The rise of smartphones and tablets have enabled us access to all the information we could ever want at the click of a button, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can scroll through newspapers, magazines, blogs, social media and even have news updates sent to our phones, in the same way we would receive a text message.
This may lead you to believe that print is dead, and in some senses it is. This year saw The Independent become the first national newspaper to embrace a global, digital-only future. The paper, that has been available in print for decades, chose to make the bold decision to move purely online to capitalise on the paper’s position as the fastest growing UK newspaper website.
However, while The Independent is leaving behind the ‘old’ world of print for the ‘new’ world of digital and it starts to look like this could be the future for all our favourite newspapers and magazines – a new wave of independent magazines are thriving. In 2014 an independent-magazine subscription service reported a 78% increase in revenue, with its number of subscribers growing by 76%.
Which only goes to show that there are still many perks to print, and in many respects, for many publications, it is still going strong. But why?
It makes money
Many newspaper publishers still make the bulk of their revenues from print editions, as advertisers will pay more for print advertising and they also generate revenue from their cover price.
Print is more engaging
Consumers are more engaged when reading printed material, unlike websites, which are often skimmed in as little as a 15 second visit.
Credibility
There is something about print that gives it a sense of legitimacy. Plus there is no danger from print – unlike spam and viruses that you can find online that make people wary of clicking.
Many people still like to have something physical
Despite the fact you can create a playlist of all your favourite songs and listen to them on Spotify, people still buy both CDs and Vinyl, and although you can download books to Kindles, people still buy both hardback and softback books. Why? Because we still like to have something physical that we can hold, and that is the same when it comes to newspapers and magazines. Like CDs and books, magazines are something we can keep in our homes and refer back to time and time again.
They make a great gift
Newspaper and magazine subscriptions are still very popular and make a great gift. There are so many titles to choose from, which means whether the recipient’s passion is fashion or fishing, they can have news and reviews direct to their doorstep every week (or month). You hadn’t thought of giving this as a gift? Then take a look here and get some gift ideas for him or her, because print definitely is not dead!
While it doesn’t look like print is going anywhere any time soon, there also isn’t any denying the importance of digital as more and more start to use the two together – reaching a wider audience through websites and social media.
