The Contemporary Print Media Industry

This essay explores the current state of the print media industry, its decline in the face of online news portals, and the potential future prospects for print magazines. It discusses the factors contributing to the decline, such as the rise of internet literacy and the cost of running print operations. However, it also highlights the unique advantages of print magazines and the complementary relationship between print and online media. The essay concludes by acknowledging the challenges but also the potential for a resurgence of print magazines.

Running head: THE CONTEMPORARY PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY
THE CONTEMPORARY PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The essay is focused towards understanding the present conditions of the print media in
Canada and the world and gathering implications from the same to comment on the future
prospects of the industry. The study considers the present growth rate of the magazine
publication in the country and across the world. The same information is used to understand the
prospects of magazines in the future. In the recent years the importance that was once associated
with the print media has greatly diminished. The print media business has witnessed a steady
drop over the last few years. It is important to understand that the growth of website news portals
and the advent of quick and easy access news in the smartphone era has contributed to the
growth of the e-magazines. This has greatly hampered the growth of print magazines in the
market. Magazines of all genres can be said to have taken a hit as a result.
According to news sources Canada can witness a 1.6% reduction in the advertisement
spend in magazines in the year 2019 (Canadian magazines to see the steepest drop: report, 2019).
At the same time the online advertising is set to rise by almost 9%. This proves that currently the
value of magazines in the country as well as the world is witnessing a slow disintegration. In
fact, this has been the case if the larger part of the 21st Century is considered. Especially, since
the 2010s the increase in internet literacy and better internet penetration across the world
contributed greatly to the gradual and steady growth of online news portals. Likewise, e-
magazines also grew in popularity across the world. The rise have been even more aggressive in
the past four or five years. In Canada, there has been significant layoffs taking place in a number
of magazines. The magazine publishers like Rogers Media and TVA had reduced their
employees (Canadian magazines to see the steepest drop: report, 2019). It can be seen that apart
from the rise of the internet magazines another significant factor that is affecting the drop in
magazines is the cost of running the operations. At the same time e-magazines can be run at half

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the cost or even lower. This is also the reason many large magazines have shifted completely
towards online channels. Hence, magazines are becoming more and more internet oriented. The
cost of running large print media houses can definitely be said to be taking its toll on the
magazine industry. Many experts in the market are skeptical about the future of the print media.
This along with magazines include newspapers, periodicals and articles. Many are speaking in
favor of the print media including print magazines. The arguments in favor of the magazines is
that they are generally more tangible than the e-magazines that are available. They can be easily
accessed without anyone having to have an internet connection and they have more glamour
value. However, it also needs to be said that at the same time the importance of printed versions
of magazines are diminishing both for the reader and the publishers.
Cassidy Lunney opines in The Future of Print Magazines (2019) that most of the
publications of magazines are going to make a quick shift to online. Speaking about magazines
she says that The New York Times, Vogue, National Geographic and Harper’s Bazaar will be
some of the bigger names to make the media shift. However, on the bright side experts predict
that there is still hopes for the print magazines as trends tend to stop and people tend to repeat
theie historic habits. It can hence be said that magazines may regain much of their lost readership
in the long run. The 21st century has been innovative, revolutionary and greatly spontaneous in
terms if the changes that have taken place. It has witnessed the rise of the internet and the
disintegration of the previously existing systems (Patterson, 2016). The rise of internet
journalism and the boom in the available media channels across the globe have contributed
massively to the growth of the online culture. People tend to be more online with better more
affordable network packages provides by the internet service providers. The emergence of the
smartphones in the recent years have been one of the most important factors that have affected

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print media in general. The tangibility and the ready availability of information on the go has
contributed greatly to the changing consumption habits of the general population. In essence, the
internet literate people are currently not willing to venture out of the internet. The prospects of
print magazines along with the wider prospects of print are on the downside presently as a result
of the already mentioned factors. However, there might still be hope for resurgence of the print
magazines as analysts and experts have still not written off the print magazines.
According to Forbes, print media will continue in value where there will be physical
presence of customers. Print magazines are mediums that are target specific. It is a place where
people can come together with the seller just like a retail store. For example- it can be said that a
plan for medical payment can only make sense if read at the waiting room of a doctor. Senior
citizens can be reached more effectively through the news mailers. Thus, it can be said that not
all the people are internet oriented and a substantial portion of the readership populations still
prefer print over online. The prospects of magazines can be said to be better as the magazines
can be divided into a large number of genres depending upon the readership. Some of the basic
divisions being news, sports, fashion, wellbeing, lifestyle, food and many more. Luxury
consumers may continue to prefer tangible print magazines over the online versions of the same
magazines. The glamour value that comes with glossy magazines can never be emulated by their
online versions. Moreover, factors that affect the online media like the image recognition and AR
are pushing advertisers more towards print media for providing their target audiences with
seamless experience of brand. Another important factor that has come to play in the recent years
is the complementary relationship development between print and online media (Cox, 2015).
This can also be said to be a way forward. Digital ad campaigns can be complemented by the ad
campaigns in the print magazines to give the customers an integrated experience. Essentially,

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this is a significant way in which the publishers as well as the advertisers can keep in touch with
the people. Perhaps the largest source of revenue for the print magazines are the advertisers.
Hence, to rejuvenate print magazine in the new age it is important to have an effective plan to
coordinate and cooperate with the advertisers. It can be said that print media containing print
magazines would have to evolve in accordance with the expectations of the public (Forbes,
2019). Offline influences will continue to reengage the consumers with print magazines. This
can greatly contribute towards the higher readerships of magazines. Many have opined that hyper
local markets can help print magazines to thrive.
However, it needs to be said that despite the positives, some essential questions remain in
regards to the future of the print magazines along with the greater future of the print media. The
growth of internet media has made it much easier to get hold of magazines. Some of the
magazines are significantly cost effective when viewed online. Added to this the prospects of the
better advertising in online media has further contributed to the growth of the online magazines.
The future is going to improve further for the online magazines. The online subscriptions that are
being used presently provides the publishers with better scope for revenue. Additionally there are
no extra costs that are being needed to bear for the e-magazines for printing. The machineries
that were used previously had to be maintained effectively for the printing of newspaper and
magazines. Online magazines have made it much less difficult to control the operations. The
editing software can be used in real time (Chandra & Kaiser, 2015). The correction of mistakes
can be done in real time. The online public can access the magazines at any time from any part of
the world. All of this is contributing towards a lesser certain future. It can be said that despite a
glimmer of hope for e-magazines, the chances of them regaining their former glory is the future
are very less.

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In conclusion it can be said that in the 21st century, the importance of print media have
slowly disintegrated. In the later part of the last decade the fall of print magazines have been
even steeper. It can be said though that there is still demand for the printed versions of the
magazines. This demand is however only among a niche customer base. In essence, like other
forms of print media the print magazines are also in decline. It is important for the magazines to
take essential steps towards venturing into the world of e-magazines. The magazines need to
consider the future with both caution and innovation.

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References
Canadian magazines to see the steepest drop: report. (2019). Retrieved from
http://mediaincanada.com/2019/02/21/canadian-magazines-to-see-the-steepest-drop-
report/
Chandra, A., & Kaiser, U. (2015). Newspapers and magazines. In Handbook of Media
Economics (Vol. 1, pp. 397-444). North-Holland.
Council Post: Does Print Still Have A Place In The Future Of Advertising? 10 Experts Weigh In.
(2019). Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/03/02/does-print-still-
have-a-place-in-the-future-of-advertising-10-experts-weigh-in/#3f763f625fc6
Cox, M. (2015). Back to the Future: Professional Development. Knowledge Quest, 43(4), 46-53.
Patterson, J. (2016). Case Studies in Transition: Multiplatform Publishing in Three Western
Canadian Magazines (Doctoral dissertation, Carleton University).
The Future of Print Magazines. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.hercampus.com/school/montclair/future-print-magazines