Print vs. Online Media

Credit: www.businessoffashion.com

“It’s really not possible to get together in a room full of journalists anymore without having a conversation about the profession itself and the future of the profession,” says Eric Bates, executive editor at Rolling Stones.

Within the last 10 years there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not the print industry is indeed dying or if it will continue to thrive. Specifically, in regard to the fashion magazine industry—I don’t believe this is the case at all! If anything, this theory is more applicable to newspapers rather than print fashion publications.

Let’s face it, newspapers are just too big, too dirty, and just plain inefficient. You have to open up a near 2 ft. tall packet of paper just to skim through the stories and you all know the feeling of ink-stained hands after holding a newspaper for too long—not. fun. at. all.

So when exactly was the moment when newspapers made their biggest mistake? It was when they decided to give away their biggest asset for free: THE NEWS. I mean— how idiotic is that? There’s no denying that nearly every newspaper publication has a website now and pretty much gives away their content for free now if you think about it. But now after sticking to this method for so long their decision to backtrack and attempt to charge subscriptions for their online content is going to be a harder feat than it may seem. Also, because the news isn’t exactly a niche interest for the masses, but rather something we all consume and is pertinent to everyone, it isn’t a subject everyone would constantly seek out as opposed to let’s say football, basketball, fashion, music, and so on which are all niche interests. Therefore, the actual print-newspaper industry is fading away, because really—who wants to spend money on a paper copy of the newspaper when they could get the same content on their phone or computer for free?

So why do I think that print fashion magazines in particular will survive the transition into online media?

As mentioned earlier, fashion magazines are read and purchased by a large population of the world because of their inherent interest in the topic. Fashion magazine consumers are committed to going out of their way to purchase their favorite magazine whether it is anything from Nylon to Teen Vogue or W magazine—every magazine caters to a different niche group that are keenly interested in the content they provide. Further, fashion magazines are different from newspapers in that because their content largely focuses on shopping essentially: i.e. clothing, accessories, and beauty products… people want something tangible they can actually touch, fold, tear out, and mark-up as opposed to clicking through hundreds of pages on a website looking at different dresses, pants, handbags, or whatever the product is. I don’t know about you, but my eyes can’t take looking at a computer screen too long or else things just get ugly. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of people who do enjoy the online shopping aspect in having everything situated on their computer, but a print fashion magazine is unique in that someone can easily toss a magazine in their purse on the way to work, pull one out and read while having a cup of coffee, or read while laying out on the beach with your ipod on. Not to mention magazines are much more compact than newspapers and obviously the image quality is exponentially superior. In my opinion, hundreds of full-color glossy 8 ½ x 11 page booklet of editorials and fashion spreads— all carefully designed and written is more than enough reason for me to fork out $4 of $5 a month, or better yet get a year subscription for only $10-$20!

When it comes down to it, I love to hold, touch, flip through and actually feel my favorite magazines as opposed to clicking on a mouse through different pages. The experience is entirely different according to the medium and there’s just something really special about having a tangible magazine as opposed to an online version of it as it feels like all the hard work poured into it can actually be felt. But hey who knows what the future will bring, all I can do is hope print media is here to stay.