Saturday, December 5
TGO Website - New. Improved. 20% Free.
Don't know if anyone followed the TGO Magazine link on that last posting - but it looks like they've had the decorators in.
A revamped layout and even a RSS feed for lazy sods like me that have largely given up on scurrying around each individual website in which I have an interest.
Then again - perhaps it was just me missing the Makeover Announcement?
Very pretty Cameron.
And a step in the right direction.
Unlike the last Trail Magazine revamp which still feels like it was done by the local school as a community project.
Shudder.
(Edit: the TGO site is marked Beta. Some of the links remain to be sorted & the forum is unavailable - but it seems to have gone live late on Friday; Interesting selection of videos there already!)
Labels: Cameron McNeish, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, August 5
TGO Magazine - September
Arriving home this evening I found the latest copy of TGO Magazine. These days that's the only monthly walking mag subscription I still keep going.
Excellent pieces from Andy Stothert & the ever dependable Chris Townsend reflecting on the mental side of being out on the hills alone. Chris in particular mirrors many of my own feelings on the subject of solo backpacking, but regrettably his thoughts are drawn to a premature close after a only page & a bit.
I'm so used to the attraction of my own solitary path it always surprises me when I meet comments along the lines of "I couldn't do that.." or "Don't you find it lonely/scary/dangerous".
Simple answer - No.
I assess my risks, and act accordingly.
But am I so alone (no pun intended) in preferring a solo approach?
I know there's a few of my fellow Bloggers (Dawn for example) that seek similar escape from the mass of humanity & the detritus that seems to come with it. But in general outdoor activity and groups tend to go together.
Which always seems a shame to me.
There's things I've seen as I quietly move over the natural landscape that have had more of a deep impact than anything I've ever had whilst in a group. Indeed, at times a group would have meant that experience didn't happen, by the very nature of the group numbers, associated noise, and the various distractions of those nearby.
I entered this world alone. Undoubtedly I'll be leaving it the same way. There may be others in the vicinity at such times (Hi Mum!); But as a self aware individual consciousness that ability to exist unaided is one I care to naturally saviour.
For many, it would seem, that's a step too far.
Try it sometime. You might just find you like it once you get the taste.Labels: TGO Magazine
Sunday, June 7
2009: Outdoor Blogs and the 'traditional' press
Those of you who regularly drop by may be aware of my interest in how the outdoor print media meets the continuing influence on their traditional audience from on-line information alternatives & an increasingly fickle TV/Reality Show fed (led?) public.
Times are hard in the publishing industry. Competition from the big High Street combines (e.g. Tesco) & on-line merchandisers (e.g. Amazon) continue to tempt the dwindling UK literate with low cost book offers and special package promotions. The monthly magazine industry is similarly challenged, not on price, but increasingly on specialist content freely available on-line.
In the past I've used the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership) to look at how the Outdoor titles are coping.
Here's some thoughts based on the 2008 sales figures. If you'd like to refer back to my 2007 & 2006 pieces please click HERE
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 40,531 (2007 - 39,349- 3% rise)
Cost: £3,90 (2007 - £3.70 - 5.4% increase)
Subscription: 37% of copies sold (2007 - 38%) down
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,044 (2007- 44,549 - 1% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (unchanged)
Subscription: 43% of copies sold (2007 - 42%) down
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 9,891 (2007 - 10,705 - 7% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (unchanged)
Subscribers: 33% of copies sold (2007 - 31%) up
Mag: WALK
Circulation : 104,476 (2007 - 105,168 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Mag: CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,183 (2007 - 12,505 - 3% drop)
Cost: £2.25 (2007 - £1.99 13% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2007 - 58%) no change
[Figures for recent new titles (Outdoor & the various Bushcraft magazines) weren't available]
Looking at the Big Three's circulation since 2006 .......
Overall not too bad a position taken as a whole. Not exactly flourishing, but managing to maintain regular readership overall despite cover price increase along the way.
But the disparity between titles is clearly evident.
Rather than rehash past reflection instead I'll pose the question 'Why the differences?'
It can't be directly down magazine content, or format. No doubt you have your own preferred read, but both Trail & TGO have relaunched their format.
Perhaps the ABC figures doesn't include digital copies?
No idea to be frank, but I'd be surprised if that was the case, and even then the numbers concerned can't be that large taken as a percentage of total circulation.
My pet theory, and totally without any real evidence, is down to You; The Prospective Reader.
Or more accurately 'How do you get hold of your monthly mag?'
Both Trail and CW are backed by the conglomerate Bauer Consumer Media who acquired the titles from EMAP in early 2008. Its hugely influential with the number of UK magazine titles it produces right across the spectrum of the UK magazine buying public.
With that comes an effective distribution network, the result of which is your favourite mag, whichever it may be, available from a variety of local stockists, especially the likes of W H Smith, favourite browsing shop of the train/airport lounge.
TGO is part of The Herald and Times Group Magazines, which in turn is owned by the global Newsquest organisation.
Which would lead you to think the distribution of TGO should be similarly widespread across the UK.
But for some reason, possibly related to the Scottish based Herald organisation, TGO has become increasingly difficult to track down here in the south of England (Whether that is the case in such places as the Midlands etc - I'd be interested to hear)
Which means impulse buying of TGO, picked up as a result of browsing the newsstand for something to pass the time, doesn't seem possible. With the result that potential new/regular readership is lost.
I know this is true in my own case as I've resorted to taking a subscription to TGO as I rate it so highly. But as we all know - a subscription is easily lapsed if the renewal arrives around the time that the last couple of issues lacked that specific spark of interest.
All of which makes a difficult balancing act for the TGO editorial team. To stay true to their mag's ethos, whilst having to continually think up fresh new ideas to keep the existing readership keen, whilst limited to their potential audience. And some ideas, taken too far, may actually have the opposite effect.
I'm sure it can't be this simple; And I wish it was truly based on the quality and content of the magazine. But hey ho its an unfair world.
At a time that the mainstream media tell us that more people are taking to Things Outdoors, such disparity in reader numbers is a difficulty that really needs to be resolved. Especially when part of a large corporate super-owner, who's interest is balance sheet rather than passion.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Saturday, April 4
The Tao of Wildcamping
I rarely try to explain the appeal of my personal enjoyment of a backpacking/wildcamping trip.
Many of my immediate acquaintances see such an excursion as little more than some sort of extended outdoor exercise activity, done on the cheap, and lacking the level of luxury they associate with a holiday trip away from the daily work/home grind.
Those that know me better see a desire to flee the mass of humanity for that all important Me Time.
Regular readers of this site may have overlooked an inaugural post where I tried to describe some of the associated feeling.
But mostly the deep emotional and, in my own terms spiritual benefits, are not readily communicable outside of the backpacking community. Even then, the individual reasons for just why we heed that inner call are varied, and highly individualistic.
So it was with a deep feeling of empathy I read May's TGO magazine. Messers McNeish, Townsend & Meechan have put into words that elusive appeal that we share. Much of what they say is based on years of experience. Which even, with my more moderate time spent out on the hills, I can understand at a bone deep level.
In particular - why that inner drive to keep repeating the experience is so essential despite far too many conflicting alternatives on offer to satiate the soul.
Living on the south coast of England the chance to wander off to hills and wild land is not an easy proposition. But it is possible to do, just not with the ease and regularity available to those better located.
But it is possible.
In fact I'd go further - for me its essential. Its a subtle satisfaction of that inner urge. One that is reinforced each night I spend wildcamping.
Well done TGO.
If there was only some way to condense these articles into a format that I can proffer next time someone looks askew on hearing my holiday will be roughing it somewhere remote, dangerous and solitary.Labels: Backpacking Advice, Cameron McNeish, TGO Magazine
Sunday, December 7
Slops from the tea-cup - new media and damp paper
Unsurprisingly the latest TGO Magazine (Jan 09) carries an in depth piece on the OMM 2008 media storm and fall-out.
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
Sunday, October 5
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
A revamped layout and even a RSS feed for lazy sods like me that have largely given up on scurrying around each individual website in which I have an interest.
Then again - perhaps it was just me missing the Makeover Announcement?
Very pretty Cameron.
And a step in the right direction.
Unlike the last Trail Magazine revamp which still feels like it was done by the local school as a community project.
Shudder.
(Edit: the TGO site is marked Beta. Some of the links remain to be sorted & the forum is unavailable - but it seems to have gone live late on Friday; Interesting selection of videos there already!)
Labels: Cameron McNeish, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
TGO Magazine - September
Arriving home this evening I found the latest copy of TGO Magazine. These days that's the only monthly walking mag subscription I still keep going.
Excellent pieces from Andy Stothert & the ever dependable Chris Townsend reflecting on the mental side of being out on the hills alone. Chris in particular mirrors many of my own feelings on the subject of solo backpacking, but regrettably his thoughts are drawn to a premature close after a only page & a bit.
I'm so used to the attraction of my own solitary path it always surprises me when I meet comments along the lines of "I couldn't do that.." or "Don't you find it lonely/scary/dangerous".
Simple answer - No.
I assess my risks, and act accordingly.
But am I so alone (no pun intended) in preferring a solo approach?
I know there's a few of my fellow Bloggers (Dawn for example) that seek similar escape from the mass of humanity & the detritus that seems to come with it. But in general outdoor activity and groups tend to go together.
Which always seems a shame to me.
There's things I've seen as I quietly move over the natural landscape that have had more of a deep impact than anything I've ever had whilst in a group. Indeed, at times a group would have meant that experience didn't happen, by the very nature of the group numbers, associated noise, and the various distractions of those nearby.
I entered this world alone. Undoubtedly I'll be leaving it the same way. There may be others in the vicinity at such times (Hi Mum!); But as a self aware individual consciousness that ability to exist unaided is one I care to naturally saviour.
For many, it would seem, that's a step too far.
Try it sometime. You might just find you like it once you get the taste.Labels: TGO Magazine
Sunday, June 7
2009: Outdoor Blogs and the 'traditional' press
Those of you who regularly drop by may be aware of my interest in how the outdoor print media meets the continuing influence on their traditional audience from on-line information alternatives & an increasingly fickle TV/Reality Show fed (led?) public.
Times are hard in the publishing industry. Competition from the big High Street combines (e.g. Tesco) & on-line merchandisers (e.g. Amazon) continue to tempt the dwindling UK literate with low cost book offers and special package promotions. The monthly magazine industry is similarly challenged, not on price, but increasingly on specialist content freely available on-line.
In the past I've used the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership) to look at how the Outdoor titles are coping.
Here's some thoughts based on the 2008 sales figures. If you'd like to refer back to my 2007 & 2006 pieces please click HERE
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 40,531 (2007 - 39,349- 3% rise)
Cost: £3,90 (2007 - £3.70 - 5.4% increase)
Subscription: 37% of copies sold (2007 - 38%) down
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,044 (2007- 44,549 - 1% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (unchanged)
Subscription: 43% of copies sold (2007 - 42%) down
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 9,891 (2007 - 10,705 - 7% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (unchanged)
Subscribers: 33% of copies sold (2007 - 31%) up
Mag: WALK
Circulation : 104,476 (2007 - 105,168 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Mag: CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,183 (2007 - 12,505 - 3% drop)
Cost: £2.25 (2007 - £1.99 13% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2007 - 58%) no change
[Figures for recent new titles (Outdoor & the various Bushcraft magazines) weren't available]
Looking at the Big Three's circulation since 2006 .......
Overall not too bad a position taken as a whole. Not exactly flourishing, but managing to maintain regular readership overall despite cover price increase along the way.
But the disparity between titles is clearly evident.
Rather than rehash past reflection instead I'll pose the question 'Why the differences?'
It can't be directly down magazine content, or format. No doubt you have your own preferred read, but both Trail & TGO have relaunched their format.
Perhaps the ABC figures doesn't include digital copies?
No idea to be frank, but I'd be surprised if that was the case, and even then the numbers concerned can't be that large taken as a percentage of total circulation.
My pet theory, and totally without any real evidence, is down to You; The Prospective Reader.
Or more accurately 'How do you get hold of your monthly mag?'
Both Trail and CW are backed by the conglomerate Bauer Consumer Media who acquired the titles from EMAP in early 2008. Its hugely influential with the number of UK magazine titles it produces right across the spectrum of the UK magazine buying public.
With that comes an effective distribution network, the result of which is your favourite mag, whichever it may be, available from a variety of local stockists, especially the likes of W H Smith, favourite browsing shop of the train/airport lounge.
TGO is part of The Herald and Times Group Magazines, which in turn is owned by the global Newsquest organisation.
Which would lead you to think the distribution of TGO should be similarly widespread across the UK.
But for some reason, possibly related to the Scottish based Herald organisation, TGO has become increasingly difficult to track down here in the south of England (Whether that is the case in such places as the Midlands etc - I'd be interested to hear)
Which means impulse buying of TGO, picked up as a result of browsing the newsstand for something to pass the time, doesn't seem possible. With the result that potential new/regular readership is lost.
I know this is true in my own case as I've resorted to taking a subscription to TGO as I rate it so highly. But as we all know - a subscription is easily lapsed if the renewal arrives around the time that the last couple of issues lacked that specific spark of interest.
All of which makes a difficult balancing act for the TGO editorial team. To stay true to their mag's ethos, whilst having to continually think up fresh new ideas to keep the existing readership keen, whilst limited to their potential audience. And some ideas, taken too far, may actually have the opposite effect.
I'm sure it can't be this simple; And I wish it was truly based on the quality and content of the magazine. But hey ho its an unfair world.
At a time that the mainstream media tell us that more people are taking to Things Outdoors, such disparity in reader numbers is a difficulty that really needs to be resolved. Especially when part of a large corporate super-owner, who's interest is balance sheet rather than passion.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Saturday, April 4
The Tao of Wildcamping
I rarely try to explain the appeal of my personal enjoyment of a backpacking/wildcamping trip.
Many of my immediate acquaintances see such an excursion as little more than some sort of extended outdoor exercise activity, done on the cheap, and lacking the level of luxury they associate with a holiday trip away from the daily work/home grind.
Those that know me better see a desire to flee the mass of humanity for that all important Me Time.
Regular readers of this site may have overlooked an inaugural post where I tried to describe some of the associated feeling.
But mostly the deep emotional and, in my own terms spiritual benefits, are not readily communicable outside of the backpacking community. Even then, the individual reasons for just why we heed that inner call are varied, and highly individualistic.
So it was with a deep feeling of empathy I read May's TGO magazine. Messers McNeish, Townsend & Meechan have put into words that elusive appeal that we share. Much of what they say is based on years of experience. Which even, with my more moderate time spent out on the hills, I can understand at a bone deep level.
In particular - why that inner drive to keep repeating the experience is so essential despite far too many conflicting alternatives on offer to satiate the soul.
Living on the south coast of England the chance to wander off to hills and wild land is not an easy proposition. But it is possible to do, just not with the ease and regularity available to those better located.
But it is possible.
In fact I'd go further - for me its essential. Its a subtle satisfaction of that inner urge. One that is reinforced each night I spend wildcamping.
Well done TGO.
If there was only some way to condense these articles into a format that I can proffer next time someone looks askew on hearing my holiday will be roughing it somewhere remote, dangerous and solitary.Labels: Backpacking Advice, Cameron McNeish, TGO Magazine
Sunday, December 7
Slops from the tea-cup - new media and damp paper
Unsurprisingly the latest TGO Magazine (Jan 09) carries an in depth piece on the OMM 2008 media storm and fall-out.
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
Sunday, October 5
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Excellent pieces from Andy Stothert & the ever dependable Chris Townsend reflecting on the mental side of being out on the hills alone. Chris in particular mirrors many of my own feelings on the subject of solo backpacking, but regrettably his thoughts are drawn to a premature close after a only page & a bit.
I'm so used to the attraction of my own solitary path it always surprises me when I meet comments along the lines of "I couldn't do that.." or "Don't you find it lonely/scary/dangerous".
Simple answer - No.
I assess my risks, and act accordingly.
But am I so alone (no pun intended) in preferring a solo approach?
I know there's a few of my fellow Bloggers (Dawn for example) that seek similar escape from the mass of humanity & the detritus that seems to come with it. But in general outdoor activity and groups tend to go together.
Which always seems a shame to me.
There's things I've seen as I quietly move over the natural landscape that have had more of a deep impact than anything I've ever had whilst in a group. Indeed, at times a group would have meant that experience didn't happen, by the very nature of the group numbers, associated noise, and the various distractions of those nearby.
I entered this world alone. Undoubtedly I'll be leaving it the same way. There may be others in the vicinity at such times (Hi Mum!); But as a self aware individual consciousness that ability to exist unaided is one I care to naturally saviour.
For many, it would seem, that's a step too far.
Try it sometime. You might just find you like it once you get the taste.
Labels: TGO Magazine
2009: Outdoor Blogs and the 'traditional' press
Those of you who regularly drop by may be aware of my interest in how the outdoor print media meets the continuing influence on their traditional audience from on-line information alternatives & an increasingly fickle TV/Reality Show fed (led?) public.
Times are hard in the publishing industry. Competition from the big High Street combines (e.g. Tesco) & on-line merchandisers (e.g. Amazon) continue to tempt the dwindling UK literate with low cost book offers and special package promotions. The monthly magazine industry is similarly challenged, not on price, but increasingly on specialist content freely available on-line.
In the past I've used the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership) to look at how the Outdoor titles are coping.
Here's some thoughts based on the 2008 sales figures. If you'd like to refer back to my 2007 & 2006 pieces please click HERE
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 40,531 (2007 - 39,349- 3% rise)
Cost: £3,90 (2007 - £3.70 - 5.4% increase)
Subscription: 37% of copies sold (2007 - 38%) down
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,044 (2007- 44,549 - 1% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (unchanged)
Subscription: 43% of copies sold (2007 - 42%) down
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 9,891 (2007 - 10,705 - 7% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (unchanged)
Subscribers: 33% of copies sold (2007 - 31%) up
Mag: WALK
Circulation : 104,476 (2007 - 105,168 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Mag: CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,183 (2007 - 12,505 - 3% drop)
Cost: £2.25 (2007 - £1.99 13% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2007 - 58%) no change
[Figures for recent new titles (Outdoor & the various Bushcraft magazines) weren't available]
Looking at the Big Three's circulation since 2006 .......
Overall not too bad a position taken as a whole. Not exactly flourishing, but managing to maintain regular readership overall despite cover price increase along the way.
But the disparity between titles is clearly evident.
Rather than rehash past reflection instead I'll pose the question 'Why the differences?'
It can't be directly down magazine content, or format. No doubt you have your own preferred read, but both Trail & TGO have relaunched their format.
Perhaps the ABC figures doesn't include digital copies?
No idea to be frank, but I'd be surprised if that was the case, and even then the numbers concerned can't be that large taken as a percentage of total circulation.
My pet theory, and totally without any real evidence, is down to You; The Prospective Reader.
Or more accurately 'How do you get hold of your monthly mag?'
Both Trail and CW are backed by the conglomerate Bauer Consumer Media who acquired the titles from EMAP in early 2008. Its hugely influential with the number of UK magazine titles it produces right across the spectrum of the UK magazine buying public.
With that comes an effective distribution network, the result of which is your favourite mag, whichever it may be, available from a variety of local stockists, especially the likes of W H Smith, favourite browsing shop of the train/airport lounge.
TGO is part of The Herald and Times Group Magazines, which in turn is owned by the global Newsquest organisation.
Which would lead you to think the distribution of TGO should be similarly widespread across the UK.
But for some reason, possibly related to the Scottish based Herald organisation, TGO has become increasingly difficult to track down here in the south of England (Whether that is the case in such places as the Midlands etc - I'd be interested to hear)
Which means impulse buying of TGO, picked up as a result of browsing the newsstand for something to pass the time, doesn't seem possible. With the result that potential new/regular readership is lost.
I know this is true in my own case as I've resorted to taking a subscription to TGO as I rate it so highly. But as we all know - a subscription is easily lapsed if the renewal arrives around the time that the last couple of issues lacked that specific spark of interest.
All of which makes a difficult balancing act for the TGO editorial team. To stay true to their mag's ethos, whilst having to continually think up fresh new ideas to keep the existing readership keen, whilst limited to their potential audience. And some ideas, taken too far, may actually have the opposite effect.
I'm sure it can't be this simple; And I wish it was truly based on the quality and content of the magazine. But hey ho its an unfair world.
At a time that the mainstream media tell us that more people are taking to Things Outdoors, such disparity in reader numbers is a difficulty that really needs to be resolved. Especially when part of a large corporate super-owner, who's interest is balance sheet rather than passion.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Saturday, April 4
The Tao of Wildcamping
I rarely try to explain the appeal of my personal enjoyment of a backpacking/wildcamping trip.
Many of my immediate acquaintances see such an excursion as little more than some sort of extended outdoor exercise activity, done on the cheap, and lacking the level of luxury they associate with a holiday trip away from the daily work/home grind.
Those that know me better see a desire to flee the mass of humanity for that all important Me Time.
Regular readers of this site may have overlooked an inaugural post where I tried to describe some of the associated feeling.
But mostly the deep emotional and, in my own terms spiritual benefits, are not readily communicable outside of the backpacking community. Even then, the individual reasons for just why we heed that inner call are varied, and highly individualistic.
So it was with a deep feeling of empathy I read May's TGO magazine. Messers McNeish, Townsend & Meechan have put into words that elusive appeal that we share. Much of what they say is based on years of experience. Which even, with my more moderate time spent out on the hills, I can understand at a bone deep level.
In particular - why that inner drive to keep repeating the experience is so essential despite far too many conflicting alternatives on offer to satiate the soul.
Living on the south coast of England the chance to wander off to hills and wild land is not an easy proposition. But it is possible to do, just not with the ease and regularity available to those better located.
But it is possible.
In fact I'd go further - for me its essential. Its a subtle satisfaction of that inner urge. One that is reinforced each night I spend wildcamping.
Well done TGO.
If there was only some way to condense these articles into a format that I can proffer next time someone looks askew on hearing my holiday will be roughing it somewhere remote, dangerous and solitary.Labels: Backpacking Advice, Cameron McNeish, TGO Magazine
Sunday, December 7
Slops from the tea-cup - new media and damp paper
Unsurprisingly the latest TGO Magazine (Jan 09) carries an in depth piece on the OMM 2008 media storm and fall-out.
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
Sunday, October 5
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Times are hard in the publishing industry. Competition from the big High Street combines (e.g. Tesco) & on-line merchandisers (e.g. Amazon) continue to tempt the dwindling UK literate with low cost book offers and special package promotions. The monthly magazine industry is similarly challenged, not on price, but increasingly on specialist content freely available on-line.
In the past I've used the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership) to look at how the Outdoor titles are coping.
Here's some thoughts based on the 2008 sales figures. If you'd like to refer back to my 2007 & 2006 pieces please click HERE
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 40,531 (2007 - 39,349- 3% rise)
Cost: £3,90 (2007 - £3.70 - 5.4% increase)
Subscription: 37% of copies sold (2007 - 38%) down
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,044 (2007- 44,549 - 1% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (unchanged)
Subscription: 43% of copies sold (2007 - 42%) down
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 9,891 (2007 - 10,705 - 7% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (unchanged)
Subscribers: 33% of copies sold (2007 - 31%) up
Mag: WALK
Circulation : 104,476 (2007 - 105,168 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Mag: CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,183 (2007 - 12,505 - 3% drop)
Cost: £2.25 (2007 - £1.99 13% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2007 - 58%) no change
[Figures for recent new titles (Outdoor & the various Bushcraft magazines) weren't available]
Looking at the Big Three's circulation since 2006 .......
Overall not too bad a position taken as a whole. Not exactly flourishing, but managing to maintain regular readership overall despite cover price increase along the way.
But the disparity between titles is clearly evident.
Rather than rehash past reflection instead I'll pose the question 'Why the differences?'
It can't be directly down magazine content, or format. No doubt you have your own preferred read, but both Trail & TGO have relaunched their format.
Perhaps the ABC figures doesn't include digital copies?
No idea to be frank, but I'd be surprised if that was the case, and even then the numbers concerned can't be that large taken as a percentage of total circulation.
My pet theory, and totally without any real evidence, is down to You; The Prospective Reader.
Or more accurately 'How do you get hold of your monthly mag?'
Both Trail and CW are backed by the conglomerate Bauer Consumer Media who acquired the titles from EMAP in early 2008. Its hugely influential with the number of UK magazine titles it produces right across the spectrum of the UK magazine buying public.
With that comes an effective distribution network, the result of which is your favourite mag, whichever it may be, available from a variety of local stockists, especially the likes of W H Smith, favourite browsing shop of the train/airport lounge.
TGO is part of The Herald and Times Group Magazines, which in turn is owned by the global Newsquest organisation.
Which would lead you to think the distribution of TGO should be similarly widespread across the UK.
But for some reason, possibly related to the Scottish based Herald organisation, TGO has become increasingly difficult to track down here in the south of England (Whether that is the case in such places as the Midlands etc - I'd be interested to hear)
Which means impulse buying of TGO, picked up as a result of browsing the newsstand for something to pass the time, doesn't seem possible. With the result that potential new/regular readership is lost.
I know this is true in my own case as I've resorted to taking a subscription to TGO as I rate it so highly. But as we all know - a subscription is easily lapsed if the renewal arrives around the time that the last couple of issues lacked that specific spark of interest.
All of which makes a difficult balancing act for the TGO editorial team. To stay true to their mag's ethos, whilst having to continually think up fresh new ideas to keep the existing readership keen, whilst limited to their potential audience. And some ideas, taken too far, may actually have the opposite effect.
I'm sure it can't be this simple; And I wish it was truly based on the quality and content of the magazine. But hey ho its an unfair world.
At a time that the mainstream media tell us that more people are taking to Things Outdoors, such disparity in reader numbers is a difficulty that really needs to be resolved. Especially when part of a large corporate super-owner, who's interest is balance sheet rather than passion.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
The Tao of Wildcamping
I rarely try to explain the appeal of my personal enjoyment of a backpacking/wildcamping trip.
Many of my immediate acquaintances see such an excursion as little more than some sort of extended outdoor exercise activity, done on the cheap, and lacking the level of luxury they associate with a holiday trip away from the daily work/home grind.
Those that know me better see a desire to flee the mass of humanity for that all important Me Time.
Regular readers of this site may have overlooked an inaugural post where I tried to describe some of the associated feeling.
But mostly the deep emotional and, in my own terms spiritual benefits, are not readily communicable outside of the backpacking community. Even then, the individual reasons for just why we heed that inner call are varied, and highly individualistic.
So it was with a deep feeling of empathy I read May's TGO magazine. Messers McNeish, Townsend & Meechan have put into words that elusive appeal that we share. Much of what they say is based on years of experience. Which even, with my more moderate time spent out on the hills, I can understand at a bone deep level.
In particular - why that inner drive to keep repeating the experience is so essential despite far too many conflicting alternatives on offer to satiate the soul.
Living on the south coast of England the chance to wander off to hills and wild land is not an easy proposition. But it is possible to do, just not with the ease and regularity available to those better located.
But it is possible.
In fact I'd go further - for me its essential. Its a subtle satisfaction of that inner urge. One that is reinforced each night I spend wildcamping.
Well done TGO.
If there was only some way to condense these articles into a format that I can proffer next time someone looks askew on hearing my holiday will be roughing it somewhere remote, dangerous and solitary.Labels: Backpacking Advice, Cameron McNeish, TGO Magazine
Sunday, December 7
Slops from the tea-cup - new media and damp paper
Unsurprisingly the latest TGO Magazine (Jan 09) carries an in depth piece on the OMM 2008 media storm and fall-out.
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
Sunday, October 5
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
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Many of my immediate acquaintances see such an excursion as little more than some sort of extended outdoor exercise activity, done on the cheap, and lacking the level of luxury they associate with a holiday trip away from the daily work/home grind.
Those that know me better see a desire to flee the mass of humanity for that all important Me Time.
Regular readers of this site may have overlooked an inaugural post where I tried to describe some of the associated feeling.
But mostly the deep emotional and, in my own terms spiritual benefits, are not readily communicable outside of the backpacking community. Even then, the individual reasons for just why we heed that inner call are varied, and highly individualistic.
So it was with a deep feeling of empathy I read May's TGO magazine. Messers McNeish, Townsend & Meechan have put into words that elusive appeal that we share. Much of what they say is based on years of experience. Which even, with my more moderate time spent out on the hills, I can understand at a bone deep level.
In particular - why that inner drive to keep repeating the experience is so essential despite far too many conflicting alternatives on offer to satiate the soul.
Living on the south coast of England the chance to wander off to hills and wild land is not an easy proposition. But it is possible to do, just not with the ease and regularity available to those better located.
But it is possible.
In fact I'd go further - for me its essential. Its a subtle satisfaction of that inner urge. One that is reinforced each night I spend wildcamping.
Well done TGO.
If there was only some way to condense these articles into a format that I can proffer next time someone looks askew on hearing my holiday will be roughing it somewhere remote, dangerous and solitary.
Labels: Backpacking Advice, Cameron McNeish, TGO Magazine
Slops from the tea-cup - new media and damp paper
Unsurprisingly the latest TGO Magazine (Jan 09) carries an in depth piece on the OMM 2008 media storm and fall-out.
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
Sunday, October 5
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Unsurprisingly? Well this what we expect as part of our regular monthly fix on outdoor matters as provided by the sparse outdoor press coverage available from within the UK. Good stuff - reporting on our own particular world interest. Which after all is why we continue to buy the magazines.
Naturally, as is to be expected of a magazine with the hard won & admirable reputation of the TGO editorial team, the article is well researched, informative and considerate of the issues raised at the time; And potential consequences.
But why the total lack of any mention concerning the on-line contribution on that weekend and in the days following?
Consider Grough & Sleepmonsters immediate on-line reports as they rooted about for the facts behind the fiction.
Those various pieces & reflections from UK bloggers about the event including those actively involved.
Or how about the two and a quarter hours of Podcast Bob's audio. An essential two piece report firstly as an OMM challenger, in amongst the thick of it all. And the subsequent and even handed follow up interviewing many of the key players.
Indeed this blog first flagged the news early on the Saturday evening as news first broke, and by the following Monday - Oct 26 - was already tying up the loose ends reflecting on where next for the OMM Event.
I've yet to see Trail or Country Walking's reports on the subject, so please don't regard any of this as an attack on the good offices of TGO in particular. Perversely I'm sat here asking myself the question 'has TGO created its own 'media storm' in covering another?'
But .......... and there's always a but it seems ............ it raises concerns as to another example of the divergence between traditional print and on-line medias.
Watchful of the developments in this area, as those regular reader of this blog may be aware, I had considered that a complimentary relationship between the two camps was developing.
However this example of such a flagrant ignorance of new media's involvement leads me to consider that our paths are now starting to diverge, despite earlier encouraging signs of a mutual co-existence.
Somehow, if this remains typical of 'print' regard for 'on-line' I don't think that will be good for either party in the longer term.
Sadly a loss for both sides. But ...and there's that damning word again... as King Canute once bemusedly demonstrated to his courtiers - don't try to hold back the inevitable. It'll make you look a little damp. And perhaps a little silly.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine
TGO Magazine - Revamp works for me
Finally I've found a few minutes to pick through the latest issue of TGO, the first of the new revised format. A few articles read, but more to come back to later
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.Labels: TGO Magazine
Saturday, August 2
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
For the moment some quick impressions. As ever content is solid and entertaining with new blood (including a certain A.Howell esq) already feeling 'right' for the TGO brand. (and myself and a few other Bloggers get a mention along the way)
There's a little more controversy in some of the topics chosen (Tarps - For and Against) which can't be bad.
Layout - a great improve IMHO
It left me with a feeling of a more Open and Wider read.
Now thats not a very clear explanation I know. But for an Outdoor mag to somehow leave a feeling of a more expansive format is a clever trick indeed. You'd need to get hold of a copy yourself to see if it leaves the same impression.
Nice one Cameron McN and the team - a big tick from this reader.
Labels: TGO Magazine
The Adventure Show - TGO Challenge '08
On BBC 2 Scotland 6pm Sunday if you live north of the border, or have access via cable services
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme? Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Tuesday, July 15
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
The Adventure Show "Dougie Vipond, Duncan McCallum and Lindsay Cannon head into Scotland's wildest and most remote country.There's news from the toughest marathon in the UK, which takes place at Cape Wrath in the far north-west. The show also joins a few hundred intrepid backpackers as they trek from the west coast to the east coast for the TGO Challenge. Plus, just how much you really need to carry when heading into the hills; Cameron McNeish reports from one of his favourite mountains; and some of the best food on offer in the country's north-west"
Here's hoping BBCi Player carries it after transmission, otherwise I'll be falling back onto the mercy of my Scottish chums out there for a video/DVD copy of the programme?
Labels: media, TGO Magazine
Legalise Wild Camping - Magazine Monitoring
With the conclusion of Phase One of the Legalise Wildcamping Campaign there's been much interest in what would appear in the Outdoor print media. Unfortunately their lead time constraint, usually 2-3 months in the worse cases, doesn't seem to allow any comment on the outcome of the E-Petition. Well not as yet.
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Friday, June 6
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Those involved or supportive of the activity watch and wait with interest on that one.
An opportunity then for one of my semi-regular glances over some of the main Outdoor mags, whilst things tick over towards future publication dates.
I've recently returned to being a TGO subscriber, tempted by a recent cheap re-subscribe/direct-to-door delivery. And happily the August issue more than lives up to my personal expectations (admittedly high)
I had meant to jot some thoughts down last week, but the vagaries of modern life coupled with errant PC technology meant that time had past. Usually that would mean the idea is put on the spike, the opportunity gone and the timing wrong.
But a week later I still think that August's copy is that well put together that the chance to celebrate something positive really shouldn't be missed.
Roger Smith in his 'Inside Edge' piece offers some pragmatic advice based on his experience with Land Access changes and handling the conflicting interests of the organisations involved. Especially those in the Anti-Access camps.
"Never once did I go into an initial meeting with a confrontational attitude. Instead it was more of a listening exercise. This tends to start the process of creating a sense of mutual respect which you need for successful negotiations" …"You will never get 100% of what you want straight away"
Food for thought as we consider the next phase of the Campaign for Legalisation of Wild Camping in England & Wales.
(We really need a snappier 'badge' for that. How about Legalise-It? Oops perhaps not. But then again…. some of that tactics I recall from that campaign could be quite entertaining. A Hyde Park Camp-In anyone?)
Chris Townsend compares Trail Shoes (what no North Face XCR 'Hedgehog' Chris?) A further demonstration, if one was necessary, of TGO's active policy to constructively involve themselves with the current lightweight gear phenomena.
"Ridges are the essence of what makes hill walking so addictive" writes Andy Stothert. And a resounding cheer from me as One Who Knows the Truth. Most certainly.
Chris T has a second bite of the cherry looking at three season sleeping bags. Regular readers of this blog may recall that my own particular interest in this since the Spring Backpackers Club AGM. That's assuming I ever find one that packs down to the size of my Vango & is of similar weight.
Just a thought - it would be useful to see the packed down size as well in future tests if that’s possible?
Eddy Meechan looks at ultralight bug proof tents with his usual questioning approach.
And then there's Jim Perrin... hmm
I find his style is one that is highly enjoyable, or it just doesn't seem to work. But maybe that’s just me. Having devoured Perrin's book on Don Whillans (highly recommended BTW) I’d since been disappointed with many of the TGO pieces. All a little too 'mystical' for my taste - if that makes any sense to you reading this.
But this month, a piece close to my heart. As one who spends probably 95% of my walks alone, with the exception of the dogs on local jaunts, Perrin's piece on solitude and the hills is a true gem. Worth the magazine cover price alone IMHO.
Buy the August copy of TGO Magazine for your own sanity! Don’t try to speed read it in W H Smiths this month. This is one issue to keep and return to on those occasional dark soul days when as you reach for the waterproofs you find yourself reluctant to step outdoors.
Credit where its due to Cameron and this production team. Here's one happy TGO subscriber this month. Now all you have to do it keep up in the future - easy peasy!
I'd also tried picking up Trail Magazine on a couple of occasions following some on-line feedback as to its content. But for some reason its become scarce around my neck of the woods. As a result the embers of a drawn out Sunday afternoon found me wandering out the local newsagent with the only alternative on offer - the July issue of Country Walking Magazine.
Not one of my regular reads to be honest. I'm certainly not its target audience and find the mag's tone a little too tame. However a couple of reasonable articles on Wild Camping caught my interest. Perhaps a brief walk on the wilder side for the regular readership, but delivered well - aiming to inform and advise the uninitiated.
And then a thought struck me. Well more sort of sidled up and nudged me casually with its elbow.
Perhaps this interest partly reflects the Legalise-It debate during the past months? Indeed the content of one section, summarising Wild Camping and the Law, seemed vaguely familiar in providing a summary of information the campaign had helped clarify (No criticism intended by the way if the journo concerned is reading this - the information is generally available for those prepared to dig)
If indeed the Wild Camping E-Petition has been able to inform and advise public interest to this extent, then that’s a creditable success for all those involved.
And a Big YAA-BOO-SUCKS to certain nay-sayers who couldn't see the point of any of it. And maybe still don't?
Labels: E-Petition-Wildcamping, media, TGO Magazine
Bloggers on the printed page
Two magazines dropped through my letterbox earlier this week.
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
Saturday, March 29
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Summer 2008's issue of Backpack, the Backpacker's Club magazine carries my piece on the Wildcamping E-Petition, along with a well intended prod at the reader concerning the relevancy of the campaign to the membership in particular.
Coincidentally the editorial in July's TGO magazine celebrates the same subject, with Cameron McNeish signing the piece off with possibly one of the best observations on wildcamping that I can recall reading for some time. So good in fact that (with due acknowledgement to Cameron of course) I'd like to reproduce it:
"The sheer simplicity of camping in wild places has been a way of life for nomadic tribes for thousands of tears. In such simplicity we can find restoration, rehabilitation and healing, a process that allows us to return to that other complex world and perhaps, just perhaps, begin to make some sense of it"
Well said CN.
Darren naturally gets a name check as the initiator behind the E-Petition (and the one who's name is now sitting on MI5's files -hee hee)
That's score 1 -nil to WD
Then turning over a page I spot a piece of advice taken from the TGO Forum. Oh my, what an excellent tip about route preparation. Indeed one that I already use myself from time to ti....
Oops. My comment. My name.
Game drawn at 1 -1;
Want to go to penalties Darren? (lol)
Nice to see the blog/print journalism boundary being blurred to both party's benefit.
Labels: Backpackers Club, media, TGO Magazine
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 2)
I left the first part of this article hanging with a question…
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, March 26
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
"What about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts, providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
This reminded me of some material hanging around in my Ideas-Box. Some of these ideas quietly slip into oblivion as their relevancy fades with the passage of time. But this one insisted on being aired. Possibly this was rattling around the emptier recesses of my mind as the first part of this piece laid itself out onto this screen.
So, if I may, a brief diversion off the main track before attempting to weave its relevancy back onto the path.
Nick Davies's Guardian piece (Feb 08) is scathing in his damnation of lazy journalism. Aiming straight between the eyes he charges "our tendency to recycle ignorance is far worse than it was…80% (of articles) …were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry"
In summarising his research based on material covering many years of UK based media he goes even further:
"Where once journalists were active gatherers of news, now they have generally become mere passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest. Not journalists, but churnalists. An industry whose primary task is to filter out falsehood has become so vulnerable to manipulation that it is now involved in the mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda"
Very hard words.
The source of his material commissioned from Cardiff University provides some interesting facts:
* 2 out 3 media reports relate back to PR/Press wire sources
* 2/3rds of the typical morning newspaper used the same basic material, with many poorly researched, if at all, and probably not even re-edited or revised
* 49% of stories are straight press feed/wire copy
* 60% of stories rely wholly or mainly on pre-packaged info
In mitigation it is pointed out that a daily newspaper is now three times the size of 20 years ago. And with no corresponding increase in staff the difficulties in filling this additional space can be considerable. Tying the journalist to an office keyboard rather than out news gathering/checking as once was their role.
Damning stuff for the Grub Street of today.
Right, diversion over. Back to the main path.
Let's apply this to the Outdoor Magazine sector. Whilst undoubtedly the economics of the publishing industry cannot avoid the general industry trend (pages up; staff small), those I've encountered manage to maintain an ethical approach to their craft. News itself forms only a small part of each month's copy. The majority of main content requires old style journalism. Gear is reviewed through personal use; Issues are researched, opinions formed and then delivered with a balanced hand. Political agenda, rarely raised, is carefully handled and usually acknowledged in a relatively classless manner, although the Big Landowner v Small Man debate will be aired on occasions, with the magazine taking the Small Man's position.
So hopefully not all is as black as at first suspected.
However underlying much of the content is the reality that most magazines these days survive not through readership numbers but advertising. There's little evidence to suggest a review will be positive just because the manufacturer places Ads in the same magazine. And that's unlike rumours to the contrary made in other publishing sectors. For one, the items concerned are typically of low value when compared to such items as the price of, let's say, a new car.
But still the reality is that gear tests mostly rely on easy and early access to outdoor kit; Regular involvement with the provider's PR, Marketing & Technical teams; And a careful balancing of the feed-provider/information-distributor.
To their credit this is something that the Outdoor publications seem to pull off. Or so it fees as a reader of much of their output over the years. If there is a retail tie-in then its stated, and its rare that any favouritism appears. Impartiality is still a very Big Word amongst the Outdoor Press.
(The main exception I regularly rail against on here is the monthly Trail/British Sugar Industry article. It may be flagged with a suitable warning. But the times I've been part way through the article; Smelt a rat; And paused to check the by-line; Only to realise I'm reading an 'industry information' piece recommending Sugar. That damages the magazine's relationship with me, the reader, each time it happens)
But what of the Blog & Podcast?
Let's get this fact out straight away. We're amateurs. Most Bloggers normally start off with few outdoor 'contacts'. It’s our real day job that provides the money to live and eat, and that's not necessarily involved with any of the Outdoor Industry. Hence content is initially based on what goes on around us, that may catch our interest. What we see, do and think.
As time passes contacts and networks naturally build if so desired. Sometimes within the outdoor retail sector, but more immediately with those Outdoor Organisations we are part of, or become involved, with as our passion and interest takes us further afield.
Often such links bring an opportunity for better gear/issues reports. But here I believe the Outdoor Blogger departs from our print based counterpart.
Most gear reviews require kit bought or borrowed using our own cash. Stuff that interests, that can be put to extend periods of use (and misuse) and reflected on. Sometimes that may be with a degree of natural bias (boots v trail shoes) but mostly reported as a typical customer who's parted with hard £££s, has limited choice, and requires kit to do what it says on the tin.
And if opportunities do arise for such gear to be provided gratis by the outdoor retail industry, those same instincts remain. If something stinks, then the smell will be aired in public. Mitigated with due regard to the source, but unencumbered by too much concern over 'biting the hand that feeds'.
There is no bigger picture to consider. No organisation or income stream to safeguard. And no protection either.
Each individual's Blog is their own personal investment. It can stop, grow, or stagnate on whim. And if the content becomes rabid trash with a marked biased then readership will dwindle; And usually the Blogger's desire to continue declines. (I'll ignore the paparazzi/gossip Blogs here!)
It is certainly helpful to get easier access to equipment, especially if normally unobtainable due to price or availability. But few of us would ever review something because We Must. It is because the item will be of personal interest and curiosity. For we are Owner, Editor, Writer and Publisher all at the same time. We get to choose.
PR/Marketing contacts can undoubtedly ease much of the basic access & research. But for us simple folk any regurgitation of the copy-writer's snake-oil wordage is noticeable. Any product placement that may occur is down to the social and fashion drivers we, as part of the outdoor public, are all subject to. But similarly there are those amongst our number who will regularly go against the prevailing trend. Indeed on any given topic you'll usually find a whole range of opinion, or lack of, across the Outdoor Blogs leaving you as reader to make up your own mind based on a wide discussion of the issues involved.
If you like, it’s the ultimate pub conversation. But readily available on-line from your home most days. And with the option to turn away to another source if the content is uninteresting.
So turning back to the original question "If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?"
Maybe - but is the alternative before you any worse? Or is its delivery & content of more relevance for today's audience?
Time will tell. And also, I suspect, the effect of continuing to maintain a low cost alternative.
The majority of Outdoor Blogs steer clear of carrying any form of income generators (Click through Ads; Google AdSense; Retail links etc) But as the on-line format matures there is the reality for many of us to maintain and improve quality content. And for that the present self-financing will continue to be challenged if it is to develop.
How to do that without losing the hard fought integrity that is being slowly built? I wonder how you as a reader may feel about that? Will we see a ceiling on the type of content provided, limited by cash, time and hobby blog status? Or will Blogs that go beyond this risk becoming too closely compared with the print media's own dilemma? Content v Income Generation = Continued Survival.
Print or on-line its clear the content provider shares many of the same information resources, but not necessarily the same problems. Not yet at least.
The attraction of the established magazine for the Outdoor reader will remain, I'm sure. But the flexibility and variety of the Outdoor Blog scene will continue to grow and exert an influence.
And that leaves you, as the consumer, firmly in the driving seat.
From this Blogger's view that's a Good Thing as your interaction with this medium can directly and quickly influence the content you see far better than any remote Market Survey will ever manage.
Ramble over. Normal service will be resumed with immediate effect.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
2008: Blogs & the 'traditional' press (Part 1)
About a year ago I posted an article considering the impact of outdoor blogs alongside the UK's traditional print magazines. Whilst questioning the role blogs played I concluded that it was an alternative format. One still finding its feet. But also very capable of offering things that the paper press weren't able to deliver - speed of news items, article relevancy, targeted readership.
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Tuesday, March 25
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
It's been a busy year since. There's been innovation on the hard copy side with publishers setting up or rebadging magazine websites; Experimenting with podcast, vidcast and digital magazine formats.
Meanwhile the majority of UK based Outdoor Bloggers, coming together under the auspices of the OutdoorBloggers.com have welcomed new members, and provided a strong support network for those seeking to get started, looking to improve their chosen craft, or just happy to be amongst a like minded community. With over 55 members it may not sound huge. But it represents the majority of those in the UK actively blogging on outdoor related matters. Specifically walking/wildcamping, but also including other outdoor interests. And using a range of methods to present the information on-line.
Any regular reader of these blogs could not have failed to notice comprehensive coverage of such things as the Outdoors Show. Providing a level of detail and reflection to a depth that just wouldn't be possible within a magazine issue. And more importantly making it available whilst the information remained fresh and relevant.
Tellingly, what the magazines may have to report is still awaited.
A throw away comment from one blogger made me return to my original piece to remind myself of circulation figures and to confirm the latest position. And all does not look good in print magazine land at present.
Anyone following the Lad's Mags (Maxim, Loaded, FHQ) circulation news will already be aware that their market share has been plummeting as their market audience moves away to other interests.
And whilst the outdoor sphere has always been of a less flighty nature, the comparative figures for 2006 & 2007 are worrying. Once again using the magazine industry's benchmark, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (the little ABC you sometimes see inside the magazine cover) and with due recognition of ABC copyright ownership a quick reprise of the state of the market using 2007 figures against those 2006 representative titles
Mag: TRAIL
Circulation : 39,349 (2006 - 40,552 - 3% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 38% of copies sold (2006 - 41% - 3 % drop)
Mag: COUNTRY WALKING
Circulation : 44,549 (2006 - 46,849 - 5% drop)
Cost: £3.70 (2006 - £3.50 - 6% increase)
Subscription: 42% of copies sold (2006 - 43% - 1% drop)
Mag: TGO
Circulation : 10,705 (2006 - 11,368 - 6% drop)
Cost: £3.40 (2006 - £3.30 - 3% increase)
Subscribers: 31% of copies sold (2006 - 38% - 7 % drop)
And the alternative outdoor offerings?
Magazine : WALK
Circulation : 105,168 (2006 - 105,809 - 1% drop)
Cost: n/a
Subscribers: n/a
Magazine : CUMBRIA
Circulation : 12,505 (2006 - 13,043 - 4% drop)
Cost: £1.99 (2006 - £1.85 - 8% increase)
Subscribers: 58% (2006 - 56% - 2 % increase)
Across all titles, even including the Rambler's Association Walk Magazine (part of the membership deal), there has been a loss of readership, accompanied by a loss of subscribers. Except for Cumbria, which I suspect has a huge readership outside of the Lakes, and naturally tends towards subscription for its circulation.
All the magazines, as you’d expect, have had a cover price increase. But that doesn’t appear to directly relate to readership loss with TGO hardest hit despite the lowest price change.
Across the big three UK magazines (Trail; Country Walking; TGO) total readership has dropped from 98,769 to 94,603
Similar figures for blog readership are notoriously difficult to acquire. But here's some rough figures based on average monthly visitors and a variety of different and regularly followed blogs (via RSS feeds- say 10 and 20 blogs)
A minimum audience of 15,000 and a maximum in excess of 30,000.
(But please - this is a very rough estimate based on very little hard fact, just feedback from my own site stats and a few others balanced against repeat visits throughout a "average" month. I wouldn’t want this taken as more than a poor indicator for comparative purposes)
So where has 4% of the 2006 print readership wandered off to? And what does this mean for those newer magazines such as Active Magazine launched back in Feb just in time for the NEC Show?
Perhaps, similar to the advent of multiple digital TV channels the traditional mass audience has started to peel away. To follow stations geared to their own niche interests.
Or possibly, with lifestyle choice and shifting population demographics, the target readership has moved off to other things (But considering the level of mainstream press publicity given to reports on obesity and walking for fitness & good health one should expect the opposite?)
Or perhaps the print magazine is facing an increasingly web enabled audience. One who select their information sources to match their leisure activity niches, at a time and place of their choosing. And one that more immediately meets their need?.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a fast and ever changing world. The expectations of the present generations are radically different from those of only ten years ago.
As an alternative form of information, entertainment & communication 2007 has undoubtedly seen the consolidation of the Outdoor Blog as one format amongst many alternatives. And hopefully those involved have lifted their game to consider both regular readership, but also those coming new to the genre.
So for 2008:
Outdoor Blogs - still an alternative.
Definitely standing upright; And showing commitment to what they deliver.
But the question remains -are they a replacement for the traditional press?
As a committed reader of outdoor magazines, but on a less regular basis than in the past, I hope they continue. But edgy times indeed for those involved in static and cost heavy businesses.
And what about the hard working print journalist, with a network of contacts and providing that essential conduit between manufacturer/organisation and getting their product/news to you the public? If the print press does fade away, surely the quality of the information provided will similarly degrade?
Well - maybe not as much as you would think. A subject I will return to with the concluding part of this piece coming sometime during the next week.
(Well - you think this stuff is quick to produce? There is the day job to consider after all!)
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
UK Walking Magazine - The Little Death?
As ever, one little teeny weeny Google query seems to have led to another, and another, and .........well you get the general idea by now I'm sure.
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, March 9
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
There's something rather smelly happening in the UK Outdoor magazine world. Possibly reflective of the traditional print media, as a whole?
More to follow in the next few days once I've dug a little deeper.
Labels: blog media, media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
TGO & Trail Magazine; And what's a 'Heat Exchange Mask' then?
Pre the Outdoor Show I decided to take a look at the latest outdoor magazines. Well, when I say take a look what I really mean is buy rather than spend 5 minutes in the local W.H. Smith's library, flicking through the increasingly expensive offerings (well compared to the time it takes me to read them at least!)
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, October 14
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
I've rather given up on these mags over the winter months as the content had become a little staid.
Trail was easy to locate (WHS naturally) but TGO was a b*gger to chase down. No thanks to the newsagent in the centre of Christchurch who kindly informed me here was "No demand for walking magazines around this area" Well why was I asking for one then? But a similar request at a small shop in Bransgore, after one of my New Forest wanders earlier today turned up both a knowledgeable newsagent, and nice shiny copy.
And happily well worth the search.
I don't know what the team at TGO may have been imbibing recently but the magazine is back on form with a Bang. Entertaining, informative and challenging. And as editor Cameron McNeish intimated in the prerelease vidcast trailer, if Eddy Meechan carries on like he's started off already there's plenty of sparks ready to fly. I had to admit the heat exchange mask made me laugh at first. But then I read the article and thought - well why not? (and AS has his own view here)
And that is what we buy a magazine for surely? To learn and to challenge accepted opinion; And then to make up our own minds.
TGO 1; Trail 0;
No contest.
And that's despite the NEC Blogger Meet-up being publicised as one of the attractions of the Outdoors Show though. Would have been nice to have been asked beforehand? And I guess the Jennings stand may have some thoughts on that one as well. Which we may find out on the day I guess ( Naughty naughty)
Labels: media, NEC Outdoors Show, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Traveller’s Travails – A cure for HomeSickness?
Surely the art of good writing is to achieve that elusive link betwixt writer and reader, to evoke a shared recognition of the human condition?
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’. Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Saturday, September 8
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
"Experience has taught me that when home sickness strikes I can either allow my mind to fester on it, or busy myself with other things"
An innocuous comment in Cameron McNeish ‘Wild Connection’ piece in November’s TGO magazine (extracted from "The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish") But something that chimed a chord with my own particular experience.
An insignificant thought on the face of it, but a subject with the ability to destroy the enjoyment of an outdoors trip. Something that is rarely covered in the annals of outdoor writing usually covering daring-do feats in wild and oft foreign places. But with the increased ease to communicate via mobile phones one that can strike without warning.
I wouldn’t regard myself as that widely travelled. Over the years I’ve visited cultures in the USA, North Africa, and much of the Mediterranean. Fleeting sorties mostly. Enough to value the differences, and celebrate the commonality cross humanity. But at time the cultural differences can make one feel very much a stranger in a strange land.
Over recent years, busily raising a family, my trips away from home have mostly been within the UK. And with it a realisation that whilst travel does indeed broaden the mind, it’s more the act of removing oneself from the security blanket of home and the familiar that is at the heart of creating a traveller. An individual moving through life, anonymous for the most part amongst fellow humans busy with their normal day to day tasks.
Stuck in an anonymous hotel on the other side of the world for weeks on end, homesickness is a recognisable and accepted symptom. One of not belonging. Of being an outsider. Even when part of a group, and to some extent seemingly more insulated from the local culture, who amongst us have not lain awake at 4 a.m. body clock still tuned in to the noise of a background life still murmuring thousands of miles away. The ears automatically straining for those recognisable familiar sounds. The gurgle of the deep freeze unit; the snuffle of dogs moving in their sleep in the kitchen below. The distinctive tick of a favourite clock.
Those oh so minor background noises that suddenly seem to take on an intensely personal value. And then the understanding of this detached loneliness kick in. The mind unprepared for the sudden onrush of an unfamiliar emotion. The sudden desire to be far away from here - to be back amongst the familiar. Even to desire that tedium whilst instinctively understanding that its attraction will swiftly pall once again and be the catalyst for escape once more.
Homesickness will strike anywhere and at the strangest times. It’s not the distance from home that is the cause, although the stranger the surroundings, the more intense a catalyst. Or perhaps the expectation in a remote land provides some form of preparatory safeguard to watch out for the signs.
Perhaps it’s more an understanding that there is to be a semi-permanent separation from one’s chosen existence. An emotional mini-death of sorts? An exclusion.
I once had such an onrush barely five hours into train trip northwards at the sight of mother talking with her young children, despite my own being very much older, and ones that were bade farewell only that morning.
And despite increasing age/maturity along with degree of security of place and emotional stability, the feeling can still sneak up on my blind side and strike deep at times. And then, on some trips – totally unaffected.
How then to deal with it for those of us who need to escape the day to day routines? Especially those of us who travel solo, and as such will always be an outsider amongst the social cliques that form whenever more than a couple of people come together?
In my experience the first step is to recognise the feeling exists, and that it is a normal reaction, no matter whatever the trigger (in my case music is usually the cause) When that feeling wells up, accept it for what it is, don’t bother to dig into it, but gently acknowledge its existence, and then lay it to one side.
And then, as Cameron succinctly advises, don’t fester, get busy.
However minor the activity chosen, within minutes that emotion termed ‘homesickness’ drifts back to wherever it came from. It’s an approach that’s never failed me.
After the first attempt to break out into my consciousness any further outbreaks are somehow minimised to less subjective circumstances becoming more a reminder of the circumstance that describes my own existence. My basis for personal existence and community. A sort of comparative benchmark to check my frame of mind and acceptance of personal circumstance.
Surprisingly I’ve never had this feeling when wildcamping alone, far from others. But find it can especially strike when part of an enforced community. Such as leaving a strange pub, those within all familiar with their fellows and belonging, and myself leaving alone to go out into the darkness as I leave.
Or perhaps staying at a YHA, once an opportunity to meet fellow solo travellers, passing through from here to there; But these days so it seems, self contained groups safely insulated in their established inter-relational dynamics and thereby effectively excluding meaningful interaction with others that they meet.
So thanks Cameron for bringing this subject out into the open, where it can be recognised, examined, catalogued, and then put safely away in the box marked ‘Traveller’s Self-Help Kit’.
Labels: Mental Health, TGO Magazine
Quick hide the credit card? Outdoor gear bargain time
Things seem to have gone quiet at JH Towers recently (partly reflecting the UK walking on-line world as well) Most of those big trips planned last winter/spring by now all completed, or rearranged. New ideas and quick outings suffering a little. Partly I guess the result of this summer's mediocre weather. Despite most backpackers relative distain of poor weather (as long as its warm) there's been a general malaise this year somehow inadvertantly draining a little of the passion normally needed to "just get out there".
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Monday, August 6
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
For seem reason it all seems just a little too much effort at present. Silly I know.
Mewanhile the late August Bank Holiday has two items on my personal calandar:
No 1. Here comes the winter.
Days are shortening. The chill of early morning portends that annual increase in the falling leaves down from the ancient oak tree in my garden. Thoughts turn to central heating maintenance before the "big turn on".
But lets look at a positive as a balancing factor
No 2. Bargain time for outdoor gear!
Hurrah? Well possibly. In past few years I've been lurking in the Lake District around now, and by doing so have managed to snap up some of the end-of-season bargains as the outdoor shops offload their excess/end of range stock.
I've not timed it so well this year, and with current plans for that seemingly elusive late summer holiday still not sorted it effectively means such a trip is not likely to happen this year. So I've no idea how the end of season sales are going or what's on offer. It's pretty pointless looking at the local stockists, they didn't have a lot of backpacking/specialist gear in the first place with a couple of notable exceptions. But browsing through October's TGO magazine (Hi Darren - two mentions!) I spotted ads for both backpackinglight (Golite pack reductions) and Winwood Outdoors/Ultralight,.
Bob's BPL on-line shop needs no explanation to regular visitors of this site. The recommendation for his offerings is 101%. If you can save £5 by shopping elsewhere my suggestion is DON'T. Bob's service is beyond any mere monetary saving. Once tried, never forgotten (You can have that tag line for free Bob if you read this - lol)
Winwood is a Keswick based shop that I seem to have missed out on previous trips to that erstwhile town. They have also embraced the ultralight regime, as many of the small forward looking independent retailers are now seeming to. A good range of lightweight specialist gear names including Montane, Golite & Gossamer Gear. And some nice savings listed although I've not run any real comparative checks (except BPL v Winwood for the Golite Quest rucksack- and BPL is cheaper). And again a shop that appears to be run by people interested in what they provide.
Now perhaps I may just be able to slip a long weekend trip to the Lakes if I really think about it. Hmm.
Labels: Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine
Timeless Flight - A second bite
And whilst I'm playing catch-up on recent articles, there has been some thoughtful responses about the status of Outdoor magazines.
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
...... etc etc
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid. Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Friday, August 3
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Lighthiker made an interesting point, which I've heard before, and would mostly agree with. But I think there's more to it than at first glance:
"People have the idea that the Internet is "free" and wouldn't pay for a subscription of a website the same price they pay for the printed magazine. And to some extent I also need to blame bloggers like myself. I post about gear. I make no money out of it and people can read it for free. So if they find the info they want let's say about the latest tents on my blog or others why buying a printed magazine? The only thing that can make a difference would be big in-depth tests and some kind of premium (and I mean premium) content which differs them from what is available for free online. ................ Not many advertisers would move online as their ad will be easier overlooked/clicked away and magazines can't charge them the same rates for online advertising compared to the printed version.Things might change over time when the Internet becomes so cheap and accessible that everybody can use it all the time at every place and the reading habits change also. It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd especially agree on the "Internet= Free" model. Would Podcast Bob's excellent output have the same appeal if the podcasts were chargeable? An issue I know Bob continues to tussle with.
For these sort of things I always look to the prime example of supply and demand in action. One of the oldest commercial concerns in the communication medias. It was straight in there as soon as the pictures and the written word started to be used for mass communication.
It is of course the Sex Industry.
Whatever your personal feelings about the product for sale their providers work in one of the strongest surviving markets. And one of the most cut throat and pressured. It is one that's continued to survive despite the attempts of law, social disapproval and religious stricture. Sex sells, as advertisers spend so many dreary millions of $$$$ trying hard to avoid telling us (subtle ads; trick story lines; subliminal messages etc)
But as an industry they are very early adopters in communication and retail environments.
And much as Playboy print magazine of the 50s eventually became a household name, a designer label, and a mult media industry, the modern day spawn of the porn sites were on the net early, and have tried most of the tricks in the book to make websites pay. Even inventing a few new ones along the way, some legitimate, some particularly odious.
Ditto digital TV/view on demand etc - a marketplace in which the big corporations are still very much feeling their way at present.
BTW I'm not suggesting that we should try to make too close a comparison between the outdoor industry here!
But consider some key elements from that sphere.........
- The way in which the print format has adopted certain facets of the digital media, whilst still retaining some of the traditional format, for non adopters, but with a revised demand model and pricing structure.
- The adoption of real time information feeds e.g. webcam
- Interaction with the demand points i.e. Joe Public via a variety of alternatives (e.g. mobile phones)
- Free site content as a loss leader to a subscription model
- Ease of use
- E-tail spin-off business targeting a High Street audience, without the legislative issues or premise overhead. Or the social disapproval.
I'm no expert in this area- no honestly! But any one who has experienced the Internet for more than a simple usage quickly finds it difficult to avoid a variety of content delivery all trying their independent methods of making that elusive buck. The sex/porn industry, despite its lack of general social acceptability (in fact possibly because of that?) has been by far the one with the most widespread impact globally across the web. And one of the biggest money takers I suspect.
As I said earlier. Watch the model, not the product. Some sales will always be easier. Some models less complex.
But learn from the successful and adapt to your own concern.
"It will come but probably is 5-10 years from now"
I'd say that's already here for some retailers. The question is whether established product providers adopt, adapt, or maybe even just avoid.
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Timeless Flight. Have Outdoor Magazines met their nadir?
An unexpected delay on my flight back during a business trip earlier today gave me the dubious opportunity to sit in Liverpool Airport reading the September copy of Trail magazine.
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Sunday, July 1
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Dubious?
Well with rather too many long hours to while away there was a temptation to read and reread the magazine sat in my lap. Or even to critically assess the content, presentation and format. Which is a little unfair on my part really because Trail Magazine is honestly not that sort of reading material. It never pretends to be a 'work of art' for critical analysis, but a monthly outdoor mag ("The UK's biggest selling hill-walking magazine") to provide information whilst remaining entertaining.
And as I sit here tip-tip-tapping into my faithful Psion 5, the flight has just been called (finally), so I'd better make this a very quick round-up, and clean it up back at home (which I'm now doing)
I'd have to say that Trail is not only a little light on content, but is starting to lay itself open to the accusation of being noticeably dated with some articles. For instance - a couple of references to Steve Perry's charity trip (aborted prematurely at the start of last week), a circular route over Caldbeck Fells the pictures showing a frozen landscape (so how long ago was that trip then?)
I do appreciate the unavoidable delay between putting the issue to bed, and distributing the printed article to the retailer. But how long is the delay, and does it remain acceptable these days? After all newspapers appear each morning based on the previous day's happenings.
I assume the advantage of delayed release for magazines is more financially motivated, but how long are we talking here?
But I digress. Back to the plot JH.
I'd forgive the Perry ref as just being one of those timing things, but in general the relevancy if some articles is becoming an issue these days with 3-4 month article lead times appearing quite common. And news? Well it isn't really. As Perry's mishap unintentionally proved.
I'm sure if I looked a little closer I'd discover this is not an issue limited just to Trail, or even the Outdoor magazine sector. Why as a reading public are we paying highish prices (Trail-£3.50) for something that is not necessarily a reflection of the season and outdoor experiences we ourselves are having?
Or to put it another way. Why on the 3rd day of August am I reading a magazine marked September, but based on articles compiled, at my guess, sometime in March/April? A six month gap?
I repeat this is not aimed at Trail magazine per se. That esteemed publishing team continue to attract a strong readership so are obviously meeting a demand from numerous readers. But there comes a point when the accumulation of the cost for three or four months mags may be better spent on (say) a reference/route guide to Scotland in a book form. And that at least would be something I'd keep and use later. As opposed to stockpiling old mags for years, and finally throwing them away finding no-one else to take them on. That was a moment of satori, and a weight off the attic woodwork, when I realised I'd never referred to one back issue in all the time I'd kept them. Not once.
Well that may say more about me, or what I expect these days from the publishing industry.
Even the on-line version of TGO took a couple of days to post about Steve Perry, although I suspect they were waiting for comment from Steve himself.
Or perhaps I'm becoming more demanding as an increasing amount of news and reviews are via websites, outdoor forums, and yes you've guess it - Blogs. All immediate medias. Quality and veracity of course varying tremendously. But a cross section of views and feedback offers me much more of a consensus view. And usually some come back to the individuals concerned.
But mostly I expect to read far more critical and detailed reviews, based on real life use, on the net. There's no advertiser's to be wary of (and no matter how independent the mag that is always a consideration to some extent. It's only human nature after all) There are expectations to this of course - Judy Armstrong/Chris Townsend being very good at calling a spade a spade where it counts.
But it does look like the outdoor magazine is these days becoming more of a......?
Well to be honest I'm not too sure what they are at the moment. And where they fit into the future of media/audience communication.
But at the moment I can't help but feel that something is slipping away from some sectors of the magazine industry.
Once I read the essential monthly copy for information. For new ideas. For education. Now I buy as something to while away a quick twenty or thirty minute journey. Something lightweight.
And before someone points out my previous posts, all based on regular purchase of said items .... the reason I continue to buy Trail and TGO? (subscription just lapsed BTW) Part relevancy to the interests I have on this blog site and part optimism that things will improve.
Occasionally I uncover a gem. Sometimes an article is relevant to my needs. But mostly I end up dissatisfied. A feeling that there has to be more. And as any retailer understands. If you fail to satisfy the punter properly, forget any return trade.
So finally an appeal. Can anyone in any part of the press/print industry throw some light on this at all? (Whether privately or publicly)
I'd even be interested in meeting/visiting any of the mags/editorial teams in an effort to better understand the realities at first hand.
This ones bugging me. I can feel a chill wind blowing and I'd like to see which bugger has left the privy door open.Or is it the new wave blowing on by?
Labels: blog media, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Trail Challenge over & Keswick's George Fisher sold
It's interesting how one thing can lead to another, and another, and ... etc etc
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Wednesday, June 6
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
I was checking the progress of the Trail Magazine Academy trio. Sarah writes: "The Trail thing is now officially over, and looking at the write up of the last expedition in the magazine, I’m quite glad I didn’t go. Looks like they walked a long way carrying a lot of kit and had a very uncomfortable night. I love the outdoors, and I enjoy camping, but I don’t believe in making things even more difficult for yourself! It’s a shame it’s over, and I appear to be the one who got the least out of it, but such is life"
Whatever Trail's intentions on the exercise it looks like some of the backpacking ethos & practice possibly didn't rub off in quite the way it was intended.
And as for the other two guinea pigs. Emma had a proposal of marriage, and Sian found out she was nearly pregnant, for a short while. It all seems to happen on these Trail programs doesn't it!
But they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience, and thanks to Sarah's blog for the tip off concerning the new Trail Gear Blog, which coincidentally appeared to to have hit the web around the time the repackaged TGO Forum/Blogsite was rolled out. Is that's what's called a spoiler in the press trade? Surely not.
As I was checking the links for this post I spotted this piece of recent news concerning the takeover of the highly regarded George Fisher shop in Keswick by the Tiso Group. Trail's news report is here.
Normally this sort of news would have appeared on the outdoor forums, but not a sniff that I've spotted so far. And nothing on GF's own site either (So does that count as a blogger scoop WD?)
As to the news, one commenter has positive comments on Tiso in Edinburgh(Tiso is largely unknown south of the Scottish border) so hopefully GF's excellent service and stocking policy will continue into the future.
And of course the web cam.
Labels: blog media, Gear, Lake District, TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
TGO website
The new TGO site is now up and running, and quickly filling with high quality content. Highly recommended
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
Thursday, May 3
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
(Damn - that's more stuff to read on-line)
The main question - how will the TGO on-line version differ in content from the TGO print version?
I'm looking forward an interesting few months as I was aware Cameron had a 'pack full of ideas, and it's good to see the initiative starting to come into flower. Best of luck.
It'll be interesting to see how Trail/Country Walking respond to this initiative from Cameron's team, bearing in mind the content of some of the recent topics covered. Only coincidental I'm sure.
Labels: TGO Magazine, Trail Magazine
TGO Magazine June
What is it with this current crop of outdoors mags?
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
But overall it felt like the mag lacked focus. More a generalist Outdoor campsy type mag. Not quite the market niche they've been working so hard towards over the last few issues.
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.Labels: TGO Magazine
TGO arrived via postie yesterday, and I'm as similarly as unimpressed as with Trail's offering.
A pity because TGO is at least a 'good read' rather than a cause of distraction when trying to sort the articles out from the cunningly disguised adverts (sic Trail).
Were the editorial team all out on the hills, or is the increasingly distant cover date (2 May recipt for the June issue!) meaning less contemporary content.
- Chris Townsend - nice commitment to duty for the 'Car Camping' article. But this is Chris 'Mr Backpack' Townsend. Poor fellow. Throw him a lifeline?
- Jim Perrin/Mike Harding pieces I actually enjoyed
- Review of single skin tents - interesting
- Deepdale Route was different, but petered out towards the end
- Dave Mycroft - technology convergance- good piece. Too short
I might even buy 'Country Walking' at this rate to see it's just me becoming getting a pernickity old bugger in the sunny weather. Harrumph.
Labels: TGO Magazine
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
