Camera Buff wrote:
Each time I go into my local news agency I notice fewer and fewer magazine publications for sale. So I searched the internet to find out what was happening with some of my favourite magazines. What I found did not come as a complete surprise, but it did sadden me to learn about the demise of so many of my favourite magazines. I wonder what the future holds for the print industry?

Digital technology has changed so many things including publishing, photography, music and communication in general.  Print media is still alive, along with shooting film, but it's become more under ground, more retro.  I do have a collection from the past.  I have 10 working film cameras.  I also have 10 digital cameras of the same brand. I have a collection of magazines, newspapers and books.  I'm nostalgic for the past, but learning how to bring that nostalgia to the Internet. Call me a hybrid kind of guy!  At least some if not many of my favorite newspapers and magazines are online as websites.  Just like with any business, we either evolve or close shop.

Patrick Walberg wrote:
Print media is still alive, along with shooting film, but it's become more under ground, more retro.  I do have a collection from the past....At least some if not many of my favorite newspapers and magazines are online as websites.  Just like with any business, we either evolve or close shop.

Sorry, but that both doesn't make any sense nor is it based in fact. The print industry has not become more underground. That's ridiculous. It has become smaller, not by choice. They have not in anyway made intentional steps to operate without notice or acclaim. For the most part they have made intentional decision to consolidate and downsize to maintain some level of profitability.

This is not a recent process. It has been happening for at least the past 10-15 years. Initially there was a consolidation among publishing companies which resulted in combining or eliminating magazine titles. This process continued with both a reduction in titles and a reduction in pages per issue due to the division of advertising budgets that were spread between print and electronic media. Around 2015 there was also a consolidation among magazine distributors in North America (the people who actually own/lease the rack space. For a number of reasons, that effectively killed most men's/adult magazine publication which had already been shrinking.

All of this is due to general competition from electronic media whether it is video, websites or social media. Most traditional print publishers were not nimble in pivoting to electronic media at their own peril.

Patrick Walberg wrote:
Print media is still alive, along with shooting film, but it's become more under ground, more retro.  I do have a collection from the past....At least some if not many of my favorite newspapers and magazines are online as websites.  Just like with any business, we either evolve or close shop.

Dan Howell wrote:
Sorry, but that both doesn't make any sense nor is it based in fact. The print industry has not become more underground. That's ridiculous. It has become smaller, not by choice...

I kinda know what Patrick Walberg is saying and he's not far from reality, especially if he was to ad one word "new".
It's very obvious that more magazines are closing shop or going completely online every day, but many NEW magazines seem to be sprouting up.  Many, if not most are local to an area (probably because their budget only allows a minimum amount of issues to be printed and/or cant find a distributor... hence they remain local) and are underground or counter culture.

For instance, In my area a whole bunch of Marijuana related magazines have started appearing, especially after dispensaries became legal.  These magazines have a built in revenue stream... companies and dispensaries doing everything to get their products and services known to a new and rapidly growing market.  While not exactly counterculture, these magazines are not exactly "The National Review".

Local Arts related magazines are distributed heavily through arts districts in various cities.  Their main demographic is artists which often are people that are into burning man, drum circles, funky 'beat' type of coffee shops, and the new counterculture.

JSouthworth wrote:
The decline in the number of magazines being published is related to a downturn in the photographic retail industry, with Jacobs gone and Jessops closing many of their branches. As to the reasons for this, consumer dissatisfaction with recent cameras is probably one.

NOPE, not even close. I would go as far as saying the photographic retail industry had ZERO effect on the state of the magazine publishing industry, folding of magazine titles, reduction of printed pages, lowering of editorial rates.

sospix wrote:
I'm still waiting for my next issue of Playboy to arrive  .  .  . 



.  .  .  I can't wait to see what happens to LAF next, I think the last one I got was August of 1967  .  .  . 

SOS

This is just the old song,"outside of a small circle of friends", repackaged!!
John

JSouthworth wrote:
If you just want to read a review of a particular piece of equipment, you can usually find something on the internet.

Yes, and there-in exactly lies the problem.
It's no different than going to Amazon for everything, so when we want anything photographically and want to actually look at it and touch it, a short drive to B&H should satisfy that desire but unfortunately most us us live 1000's of miles away.
Here in the US, how many states don't even have a real photography store??
John

John Silva Photography wrote:

Yes, and there-in exactly lies the problem.
It's no different than going to Amazon for everything, so when we want anything photographically and want to actually look at it and touch it, a short drive to B&H should satisfy that desire but unfortunately most us us live 1000's of miles away.
Here in the US, how many states don't even have a real photography store??
John

Many of today's cameras look and feel like plastic toys, this is part of the problem I think.
A lot of the cameras I'm interested in cannot be found in shops anywhere in the UK. I've never even seen a Horseman VHR, for example.

Camera Buff wrote:
Each time I go into my local news agency I notice fewer and fewer magazine publications for sale. So I searched the internet to find out what was happening with some of my favourite magazines. What I found did not come as a complete surprise, but it did sadden me to learn about the demise of so many of my favourite magazines. I wonder what the future holds for the print industry?

I am not surprised because no one reads paper anymore, people's noses are buried deep  their smartphones.

Varton Photography wrote:
I am not surprised because no one reads paper anymore, people's noses are buried deep  their smartphones.

That's true. What I was also finding is the price of (imported) photography magazines (those that I prefer to read) were too pricey and bang for buck it is much better value to buy a good photography book instead. There's usually plenty of good photography book deals to be found at bookstore sales.

I recall as a young paperboy how some customers would go out in the early hours of the day and wait for their favourite newspaper stand to open up so that they could be the first to read the news of the day.

woodpaint51 wrote:
It's a shame that the print media is almost dead these days.  I had  just begun writing and getting paid for a non modeling magazine and BAM!.It got bought out by a conglomerate, and sold again 2 months later and pretty much all the new writers were done, before we even began.   Social media is to blame for sure, especially for younger adults who grew up as kids with every electronic device around.  No focus on any one subject for more than a few seconds.  An entire newspaper or magazine would bore them within 3 minutes sadly. And thus, people are less informed on ALL subjects, and misinformed, led with purposeful lies by politicians and non believers who know they can rant on about any subject on the internet, and it will be seen as The WHOLE TRUTH' by this social media generations     
    Yeah I'm old, but I prefer to see my best photos or models in a magazine, and not just an online service.   Seems more real, genuine, having to get past a REAL editor to get to print.

Facebook was founded in 2004. It wasn't widely adopted until 2006. The trend away from print began and the factors that drastically cut into the profitability of print were in place before that.