We’ve all heard rumblings about the future of print and declining subscriptions, but this recently, the game changed. As you might have heard, Newsweek has announced it will cease printing at the end of this year and move all content online. Across the Atlantic, the Daily Mail is seriously considering going digital as well.
All eyes will likely be on Newsweek to see how the transition impacts their subscriber numbers and advertising revenue.
So what does this mean for NESEA? Let me say this right up front: the newly re-branded BuildingEnergy Magazine won’t be leaving a print any time soon.
But change is inevitable. As Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Beast said, ” Print magazines today are basically horses and carriages, a decade after the car had gone into mass production.”
That’s why I urge you, as forward-thinking NESEA members and supporters, to help us get ahead of the curve by contributing to the NESEA blog. I know there’s some resistance to using the blog – it doesn’t seem very professional or or tangible, whereas you can hold the printed magazine, smell the paper and know it’s quite real. And didn’t I say earlier that your magazine isn’t going anywhere? Why should you care?
I think Sullivan says it best when he says ”…the connection between writers and photographers and editors is what a magazine is.” I firmly believe that it is NESEA membership that is the connection, the common thread, that will keep us resilient as times change. When your ideas are linked by a common identity, the media through which they are conveyed are irrelevant.
Our Membership Coordinator, Rayna Heldt, will soon share in a post on guidelines for the future of the NESEA blog and how it can best play to the strengths of our organization and our members. Look for her update here.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you’ll help us gear up for the future.
