Say Bye-Bye to the Printed Word

Hear that? It’s the sound of the print industry gasping for air. The weakened economy equals less advertising revenue for all printed publications. The availability of free news online means print publications are losing readers to the Internet. Online news and gossip sites are giving people the information they used to only find in print. Some people question if print journalism in general is going the way of the dodo bird - a beautiful thing that suddenly ceased to exist. Print journalism, unlike the poor dodo bird, certainly continues to offer something necessary to its readers and the world at large. Relevant news, features on interesting people, hits of pop culture and high fashion, along with advice on health, sex, love, dating and finance, all wrapped up in one convenient package.

But surely reading the news online is even more convenient, you say. To that I say, um…valid point. Reading news on the Internet can be a time saver. But it’s also monotonous and devoid of feelings. No one speaks fondly of their morning ritual of reading msnbc.com. Reading the news online is a chore, another bullet in the long list of obligations that are increasingly tying us to our computers and iPhones. Reading a newspaper online lacks finesse. Reading the newspaper or any print publication on actual paper is an art. It requires skill, dexterity, and most of all, time. Best of all, it gives you time. It gives you time to breathe, time to reflect, time to eat your damn breakfast before rushing off to work.

Newspapers are awesome (not that I’m biased or anything). But they’re just one piece of the disappearing puzzle that is the printed word. Another, glossier, just-as-important print medium is in even more danger than its inky brethren. Canadian magazines, as of now, are kind of screwed. Canadian magazines, as stylish and hip as they may be, have always been the underdogs of the magazine world, forever sitting in the shadows of their bigger, brighter siblings – the American magazine. Canadian magazines are in big trouble thanks to changes in government funding that went into effect in 2010. Last year Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore announced the birth of the Canadian Periodical Fund, a new system designed to replace two magazine funds with one streamlined organization. The CPF replaced the Canadian Magazine Fund and the Canada Periodical Fund, both of which stayed in place until 2010-2011.

The new fund brings new rules. Any individual publications will now only be able to receive a maximum of $1.5 million annually, which will negatively affect the top magazines in Canada including Canadian Living, Maclean’s, Western Producer, Reader’s Digest, House and Home and Chatelaine. These publications will either need to fire employees or cut corners to produce content at the same quality level as they currently do. There are at least 56 Canadian magazines that received money from the old system. How many of those magazines will now be funded? Well, that depends on how many readers they can drum up. Under the new system, magazines will need to have an annual paid circulation of at least 5000 readers. Many magazines, including brand spanking new ones, won’t be able to pull that many readers in at first. If new publications don’t receive funding from the government, how can anyone ever expect them to survive long enough to attract 5000 readers?

It is now too late for magazine editors and writers to prove the changes to the status quo will hurt too many magazines. However, it is not too late to save magazines, and by extension, the printed word. The public must demand that in future years the eligibility requirements for magazine funding be changed to protect newer and smaller publications. By setting a minimum annual paid circulation rate, the government is ensuring new, unique magazines don’t stand a chance at surviving. This new system will not only affect magazines but likely will also have lasting consequences for all print mediums. The more people get used to gleaning their information online, the more likely it is that the audience of every newspaper will be diminished. Advertisers will begin to see the printed word as a dying art and pull advertising dollars from all print mediums. There is a myth out there that only older generations read newspapers and only young people read magazines. The truth is that people of all ages benefit from the printed word and must continue to support it if they want to see it survive.