The digital century we’re living in today has led magazines and other forms of print news to make the switch from the newsstands to your inbox as more and more people rely on Twitter and other social media applications to catch up on the latest events and celebrity gossip. The days of holding the month’s freshly printed issue of Cosmopolitan have come to a close as of January when the company decided to go fully digital for publication.
Making the switch has some major pros for publishing companies. According to Foleon, the production time can be shortened by less than two hours by creating an online magazine. This way the magazine is accessible to almost everybody and will allow the creators to adjust information in real time, keeping readers up-to-date on the news. Companies can reach a wider audience by distributing their issues via the Internet. This will save big money on resources used to print magazines such as paper, ink and distribution. Analytics can be studied as well to track the performance of each issue as it reaches readers. This helps companies see what topics are a hit with consumers, the traffic each edition receives and many other features.
Holding the magazine issue in your hands is more enjoyable for some readers, making it a disappointment when companies completely eliminate the physical copies. Well-known magazine companies such as Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen have made the switch to digital publication and online content.
Teen favorites that once flooded the newsstands, including TigerBeat, BOP, J-14 and others, have either been discontinued or switched over to digital issue releases. Upon entering these teen sites, pop-ups appear on the screen prompting the reader to subscribe to receive their latest issue on their iPhone.
The ever-changing media world is forming the way we consume content, and maybe mourning the loss of our teen favorites just won’t get easier. People argue that the era of print news will eventually die as sales have been declining for several years, but sources suggest that consumption depends on the content that editors are conjuring. Some companies like Vogue have found the perfect balance between online publishing and print issues, making it one of the most influential magazines in the world.
News can be distributed in minutes to readers across the world with a digital publication. Over time, media might just takeover print journalism and news as we know it, making it easier for readers to access information wherever and whenever they want as it happens. Magazine companies are initiating the end of one era and the start of something new and modern.