The Big Magazine Theory
The Big Magazine Theory of Publishing
Again, I ask that we take assumptions based on print publishing and re-think them. I believe the obstacles in publishing a 1,000-page monthly magazine stemmed from three main problems (the first two can be resolved online, the third cannot):
- The cost and weight of paper;
- The difficulty in organizing large amounts of articles (data);
- Paying and managing skilled writers.
(This touches on two issues I’ll address elsewhere: 1) the new sloppy editorial standard; and 2) “the myth surrounding unpaid labor.” See also labor costs in the budget.)
Labor costs aside, there are lots of advantages to having a really, really super huge magazine. Ideally, art, film, theatre, dance, and music—complete with maps and listings—could all be covered in one absolutely massive local culture website. Chicago Artists Resource (http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/) attempts to do that, but their focus is on being a resource for the practitioner, not a guide for the audience.
But why be big? Why not focus?
It’s simple, really: “sandbox fight” articles bring in traffic; scholarly articles don’t.
I’ll address the issue of audience for quality content elsewhere, but I do have the charts to prove that flashy, controversial articles in which people are duking it out in the comments section bring in a huge volume of traffic that even really well thought out scholarly pieces don’t. (Again, I’ll do commentary on this sad fact elsewhere.) The statistical support for this trend is undeniable.
And the trend–the knee-jerk reaction—is for publications to blindly go in the direction of high traffic and cut lower-traffic content. It’s why major newspapers have tossed aside all integrity to slavishly follow this trend, and try to capitalize on fluff. But internet trends are discovered fast, and by the time one hops on the bandwagon, everyone else has done it and the market is saturated. So even becoming the last duck to join the smut parade – even that fails, and newspapers and other publications speed up their trajectory as they spiral into the vortex of failure. The problem is that you can’t just publish flashy crap. It’s like junk food, and after a while, if it’s all you eat, you’ll get sick. One needs a healthy, balanced meal with a fattening, sugary desert. Sometimes you’re in the mood to improve yourself, sometimes you want to stay informed, sometimes you just want to laugh and relax.
A website/magazine today could be “big”, content-rich and satisfy a wide range of readers - from the arts professional to the layperson who just stumbled onto the site. And the mix of content types brings up the crux of the “Big Magazine Theory”:
Flashy Content Subsidizes Quality Content (a symbiotic relationship)
Consider marrying the two worlds: commercial appeal to advertisers, with the prestige of scholarly pieces. It could have content that attracts advertisers, and those dollars would subsidize the less commercial content. And yes, I believe that scholarly, in-depth content does need to be subsidized, I see few examples of it having a large enough readership to be successful on it’s own in the marketplace. However, although the less commercial content is not directly profitable, it benefits the commercial side by bringing integrity to the overall publication. Consider Vanity Fair magazine: fluff and fashion surrounding one unbelievably hard-hitting article. It is a proven method for reaching different parts of an audience, and giving everyone audience something to read, regardless of their mood.
The Hard Part: Visual Organization
The issue that will arise, however, organizing all the aforementioned content so readers will see what’s there (in general terms) and content won’t get lost. Any magazine with that vast amount of articles and databases will need a great interface designer to make this happen—but it can be done. “User Interface Design” is a growing industry because the need to visually organizing and make vast websites usable is a need that has spread to every corner of the internet. Financial websites need to cater to the novice and the professional, along with providing tools and information. Website content can be highly organized, and the visual (and logical) organization of a website’s content is key in its success. Just because it’s not often done well, doesn’t mean it’s not possible to do it well in the future.
