readers. For example, Maxim.com has 2.5 million viewers a month. That is an incredible amount of exposure. Plus, the upside to online publications is that it costs the companies less to produce content and therefore, they are a bit more likely to offer coverage and sometimes, more of it. Additionally, with the beauty of Google, people are much more likely to catch an interview or feature story online than someone is to pick up a magazine and find you in it.
Needless to say, MLC PR is a strong believer in online media, and we are hoping that our clients and colleagues understand the necessary shift in thinking. Even though we think it’s better to be online, for the non-believers out there, you may not even have the choice much longer.
* MediaFinder.com provided many of the statistics in this document.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
PRINT MAGAZINES: A DYING BREED
PRINT MAGAZINES: A DYING BREED
By Jordyn Borczon of MLC PR
As a publicist, it is part of my job to stay up on essentially every print magazine that is being published, their lead times, the stories they are working on, and which of my clients would be a good fit for them. However over the past year, it is shocking how many print publications have been forced to shut their doors. Naturally, the blame is automatically put on the economy. With the entire nation in an economic crisis, magazines and newspapers have had cut back after cut back - leaving editors and writers without jobs. Not only that, but it leaves public relations professionals with less places to pitch their clients to for coverage. However aside from the economy, there might be another factor that is causing print outlets to become extinct, the Internet.
I have alerts set on my computer so that every time a magazine closes its doors, I can update it in my records. Literally, every day I have to make an update. The most recent magazine to cease publication that really hit home was Teen Magazine, which had been a staple for me growing up. The news was sad and a bit shocking, Teen Magazine fell victim to what happened to Elle Girl, Teen People, and Cosmo Girl Magazines in the months prior to their departure. The hope that publicists have, is that we have begun to find enormous success online. Personally, after securing placements with top outlets online such as Glamour.com, Elle.com, The Wall Street Journal online and more, it is safe to say that it may not be the economy killing print publications, but it could be the Internet as well.
Despite print magazines dying out, many have found a new home online, which has proved to be a powerful asset in public relations campaigns. The Internet has changed the PR game that remained the same for years, and while the once print magazine used to hold all the glory for a client, a website or "webzine" has quickly taken its place.
Statistics show that magazine websites attracted an average 75 million unique visitors per month in the last three months of 2008, compared to a monthly average of 68 million during the same period in 2007, an increase of 11% according to The Magazine Publishers of America. The growth rate for magazines' web audience far exceeds the 3% growth rate for the Internet overall. Seventy-five million unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2008 equals 45% of the total Internet-using population of the United States, compared to 42& during the same period in 2007.
So what does this mean? When I first read these statistics, they were not shocking, however I do not think I realized the power behind having an interview or feature with a client on a site that can have anywhere from 1 - 75 million unique viewers a month. These stats show that as print magazines continue to die, magazines and webzine's online continue to grow stronger, and have the potential to exposure clientele to "eyeballs" that may have never would have seen them before. So, I will continue to say arrivederci to the magazines that shut their doors in the coming years, while adapting to the new world of publicity in the process.
By Jordyn Borczon of MLC PR
As a publicist, it is part of my job to stay up on essentially every print magazine that is being published, their lead times, the stories they are working on, and which of my clients would be a good fit for them. However over the past year, it is shocking how many print publications have been forced to shut their doors. Naturally, the blame is automatically put on the economy. With the entire nation in an economic crisis, magazines and newspapers have had cut back after cut back - leaving editors and writers without jobs. Not only that, but it leaves public relations professionals with less places to pitch their clients to for coverage. However aside from the economy, there might be another factor that is causing print outlets to become extinct, the Internet.
I have alerts set on my computer so that every time a magazine closes its doors, I can update it in my records. Literally, every day I have to make an update. The most recent magazine to cease publication that really hit home was Teen Magazine, which had been a staple for me growing up. The news was sad and a bit shocking, Teen Magazine fell victim to what happened to Elle Girl, Teen People, and Cosmo Girl Magazines in the months prior to their departure. The hope that publicists have, is that we have begun to find enormous success online. Personally, after securing placements with top outlets online such as Glamour.com, Elle.com, The Wall Street Journal online and more, it is safe to say that it may not be the economy killing print publications, but it could be the Internet as well.
Despite print magazines dying out, many have found a new home online, which has proved to be a powerful asset in public relations campaigns. The Internet has changed the PR game that remained the same for years, and while the once print magazine used to hold all the glory for a client, a website or "webzine" has quickly taken its place.
Statistics show that magazine websites attracted an average 75 million unique visitors per month in the last three months of 2008, compared to a monthly average of 68 million during the same period in 2007, an increase of 11% according to The Magazine Publishers of America. The growth rate for magazines' web audience far exceeds the 3% growth rate for the Internet overall. Seventy-five million unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2008 equals 45% of the total Internet-using population of the United States, compared to 42& during the same period in 2007.
So what does this mean? When I first read these statistics, they were not shocking, however I do not think I realized the power behind having an interview or feature with a client on a site that can have anywhere from 1 - 75 million unique viewers a month. These stats show that as print magazines continue to die, magazines and webzine's online continue to grow stronger, and have the potential to exposure clientele to "eyeballs" that may have never would have seen them before. So, I will continue to say arrivederci to the magazines that shut their doors in the coming years, while adapting to the new world of publicity in the process.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
My rant: ONLINE VS PRINT PRESS
Online press may be the only shot for decent coverage sooner than you think.
I just got the news that Teen magazine has folded. This comes right after the news that Cosmo Girl folded and will only be online now. I can go on and on… everyone is closing shop and going to the internet instead of physical distribution. (Even the music industry but that’s another story!)
I am starting to think that what I have been saying over the past few years is coming to be truer than I even thought. With the economy as it is, there is no way that these magazines will be able to endure the high overhead involved in being a mainstream publication. Photographers, assistants, glamorous office space, editors, writers, printing costs, the list goes on and on… Going online will cut a significant portion of these costs and allow these publications to do what they do best—share news and stories.
Many find there to be less glamour and prestige in online press which sure, I can admit is seemingly true on the surface but there are just as qualified writers paid to cover a story online for a website. PLUS-- there is one upside to online press that a print publication can’t touch—and that’s numbers. Sure websites have a certain number of unique viewers/visitors daily BUT if you think about the power of SEO, keywords and good ol’ “googling,” online press can be much more powerful than a magazine out on stands nationally that only a set number of people will pick up and see until the issue’s obsolete and readers move on to the next one. It’s also not everlasting. Many websites leave their content up for months, sometimes even permanently.
Ok, end of rant. I think some press websites owe me a lunch now.
I just got the news that Teen magazine has folded. This comes right after the news that Cosmo Girl folded and will only be online now. I can go on and on… everyone is closing shop and going to the internet instead of physical distribution. (Even the music industry but that’s another story!)
I am starting to think that what I have been saying over the past few years is coming to be truer than I even thought. With the economy as it is, there is no way that these magazines will be able to endure the high overhead involved in being a mainstream publication. Photographers, assistants, glamorous office space, editors, writers, printing costs, the list goes on and on… Going online will cut a significant portion of these costs and allow these publications to do what they do best—share news and stories.
Many find there to be less glamour and prestige in online press which sure, I can admit is seemingly true on the surface but there are just as qualified writers paid to cover a story online for a website. PLUS-- there is one upside to online press that a print publication can’t touch—and that’s numbers. Sure websites have a certain number of unique viewers/visitors daily BUT if you think about the power of SEO, keywords and good ol’ “googling,” online press can be much more powerful than a magazine out on stands nationally that only a set number of people will pick up and see until the issue’s obsolete and readers move on to the next one. It’s also not everlasting. Many websites leave their content up for months, sometimes even permanently.
Ok, end of rant. I think some press websites owe me a lunch now.
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