We hear it everywhere.
"Print is dying.
Magazines are suffering.
No one wants them anymore.
" In 2006, The Guardian went to press with the title "Google almost doubles profit as advertisers rush online" which caused much nervousness among those in the print media industry.
Amazon has released its second version of the Kindle(TM) recently and even more are suggesting that the death of print is drawing closer.
But is it? Presently, I travel often between Toronto and Edmonton, and if the death of print is at hand, the travelers I see purchasing magazines and books in the airport kiosks and shops wouldn't know it.
In one shop, I saw an enormous number of magazine titles and periodicals.
Locally, I'm seeing a number of new independent magazines in my neighborhood.
Some are using methods of distribution which do not include subscriptions.
There is plenty of advertising on the pages as I flip through them.
So what's going on here? Why on the one hand are we being told that print media is disappearing yet at the same time, new printed periodicals are showing up and sticking around? Perhaps it's not the death of print, but instead, a revolution is occurring.
Could it be that the losers in this battle are the traditional "big guys" - the large conglomerate non-independent magazine publishers, while smaller ones who are better able to laser focus on a niche are gaining? Sure, it's a tough business (but when the economy is poor, what business isn't tough?) - and those smaller independents have to work hard - but when they can get their magazines into the hands of readers who will be interested in every article, advertisers know that's probably a good place to be.
"Print is dying.
Magazines are suffering.
No one wants them anymore.
" In 2006, The Guardian went to press with the title "Google almost doubles profit as advertisers rush online" which caused much nervousness among those in the print media industry.
Amazon has released its second version of the Kindle(TM) recently and even more are suggesting that the death of print is drawing closer.
But is it? Presently, I travel often between Toronto and Edmonton, and if the death of print is at hand, the travelers I see purchasing magazines and books in the airport kiosks and shops wouldn't know it.
In one shop, I saw an enormous number of magazine titles and periodicals.
Locally, I'm seeing a number of new independent magazines in my neighborhood.
Some are using methods of distribution which do not include subscriptions.
There is plenty of advertising on the pages as I flip through them.
So what's going on here? Why on the one hand are we being told that print media is disappearing yet at the same time, new printed periodicals are showing up and sticking around? Perhaps it's not the death of print, but instead, a revolution is occurring.
Could it be that the losers in this battle are the traditional "big guys" - the large conglomerate non-independent magazine publishers, while smaller ones who are better able to laser focus on a niche are gaining? Sure, it's a tough business (but when the economy is poor, what business isn't tough?) - and those smaller independents have to work hard - but when they can get their magazines into the hands of readers who will be interested in every article, advertisers know that's probably a good place to be.