PPA Conference: Leading magazine editors defend print
Print is still a core part of the publishing business say leading editors, past and present, of some of the UK’s best known magazines.
Speaking at Wednesday’s annual PPA Conference, industry stalwarts, including former Smash Hits editor David Hepworth, Grazia‘s editor-in-chief Jane Bruton and TopGear‘s editor-in-chief Charlie Turner, were all quick to defend the print medium in the digital age.
Despite the national decline of print and the recent death of popular print magazines such as More! and AutoTrader, Bruton and Turner both said that print is still at the core of their businesses – there to deliver “more interesting” and “more valuable” content, while digital online platforms are more so for immediacy and “being first” to deliver news.
As digital rapidly cannibalises print, evidenced in the latest ABC Consumer findings, published on Newsline, Bruton said physical magazines still aim to delight, inspire and entertain and that “print is at the core of Grazia.”
“There will always be a place for magazines,” she said, noting that you can’t take your tablet in the bath.
The consumer newsbrand has only recently adopted a tablet platform, which delivers the same content as the magazine but with a different functionality, and Bruton expressed her ambitions to move into the mobile space as younger readers look for that “instant fix” that digital can provide.
TopGear‘s Turner added that online might own the “be first” immediacy many consumers now want, but he still decides to run exclusive content in print first as a “reward for loyal readers” – demonstrating that the magazine is still a fundamental part of the brand, in spite of the growing popularity of his digital platform, which has five million unique users each month.
“Magazines are for expanded and more interesting content that has more value,” he said.
Despite the constant focus on the battle between print and digital mediums, the editorial director of Haymarket Network, Simon Kanter, said that they two should not be seen in complete opposition. “Print is still important,” he said, “just less so.”