My daily update on the staggering craziness of the world is, first, my local daily paper and, second, the web feed Slatest. The paper essentially keeps me up to date with the latest moronic kneejerk reaction by my State government (no, I didn’t vote for them but I live here…) and public opinion, via the letters page. The web tells me what’s happening in the big wide world. Well, mainly in America.
Now it’s been considered a truism that we follow the Yanks – everything that happens over there, happens here a few months or a year later. Of course I’m still waiting for us to get our independence from the UK after more than two centuries, and it will be interesting to find we have a black head of state (Noel Pearson, anybody?) but in many ways that really has been true. Motorcycle fashions are a case in point.
But I wonder whether we’ll follow America in the way we deal with the print media. Here’s a short piece from this morning’s Slatest. The McArdle person appears to be a blogger, and is no apparent relation to infamous Australian BMW outfit rider Chris McArdle.
Hi, Chris.
“McArdle: The Newspaper Business is Over. Period.
“The numbers are grim: over the past six months, circulation at the top 25 newspapers has declined by more than 10 percent. The Washington Post's numbers fell by more than 6 percent, while the New York Times' dropped by more than 7 percent, making it the third most-read paper after the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. This isn't a sign that the newspaper business is changing, Megan McArdle says. It's a sign that it's over.”
US magazines, including motorcycle magazines, are in a similar position. Heck, so are most motorcycle magazines here in Australia (except ARR and C+T, phew and thanks to you) although Australian newspapers are holding up much better.
But what do you think? Is the era of the printed word really over? How are you changing your reading habits? Why are Australaian papers, and our two magazines, holding up?
I’d love to get your feedback and ideas.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming
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Comments
We love to own a quality thing, to hold it, turn it over. Quality writing in print, with good visual and tactile aesthetics, is a beautiful and desirable object. More than convenience is involved. For this reason good books are safe. To a lesser degree, so too any printed magazine that offers this package. The 'rags' are not.
There are a few overseas magazines I would buy as e-editions, because it would cost less than buying TWO issues at the newsagents, but as has been said, the ability to re-read, and the quality of the writing and photography make the future of the best mags safe.
The portability of magazines is just too important. Taking a pc to the cafe to browse while you have a cuppa is just too wanky for most people, even if they have wireless. I want stuff to read when I am relaxing, not interspersed with work on the computer.
Ads in mags must also be more effective. My brain is pretty effective at filtering out any ads on a pc screen, but I notice specialist ads in specialist mags. Hell, I even flick through the ads only pages at the back most months. I even go back to old issues looking for ads and contact info when I do decide I can no longer live without some gizmo.
Mind you, we have recently let subscriptions on 2 specialist mags go, but that is because of drop in quality/relevance. Might just have to subscribe to RoadRider instead
But it would be much tidier if they were all together inside a suitable sized and easy to carry / operate digital device. And being able to zoom in on pictures (bikes of course:)would be a bonus too.
Might even be cheaper to subscribe to, also!
I like to flip backwards and forwards between pages. I like to put a magaszine down and pick it up at whim. Stick them in the pile by my chair so i can grab one when the ads come on.
Can't do this with internet.
Internet is very non reader friendly unless you want waste lots of time, paper and ink printing everything out.
internet great for researching but not for full magazines.
the idiots proclaiming the death of the printed word are obviously computer geeks.