It’s a real shame to hear about the closure of More! Magazine, especially since I was a regular reader and practically spent most of my teenage years buying it. The shame of it is, it’s not the only closure of a magazine recently either (Easy Living has also been shut down), which got me thinking – is this the slow demise of print journalism? By the time I graduate and eventually settle in London (fingers crossed) will print media be no more? Am I silly studying a media course which has focus on print media, when in a few years’ time – it may be non-existent?
Those are just some of the irrational thoughts floating in my head at the moment (I told you I’m a worrier), and although I’m sure I’m being a little pessimistic, I do think it’s a shame that we are losing such amazing publications. The introduction and growth of online media is fantastic (I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for online media), but there’s nothing quite like settling down with a cup of tea and a magazine (ooh, and maybe a digestive or two). It’s just not the same reading it on your computer, or even on a tablet. I love the feeling of flicking through a glossy magazine and the fact (if I so wished) I could highlight, circle or tear out my favourite pages.
I don’t even bat an eyelid spending £3.60 on a Cosmo magazine (I need my Cosmo every month to keep me sane), but I guess that’s not the case for everyone. Magazines ARE expensive and we ARE in a recession. Many magazines are filled with advertisements, again another reason they are losing a little popularity – however they are the same beautifully photographed adverts (well, in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar they are) that I used to stick on my wall as a young girl. The same adverts that fuelled my love of handbags (and shoes, and clothes and make-up) and the same adverts that I used to pour over with my friends.
It’s no secret that the demise of newspapers is already in sharp decline. My entire media project was based around how they are failing to attract the same circulation numbers as they did a decade ago, but I never thought my beloved magazines would suffer too. I naively believed they were safe.
I am a magazine hoarder, lover and reader – so it’s no surprise that my six-year-old sister has grown up surrounded by celebrity magazines. She too, begs us to buy her the latest edition of Animals & You (which I was once featured in as a child – random fact), the Dora Magazine or another similar kids publication. Admittedly, the freebie on the front and the brightly coloured fonts are hard to resist as a child. But that’s the way it should be. The glossy cover of Glamour Magazine, with its superlative filled headlines and airbrushed images entices me too.
Online media, as fabulous as it may seem is rather fickle and not as ‘glossy’ as the print version. It can be changed, updated and taken down in an instant – so very rarely does one article stay the same. People can comment on it (and although I do enjoy reading the hilarious DM comments), this influences our opinion of a certain topic rather than letting us take it in and interpret it for ourselves.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge supporter of online media platforms too. It’s my dream one day to run my own successful online magazine publishing company, however I do believe that there is a difference between the two (I’m not saying one is better than the other) and it is nice to have the option.
And so, in essence – that’s why I believe magazines should stay put. That’s why I believe that we should support our publications. I know we’re in a recession, but so are they. It would be a shame to lose our media heritage for the sake of instantaneous, often mis-interpreted news. I personally love online media, it’s my hobby and my passion. But I also love print media – and I’d hate for girls my age, 50 years down the line – to not love it too. I don’t know, is it inevitable? Can’t we love both? What’s your opinion?
