Way back at the top of this discussion, someone asked, “Is paper better than the internet?” As far as magazines go, paper wins by a knockout. The internet destroyed the magazine industry and gave us very little in return.
Go to a newsstand, if you can find one. Pick up a magazine, any magazine. Chances are that it feels more like a pamphlet. Even one-time blockbusters like Vogue have been reduced to nothing.
I was a writer and editor for magazines in the financial press. Between 2005-10, it was ruined. Absolutely destroyed. Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, the list goes on. Editorial staff, ad sales, and pages dropped by more than half across the industry. Many, many publications, starting with Newsweek, the rock of ages, closed their doors.
And what replaced them? Nothing. Well, Bloomberg bought BusinessWeek. But Bloomberg, as it would readily admit, is dedicated to journalism with a half life that can be measured in minutes. It makes no attempt to do longer form pieces with literary value.
In the audio world, we got a few blogs like Positive Feedback and SoundStage. I like PF. But it publishes one review per month of some very difficult to find and insanely expensive component. Lots of Von Schweikert, lots of CH Precision. I’m sure that stuff sounds great. Never heard any of it, never even seen any of it, but I’m sure that it sounds great.
Given the industry standard, Stereophile is a wonder. Still thick enough to merit perfect binding (where the pages are glued to make a flat spine, not stapled), still packed with writing and packed with ads. Niche publications are the only such magazines that are still doing well but, even in the niche world, Stereophile has done better than most.
I never read it back in the day, so I can’t compare today’s version against one from 20 years ago, or any other relevant time. And I don’t think this is the place for a stand-alone review of the magazine. But I can’t resist from adding that mine would not be kind. Recently, Stereophile published a show note of a $100,000 bookshelf speaker that “no exaggeration, no hyperbole” caused the writer to weep. The only thing worse than being sold apocryphal nonsense is the possibility that it’s true.
