203: Do magazines have a place in the digital world?

Magazines will occupy a shrinking place in the public’s reading habits, but there are still opportunities

Bo Sacks distributed an article about how magazines could thrive in the digital age, which got me thinking about that subject. I have some clients who publish magazines, so it’s relevant to me.

Let’s start with a definition of “magazine.” It’s a periodical publication that includes a collection of articles on a variety of topics within a single issue. I would insist that a magazine is a print publication, but that’s not relevant for today’s discussion.

A magazine is …

* Periodical
* Less urgent
* A laid-back, immersive experience
* Strongly visual (otherwise it’s a newsletter)
* Composed of articles that are typically of moderate depth. It’s not a tweet and it’s not a book
* Cohesive. There’s some concept that ties it all together across issues

A constantly updated website is not a magazine because it’s not a periodical publication with articles. I’m not saying anything against that form of publication, it’s just not a magazine.

Now let’s think about what kinds of information people are looking for, and where they’re most likely to look for it. In other words, where in the sea of information seeking and consuming does the magazine fit?

First, it goes without saying that anything that can be published in a magazine can be published online, so to find the magazine’s place in the modern world, you have to ask (1) is the magazine format even conceptually reasonable for that kind of information, and (2) does the laid-back, immersive, visual quality of the magazine add something of value. It is better than a website?

For my list of the types of information, and where magazines fit in, see this page.
https://krehbielgroup.com/2024/03/12/re-imagining-magazines-in-the-digital-age/

Magazines can fit into some of these areas in principle, but I haven’t addressed the 800 pound gorilla, which is printing and mailing. A magazine – that is, a print magazine – has to have great circulation, a great advertising base, or it has to be able to charge a premium price to survive in the current environment.

An e-magazine doesn’t have those problems, but it has to address the periodical question. The periodical nature of a print magazine makes perfect sense. But with an e-magazine you have to ask why is it better to serve information in issues rather than on a constantly updated website?

As of right now, images in a magazine are a little more appealing than images online, although that hasn’t stopped the online porn industry – which can go straight to Hell in my opinion. But this is another dividing line for the magazine. Is there an advantage to a still image over a video?

I hope that analysis helps you to put this question in some perspective. It’s not as simple as “everything is going online,” but magazines clearly face a lot of headwinds. They’re not quick. They don’t have video or audio. They’re expensive to produce. They have to answer why the periodical format makes sense. In short, they have to make a case for why they’re better than what people can get online, and that’s an increasingly difficult case to make.