R.I.P SURFING Mag | Digital kills more print
As mentioned earlier the massive corporate conglomerate The Enthusiast Network that owns most “action sports media” these days just went through a huge cut.
SNOWBOARDER Mag (print). GONE!
Surfing Mag. GONE!
Other mags we don’t care much about. GONE!
But still sad because all print is très grande!
There are a couple different stories floating around right now. STAB is saying that Surfing will morph into SURFER and Beach Grit says ‘not really.’ Come Feb. 1st though we should know the whole story.
SURFER Mag already dipped down to a quarterly a while back. So that’s 4 issues year instead of what used to be 24. Crazy times!
“The Enthusiast Network will put a brave face on the new reality. “When God closes a door he opens a window!” Etc. But in truth it’s all over for the brave little magazine.
– Beach Grit
“Via Stab’s carrier pigeons associated with The Enthusiast Network–the company that has SURFER, Surfing, GrindTV, Transworld Skateboarding, Snowboarder and Transworld Snowboarding, and more under their umbrella–word has been confirmed of the biggest cut to “action sports” media (god we hate that term) to date. And don’t get us wrong, we are not gloating over this. If we’re being honest media is a patched-up ship barely floating above the brine. Advertisers are the fibreglass and resin, digital presence is crucial and print–as lovely and tangible a thing it is-is slowly dying with the evolution of time.
So, here’s what we know: Effective February 1, 2017, the consolidation of SURFER and Surfing will take place. The hope is to merge the two into the largest surf media brand. And because SURFER, established in 1960 has long been considered the “Bible of the sport” it will white whale Surfing, swallowing it whole, staff and all.”
– STAB Mag
Surfline got surf literary legend Matt Warshaw on the horn to get his thoughts. Here are a few of his choice words. He’s got a lot more where this came from:
How will losing the magazine affect surf culture, if at all?
Not at all, not at this point. Except just to confirm what’s been obvious for a long time, that the old way of doing print is over. A monthly magazine made sense before the internet. No longer. Print is going niche, like the vinyl LP. Long reads are still better on paper. That’s the only advantage print has; that and the fact that some people, like LP lovers, still want the actual object. But the web has every advantage visually, and most advantages as far as what we want to read too — the contest recap, last weekend’s swell, industry news. We’ve been getting those things on the web for 10 years now. It’s surprising Surfing lasted as long as it did.
What role do you think magazines have now, in the digital age?
Long-form features I think is the only chance. Do what you can’t do online. Try and out-Journal the Surfer’s Journal. Which I think is pretty much impossible.
Click over to BEACH GRIT for more on The Enthusiast Network killing off SURFING
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