A friend emailed me this week asking for contributions to his blog - one of the questions was - Is print media dead?
All the other questions were quick to answer - What was your first record? How did you get into the industry? Tell us something that people don't know about you?
But "is print media dead" seemed such a tough one - there have been endless conversation amongst many groups within the industry - PR's, journalists & clients. We all see the shift of influence and are forever analysising the change and effect. Should bloggers be sat in the front row? How much control do we have over release of information and when should it be published? Some clients want to stop guests tweeting at the show - others want to maximize all exposure. As ever, Tom Ford bucked the trend at the launch of his first Womenswear collection - insisting complete control over the release of information - no pictures, no tweets or blogs. All information was embargoed until the collection was available instore. Any guests caught flouting the rules knew they were committing fashion suicide.
As PR's we are now blogging and tweeting about our work and clients. In the past we were the invisible champions of our brands. But the appetite for inside information has seen a demand for not just a Modus website but twitter feeds @moduspr and our own blog.
The media press itself decree the end of print and the rise of online and digital media. The Times online announced last week - 100,000 subscribers behind their pay wall. Is this enough for the other newspapers to follow suit?
Is this a long slow death or a rebirth, a reinvention - a metamorphosis?
I have always collected print media - whether tearing out pages from newspapers about a great restaurant or hotel to visit; images from fashion and art magazines provide layers of inspiration on my office wall. Shelves in my house groan under the weight of years or National Geographic, Vanity Fair and Vogues. I long for a digital library of all these pages and images that could be called up and printed out on quality stock at the touch of a button .
National Magazine Company clearly believes in print media first and foremost with their resent acquisition of Hachette - acquiring titles such as Elle, Red, Psychologies. I'm very intrigued to see what their strategy will be. Can they find the perfect business model to straddle both worlds - a successful collection of print titles using their loyal readers and taking them across into the online world?
Even online retail giants like ASOS alongside all their innovative digital communications have a print magazine they send to their customers.
Print media seems to be able to comfortably exist in the hi-end, low volume, world with expensive limited editions or the low end, hi-volume free category- thrown away at the end of a tube journey. The middle seems to be the territory under seige.
I am a great fan of all forms of communication. Digital or print - my attention switches between the two. It's about authority and trust. Who is creating the content? How well researched is it? What's their point of view? Whether it's a daily blog post from Susie Lau at Style Bubble, my morning news from WWD.com; my copy of The Times on the way to work - in print or on my ipad - depending on my mood; or sitting down with a copy of this month's World of Interiors magazine and pouring over the smooth pages. Some for me are better on a screen for convenience and speed. But equally others I much prefer to have printed on paper. At this point I'm caught between the seduction of Flipboard and the sensual pleasure of a visit to Simon Finch's secondhand bookshop, where an aimless hour can unearth unique out of print finds.
The last issue of British Vogue was a great example of new and traditional media. The newsstand copy of the magazine delivered its formulaic polished editorial - beautiful features, fashion shoots in great locations and all the must haves for the season. Combined with the ipad version with shoots coming to life with film, diving deeper into each story, helping to complement the print edition but adding another layer.
We all know that digital media will continue to expand - particularly as developments within hardware continue to evolve. The mixing of the media with written, spoken word and film content - it makes sense that more content will be digital. But the idea of a world without print fills me with dread.
Is a battle between nations - paper and screen? In the arena of communication which gladiator will please the crowd to become the victor. I am sure that for print this is another phase of its evolution - lets see how the two slug it out and pray they can coexist.