We are complicit
08/03/2023
Last weekend I discovered the current issue of "Color Foto" and stumbled across the striking banner "Last issue". I've known the title for decades, bought a few issues myself at the newsstand in the 1980s, but have lost sight of the magazine in recent years. And now the last issue has appeared. The printed magazine is being discontinued, to be replaced by an ePaper and online offerings. That's a bit sad!
"Color Foto", first published in 1970, is not an isolated case. Many, if not all, publishing houses are currently analyzing their figures and making strategic decisions. Is it still worth printing a magazine is the central question. With the rise in printing and paper costs coupled with a simultaneous decline in advertising volumes and ever smaller sales areas in the magazine trade, some print magazines are becoming a loss-making business.
As readers, we have helped to bring this about. I have to take myself to task here. A few decades ago, I used to buy a whole range of magazines every month. auto motor und sport was one of them, of course, but also Oldtimer Markt, Motor Klassik, Classic & Sports Car or Octane and photography magazines such as Color Foto or Photographie and many others. Today, on the other hand, I read a lot of things on my tablet, even if they were available in print. Online newsstands offer thousands of magazines every month for the subscription price of one or two printed magazines. It's hard to compete with an online-savvy modern readership. And future generations will hardly buy/read print magazines anyway.
But there are still people who like printed paper. And that's why we'll be printing another "Zwischengas Annual Magazine" at the end of 2023 and, of course, we want it to be our best issue yet.
P.S. The next time I get the chance, I'll buy a few magazines at the kiosk again while they're still around ...
