The UK’s magazine publishers will convene at The Brewery in central London on 7 May next week for this year’s PPA Festival. We wish them well. And wish too that somewhere among the 37 sessions the organizers might have found some space to mention the print word. Instead this is all about data, AI, digital, social media, strategies to capture younger audiences and so on and so forth. But nothing in the agenda talks about the impact that print and paper can have on audiences, perceptions, brand building and revenues. It’s as if print has been done and there is nothing more to say.
Certainly in recent years one of the major shifts in media has been away from mass circulation printed magazines. At one time five women’s titles could boast of circulations of a million copies a week each. And closures easy out number new magazine launches. But publishers continue to gain most of their revenue from printed publications and the shelf in the newsagents or supermarket remains a better place to discover a title than a Google search. Print has become the magazine industry’s dirty little secret, like the disgraced uncle that nobody in the family wants to talk about.
When the PPA first staged these events, print, file formats and so on were a major discussion point and large print groups were among the sponsors out to meet publishers. Now only Pensord Press is listed as a sponsor for the event. The PPA is missing a trick. While newsstand publishing continues to be challenging, some types of magazine continue to thrive in print. Alongside old fashioned (if you like) hobby titles is a new generation of stylish titles produced by and for GenZ that use high quality paper and print and are close to their audience. Like the vinyl revival and all things artisan, the printed magazine has a future. It’s a shame that nobody at a festival to celebrate magazine publishing will be talking about that.
Republished from the Print Business eZine of 29 April 2025
