The circulation of print magazines has declined precipitously in the last 24 months. This dissolution of subscriber bases has accelerated dramatically as economic recession set in. But a diminishing wealth effect is only partly to blame. The managements of printed periodicals - from dailies to quarterlies - failed miserably to grasp the Internet's potential and potential threat. They were fooled by the lack of convenient and cheap e-reading devices into believing that old habits die hard. They do - but magazine reading is not habit forming. Readers' loyalties are fickle and shift according to content and price. The Web offers cornucopial and niche-targeted content - free of charge or very cheaply. This is hard to beat and is getting harder by the day as natural selection among dot.bombs spares only quality content providers.
Consider Ploughshares, the Literary Journal.
It is a venerable, not for profit, print journal published by Emerson College, now marking its 30th anniversary. It recently inaugurated its web sibling. The project consumed three years and $125,000 (grant from the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds). Every title Ploughshares has ever published was indexed (over 18,000 journal pages digitized). In all, the "website will offer free access to over 2,750 poems and short stories from past and current issues."
The more than 2000 (!) authors ever published in Ploughshares will each maintain a personal web page comprising biographical notes, press releases, new books and events announcements and links to other web sites. This is the Yahoo! formula. Content generated by the authors will thus transform Ploughshares into a leading literary portal.
But Ploughshares did not stop at this standard features. A "bookshelf" will link to book reviews contributed online (and augmented by the magazine's own prestigious offerings). An annotated bookstore is just a step away (though Ploughshares' web site does not include one hitherto). The next best thing is a rights-management application used by the journal's authors to grant online publishing permissions for their work to third parties.
No print literary magazine can beat this one stop shop. So, how can print publications defend themselves?
By being creative and by not conceding defeat is how.
Consider WuliWeb's example of thinking outside the printed box.
It is a simple online application which enables its users to "send, save and share material from print publications". Participating magazines and newspapers print "WuliCodes" on their (physical) pages and WuliWeb subscribers barcode-scan, or manually enter them into their online "Content Manager" via keyboard, PDA, pager, cell phone, or fixed phone (using a PIN). The service is free (paid for by the magazine publishers and advertisers) and, according to WuliWeb, offers these advantages to its users:
"Once you choose to use WuliWeb's free service, you will no longer have to laboriously "tear and share" print articles or ads that you want to archive or share with colleagues or friends. You will be able to store material sourced from print publications permanently in your own secure, electronic files, and you can share this material instantly with any number of people. Magazine and Newspaper Publishers will now have the ability to distribute their online content more widely and to offer a richer experience to their readers. Advertisers will be able to deploy dynamic and media-rich content to attract and convert customers, and will be able to communicate more completely with their customers."
Links to the shared material are stored in WuliWeb's central database and users gain access to them by signing up for a (free) WuliWeb account. Thus, the user's mailbox is unencumbered by huge downloads. Moreover, WuliWeb allows for a keywords-based search of articles saved.
Perhaps the only serious drawback is that WuliWeb provides its users only with LINKS to content stored on publishers' web sites. It is a directory service - not a full text database. This creates dependence. Links may get broken. Whole web sites vanish. Magazines and their publishers go under. All the more reason for publishers to adopt this service and make it their own.
About The Author
Sam Vaknin is the author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited" and "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East". He is a columnist in "Central Europe Review", United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.
His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com
Today we have already available UAVs, which will soon have... Read More
Visual limits of the human brain and the visual processing... Read More
In lieu of recent, tumultuous occurrences, people are more compelled... Read More
Solar power will be necessary for space exploration and off... Read More
DNA testing is routinely used in immigration cases to prove... Read More
We propose a Stealth Aircraft or non-stealth composite aircraft to... Read More
Using Shapes on Mobiles to confuse optic flow sensors in... Read More
The Hubble Space Telescope received its first Service Mission in... Read More
Soon scientists will have scaled down robotic insects. This is... Read More
The HarmonicIn a good history book by a leading light... Read More
North Americans account for less than 10% of the world's... Read More
Surely, in the days before man invented artificial light, moths... Read More
Many who admire the excellent design of Mother Nature and... Read More
Can a hybrid Surface to Air Missile, UAV loiter for... Read More
Remember when the Russians shot down a Korean Airlines 747... Read More
In the US it appears that we have decided that... Read More
100 years ago Albert Einstein developed his Relativity Theory of... Read More
A recent study, which was conducted by the Florida State... Read More
Here is a thought to get this topic started. A... Read More
UAVs can carry cargo, some of the very tiny UAV... Read More
Refractors, Newtonian reflectors and Catadioptrics are the three main types... Read More
A Mechanical bullet, which will turn in flight is well... Read More
HOBBITS AND LICE:In late 2004 the media was all agog... Read More
In any important task you need to stay alert and... Read More
In the world of science, there is excited speculation about... Read More
Perhaps we should be looking into advancing the propulsion systems... Read More
It is now possible to overwhelm our enemy from space... Read More
Let us discuss the patent for the Submarine, which is... Read More
INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"There is a principle which is a bar against... Read More
Whenever there's a drought, someone will come up with the... Read More
Is Mars Hollow? We are pretty sure it is not,... Read More
Can we hibernate humans using hydrogen sulfide gas for long-term... Read More
Stem cells are primitive undifferentiated cells that have the capability... Read More
Telescopes are devices that are used to view the distant... Read More
We need very much to study meteorites more, but we... Read More
In History and Science:INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"Everybody was glad that I was... Read More
In the world of science, there is excited speculation about... Read More
Let us discuss the patent for the Submarine, which is... Read More
Perhaps we should design tunneling robots, which can dig out... Read More
In our present period we are continually reminded that we... Read More
When most people think of building a secluded home, they... Read More
Here is a thought to get this topic started. A... Read More
Aerodynamic changes need to be made in MAVs. Micro-Air Autonomous... Read More
The reason for the apparently absurd question in the title... Read More
Recently some NASA Scientists were able to fly a MAV;... Read More
DNA Profiling and Its Uses in CourtStronger evidence in courtrooms-it's... Read More
Those who study chimpanzees are often amazed completely with the... Read More
Have you ever used a compound microscope? Your first thought... Read More
Constantly bombarded with negative information about the environment, finances and... Read More
And as I was typing this, I stopped for a... Read More
There maybe a way to use acoustic transducers to pin-point... Read More
By using a special coating on the deck of an... Read More
Egyptian scholars know there is little other than fiction that... Read More
Remote Control Bacteria. Why not, we have remote control everything.... Read More
Many who admire the excellent design of Mother Nature and... Read More
Human innate bonding to ELF ? Extremely Low Frequencies of... Read More
The crop circle enigma is not always a hoax. I... Read More
I have always been an advocate of recycling. Even though... Read More
Back in the seventies, we watched "The Six Million Dollar... Read More
BI-LOCATION (PADRE PIO & PYTHAGORAS): - I have some experience... Read More
A boiler is used for generating steam. It does this... Read More
Wind Power is considered a clean industry and is amongst... Read More
Plants, invertebrate animals, amphibians and even reptiles have the ability... Read More
We can make diamonds using the Earth's inner forces, extreme... Read More
DNA testing has three major applications for forensic studies: identification... Read More
The search to reveal a mystery.Research laboratories around the world... Read More
Science Articles |