I recently saw a webinar from Vocus about the “State of the Media 2010” (http://tinyurl.com/ybglakz). Some interesting facts in the presentation and its accompanying white paper. (http://www.vocus.com/state-of-the-media/index.asp).
Here are some highlights of their report about magazines. I will report on newspaper and broadcast media in subsequent blog posts.
About 1,126 magazines folded last year, and more than 600 reporters were laid off.
At the same time, niche publications are growing.
In general, there will be a decrease in publication frequency, and an increase in special issues.
There will be a rise in on-demand content.
“Printing on paper beyond 2010 will be a luxury may publishers cannot afford.”
It’s essential for PR people to think beyond print when pitching magazines. Also consider multimedia.
This is a revolution, not an evolution. Revolutions have two sides. It’s important to find out what side (print or digital) your editor or reporter favors.
More articles on the media are available at https://communicationsplus.net/PRarticles.html.
An excellent and useful post, Kay.
My PR experience dates back to the days when online pubs were getting a toehold, but print was still king. Your job must be increasingly challenging what with fewer journalists around to pitch and the “eternal life” anything published on the Internet.
The comment about the growth of niche publications is interesting and apt. It seems there’s a market for publications like “Real Simple,” which are purportedly about simplifying your life or “Dwell,” which is about cool housing. I think there are still people who eagerly anticipate receiving their subscription and putting aside a few hours to read it cover to cover. And it seems as though there are enough of them to keep many niche pubs going.