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Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
Is The End Near For Magazines?

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MilointheMeadow
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
The thing is (at least for me): I love love LOVE print. Give me something tangible that I can tuck in my bag and read on a whim. And I wouldn't even mind about the extra cost of print vs. digital **if only the content was any good**

Ladymags, stop regurgitating copy and do something original for women. For once. I might support you again!
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Hana Maru
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
I love buying paper magazines and wish what was offered to us was better. I like getting trend reports and new beauty product news mixed with witty, insightful articles. I've let my subscriptions run out, and last month at the airport I leafed through all the ladymags before settling for a single disappointing copy of Elle.

"however great an issue it might be-simply isn't enough anymore." This just doesn't ring true for me. I think lots of women would be excited to buy if more creativity, cleverness, and useful information were in evidence.
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MissFiFi
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
Maybe people don't want to read about another millionaire celebrity and her f'ing "fashion" line. Maybe I know where my G Spot is and don't need another article to tell me and my lover how to find it. Perhaps folks no longer care about what makeup Jennifer Aniston uses or what $700 jeans are making Jessica Alba's ass so taut. Maybe, just maybe, the general public prefers to a read a good novel for escape instead of what the Gosselin's or Brangelina are doing? Of course I am just projecting my own aggravation about this, but I hope I am right in some ways.
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AuntieBee
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
The thing is, part of what keeps Cosmo selling is that there is always a new crop of young ladies who want the fun fearless female persona it sells, and who kind of don't know how to touch his junk. We were all her once, or we knew her. Then we got older and wiser and moved on to better publications and blogs.

This is why the articles recycle - the readers do. It should be a fairly stable endeavor. Like high school, actually.
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bluebears
08/31/09

@AuntieBee: True. But I also think thats why their sales are starting to decline, kids today are just making more and more use of the web, and online websites are punching in the cosmo formula to attract their readers.
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Diziet_Sma
08/31/09

@AuntieBee: Yep.
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Diziet_Sma
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
I think they'll bounce back when the economy does. Until we have universal wireless internet - including on trains, subways, buses and airplanes - it's untenable to read mags on a netbook when you're on the go.

However, I think paper glossies will become extinct when the Kindle, and other electronic reading devices, can offer good-quality color reproduction, which can't be too far away. And in that case, women's mags will survive, albeit in a different format.
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Edited by Diziet_Sma at 08/31/09 2:34 PM Diziet_Sma was starred Diziet_Sma was unstarred

hydrogen_jukebox
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
Really, all print media is going the way of the stone tablet. I should know, I work in it. And I wonder why I can't find a job...

But if a side effect of this is that I may see less of this junk around, then so be it. I can always learn Flash and Action Scripting.
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JerseyGrrrl
08/31/09

@hydrogen_jukebox: I work in it too and recently starting taking Web design courses. As hard as it's going to be to learn a new medium (one that I see as less about design and more about right-brained computer programming and language memorization), it won't matter if the industry can't find a way to profit from the Web.

People (myself included) have begun to expect their Web-based information to be free. And changing their minds on that may be impossible. And even if news and entertainment Web sites can begin charging, other sites will pirate the info and offer it for free, which will be hard to prove and expensive to punish.

What scares me most is the cumulative effects of a reduced fourth estate. I don't think we've fully realized how a reduced press will affect government transparency here. But I suppose in regards to lady mags, that's neither here nor there. Fewer weight loss article. *sob*
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Diziet_Sma
08/31/09

@JerseyGrrrl: Rest assured there will be a model put in place that will require payment for content eventually. Kindle already charges for subscriptions to the NYT and the New Yorker, among others.
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Edited by Diziet_Sma at 08/31/09 2:45 PM Diziet_Sma was starred Diziet_Sma was unstarred

wtfox?!
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
I just find about 99.999% of every ladymag's content irrelevant to me. I mean, I'm a broke grad student who can't afford $80 face cream and clothes that require you to call the designer and ask to find out the price. And so much content seems to be recycled from this time last year; I really don't need to be told, again, what will drive him wild in bed.

On the other hand, if I have a few extra bucks to drop on good photography and original, interesting writing... that's where my money goes.
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bluebears
08/31/09

In reply to Ladymags Doing Poorly On Newsstands
But..but...Dodai, how DO I touch his junk???? Oh its all so complex. Also, what would I do without Cosmo's sex guides that show little men and women drawings to illustrate doggy style? I WOULD BE LOST.
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Maulleigh
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
So we'll have blogs. If they're smart, they'll start beefing up their blogs right now so they can cut off the print later. And that time will come.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
I love magazines, from Harper's to tabloid trash. What the hell else am I supposed to read in the bath or on a short-haul flight? a book? Get bent! I really do love them, though.
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Sister Toldja
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
KING FOLDED!

Yit-ta-dee!

Happy dance!
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Diziet_Sma
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
I'm so over magazines, but that may be partly because I worked as an editor for 15 years. The only one I find worth reading these days is the New Yorker.
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Red-headed bookworm
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
I get some magazines. I get Fitness, Women's Health, Cooking Light, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Fair, Allure, and Lucky. I wish I could stop Allure and Lucky but they auto-renewed them before I could stop them. *sigh* I want to start getting Oxygen or Muscle & Fitness Hers. I like the exercises to make you strong, not just toned.
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ImDatNinja (loves her Red Sox)
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
N, Newsstand he used to work at a newsstand!

(and I quote)

But seriously glossy mags are one of my vices. Please dont die.
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hfree
04/03/09

In reply to Is The End Near For Magazines?
I actually started to subscribe to magazines once the economy took a nosedive because of the break you get off the newstand price. I really enjoy spending my Wednesday with Sports Illustrated and my Friday with Entertainment Weekly (although the quality of that mag has dropped significantly).

The one thing I found is that I'm actually less likely to read a monthly mag in a timely fashion when I subscribe then when I get it on the newstand. I haven't opened a Vogue in months even though it keeps showing up (I really need to ask Conde Nast to switch my subscription to the New Yorker or something, maybe extend Vanity Fair).

But I hope not too many more mags fold. What will I do on long plane trips without a good glossy?
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