My Twitter feed is full of bad news from @themediaisdying, @mediabistro and @woodenhorsepub of publications that are laying of staff and completely shutting down. The latest title that got the axe: ForbesLife MountainTime, which employed a few of our media friends. But at the same time we’re seeing growth from small publishers: Height of Land Publications (Backcountry, Telemark Skier) just bought and is re-launching the Alpinist; and Summit Publishing just launched a Colorado edition as part of its regional tabloid family called Elevation Outdoors. While I may mourn the loss of Domino, and JANE and Budget Living before it, there are new titles popping up, and hearty stand-bys that fill the space where the defunct left off. (ReadyMade, GOOD and Real Simple seem to have a permanent residence on my desk.)
This is not a new trend – every year hundreds of magazines start and hundreds close. In Feb of 2008, Jason Fell wrote on Foliomag.com that the “Print magazine should no longer be the heart and soul of a brand. Instead, publishers should think of their brand as an online media company with ancillary print and event products.” Great to expand online presence, but I am a magazine lover – I love the pages, the pictures, and frankly, I get sick of staring a computer screen all day and don’t want to read my favorite rag on it. I have binders full of ripped out pages of recipes, home projects, gardening tips, fashion advice, travel ideas, really anything that sounds interesting.
So hold on you titles that might have a cranky publisher – expand your horizons and expand the brand, but please, don’t leave!