Print is making a resurgence

BY Quality Printing Jackson, Mississippi
August 7, 2017

Everyone loves a comeback story, and this year’s underdog media tale may star an unlikely protagonist: print magazines.

According to Folio, we’re on pace for almost twice as many magazine launches in 2014 as 2013; 45 magazines launched in Q1 2014, compared to just 23 the previous year. Indie publishers like Monocle, Port, and The Gentlewoman (amongst many others) are blazing trails with financial models that rely less on advertisers and more on subscription revenues. Newsweek returned to print with a big launch at SXSW. And big-time digital publishers like Pando (Pando Quarterly), Pitchfork (The Pitchfork Review) and POLITICO are trying out print for the first time, discovering that it helps them stands out in an increasingly saturated digital landscape.

“I think one of the keys we’ve had in terms of success was having a print product,” POLITICO CRO Roy Schwartz told Folio. “In DC, we have a magazine and a newspaper, and there’s nothing like that in the New York market.”

Similarly, Business of Fashion recently decided to publish its own print magazine. In an interview with The New York Times, Editor-in-Chief Imran Amed said that despite being a digital-first company, Business of Fashion chose print because it appeared to be a great medium to seize the moment and get the industry’s attention.