Once upon a time, when people actually used to ‘read’ magazines, they were really good value for money. Of course, they were mostly printed on cheap woodfree paper and they weren’t glossy. But editorial content was surprisingly diverse, with well-researched in-depth articles and features, lifestyle tips, short stories and a balanced advertising to editorial ratio. What happened?
During a recent trip to the hairdresser I was offered a glossy and very weighty international women’s magazine to read. Great, I thought – but I should have known better. After wading through page after tedious page of perfume/jewellery/fashion advertisements, all offering highly Photoshopped images of incredibly surreal models, I finally came across a very long list of contents. Alarm bells were ringing – how can it possibly include so much? It took me less than 10 minutes to go through the other 200 or so pages to discover why. Liberally interspersed with yet more advertising, boring paid-for advertorial and the occasional detailed description of someone’s sexual fantasies/experiences (which would have shocked my mother to the very core of her being… I think!), no feature was more than one or two pages long and most were just a hotchpotch of fashion, society and paparazzi celebrity images, thrown together on the page. The editorial consisted mainly of a 25-word intro and a few somewhat pathetic catchy captions. I was left wondering why I hadn’t brought a good book to read.
A quick scout round the newsagent’s magazine racks confirms it – this is the norm. With so many publications offering such similar content, it’s hard to believe they can all survive. But alongside the glossy women’s monthlies is something even worse …the scandal rags. It’s incredible to even think that people actually buy these, take them home and leave them lying around for their children to read. Do I really want my 12-year old reading lurid articles like, “I had sex with my stepfather while Mum was washing his socks” or, “I stole from my blind Gran to feed my drug habit”? What sort of moral values do these instill into the vulnerable minds of our kids?
Is the collective IQ of western society regressing? Are we becoming so self-involved in materialism that we no longer have any interests outside of fashion, sex, drugs and scandal? I, for one, certainly hope that’s not true but I suspect it is, because even though every issue of a magazine that comes off the press is subsidized by a small rain forest and the per copy price is equal to the cost of a good home-cooked meal for a family of four, it sells like hot cakes!
Of course, I know that publishing is all about making money and that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to survive in what is now a highly competitive market. After almost 35 years of publishing experience I am left with the feeling that all my efforts to produce interesting, informative, casual reading material have been in vain. I am in a dilemma – I know that everything we produce on this planet should have a worthwhile purpose and that includes publishing magazines. So, should I shoulder what must be the social responsibility of all editors and continue doing what I know is right, or throw in the towel, follow the trend …and live unhappily ever after?
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Sophia Fantis
Hi Dina,
I think it really comes down and depends onto what the magazine you were reading really was targeted to. Sex, Drugs and Scandal usually work for the younger generation, but I doubt a magazine targeted to older women will only talk about that!
It is sad that the majority do talk about this, but I still believe there are magazines which have quality material in them, the problem in this competitive market, is that now everyone can access the information online and for free as well. So it is important being different, and stand out from the rest.
However, I suggest you shouldn’t dive into what the majority are talking about, continue doing what you know is right, and that would make you different from the rest. There are indeed too many magazines talking about similar content, but being different will give you the competitive advantage. So you can then also live happily ever after and also have a magazine with material your 12 year old could read!
Dina Wilde
Hi Sophia,
It’s good to hear from you. My concerns are exactly what you are saying – that these publications are deliberately targeted at the young and impressionable. In the same way that they influence young fashion trends (no problem there) they also influence social behaviour (big problem). In my opinion, the majority of teenagers do not have the stamina or worldly experience to resist the temptations so blatantly offered to them as acceptable in magazine pages – and unfortunately, many do not have the parental guidance at home to put thing into perspective. It is not socially acceptable to diet yourself into oblivion, just because you want to look like a fashion model, nor is it acceptable for a 16-year old boy to snort a line of coke before going to a party because he can’t have good time unless he does, just like his favourite film star, etc. I could go on…
But you are right, Sophia, there are many excellent publications out there and I shall continue happily doing what I do best. But somewhere inside me I can hear the voice of Aristotle ironically saying, “…the will of the majority is supreme”. So am I fighting a losing battle?
Sophia Fantis
Hi Dina,
haha!
I know what you mean; it’s hard when to do that when you know that sells. You’ve mentioned something very important there, ‘the social behaviour’. It’s very hard to change an attitude and behaviour of people unfortunately. Society is changing, and unfortunately that’s something we can’t control. I remember having curfews when I was a kid, not being allowed to have a mobile phone by a certain age and so on. What percentages of kids have that nowadays? I’m not even that old and it’s something that worries me for when it’s time I have kids! That won’t happen anytime soon though
All I can say is, we can still value our beliefs and remember that being different in a way isn’t always bad. At time you will have to give in, at times you will have to write about sex, drugs and scandal, but you can always try and relate it with a positive attitude, spirit and strong message, so not necessarily fighting a losing battle. I’ll leave you with one of my many favourite quotes, Winston Churchill once said, “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” !
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