Cameron's Viewpoint - have outdoor mags had their day?

[Paul Webster]

In his latest monthly opinion column, Cameron McNeish asks if outdoor magazines have had their day.

A magazine dropped through my letterbox the other day. After a cursory glance at the front cover I put it on top of a pile of other outdoor mags that I subscribe to.

I must admit I laid it on the magazine pile with something of a guilty conscience and promised myself, for the umpteenth time, that at some point I would try and get round to reading them all. But do you know what? I probably won’t...

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What do you think?

[footix2]

I buy both TGO and Trail, but being relatively new to walking I find the content reasonably fresh and not too repetitive (yet).

I have to say that TGO is impossible to find outside of WHSmith, whereas Trail is much more accessible.

I still think there is a place for both publications and room for them both on the shelves and they do tend to cater to slightly different audiences. CW I think is a little pointless, and could really come under the Trail umbrella.

Trail really need to move their reviews out of the "most expensive kit on the market" bracket though. TGO is much more rounded in the regard, reguarly stick the likes of Alpkit and Karrimor in there with the more expensive stuff.

[Backpacker]

I've got to agree with Cameron on this, I've stacks of books, maps and magazines gathering dust only getting an airing when I take a notion.

Kit and route reviews in some are a bit more geared towards tourists (personal opinion) and like footix2 is saying the gear reviews (sometimes the same can be said for here) are aimed towards those who want kitted out in the best gear going, whereas some of us need to shop within quite a tight budget.

[Sgurr]

Outdoor mags would not have had their day if once a year they could be bothered to produce a running index. I NEVER go out and do a route just because I have seen it in this month's mag, but when I come to do a hill, sometimes have the vague idea that I saw a half decent route in some mag or other, if only I could find it. The same goes for gear. How many of us rush out and buy some item in the month of its review? I am now having doubts about my tranja, and would like to be able to lay my hand on portable cooker reviews....how much easier if ther was a proper index. (Please don't tell me there is and I just haven't found it.)

[NickyRannoch]

yeah they have and you can thank paul and helen for that

however as well as the decline in print press in general the content of magazines like tgo and trail are pretty bloody awful. trail in particular is crap and basically series of adverts for high end gear that you could be using in the alps but are sold to you to use on one of their " Top 10 extreme ridge walks in the peak district !!!!!"

also,how many articles on lightweight gear is it possible to write?

[tenohfive]

Flipboard and similar app's will start to play bigger and bigger roles in determining what magazines get read. Online magazines that are much more customisable and which sit in your pocket are the way ahead. I never used to bother with any magazines, but I devour any new Outside/Nat Geo articles that come out now whenever I've got 5 minutes.

The ability to save such articles for future reading in your own magazine (in Flipboards case at least) is another big advantage.

[lb1dej]

A typically thoughtful piece from Cameron. I'm 67 and have only taken up walking since I retired 4 years ago. Previously cycling was my main interest.

Personally, I have a lifelong addiction to magazines and subscribe to TGO and tend to buy Trail. I no longer buy cycling mags as I feel I've seen it all and content is very carbon fibre/racing oriented. I've never really got into off-road.

Of all the magazines I have ever read TGO stands out for quality of writing and photography. The website and forum are rather inactive and I've had very little response to anything I've posted on it. As a newcomer to walking I've found the introductory stuff useful. I'd expect the subscribers to be older rather than younger which is why it appeals to me at 67 years old.

For me, magazines are about information (routes and gear) and inspiration (photography and walks).

Trail appeals to a younger market; graphic quality is less good. By putting all its reviews on the LFTO site, it rather undermines its print appeal. Many of the walks are lifted straight from guide books.

I also look at Walk Highlands - excellent walk reports and photographs; UKH very lively forum and great photos. Outdoors Magic seems largely devoted to promoting high end gear.

Personal blogs are interesting when written by authoritative people.

I'm inclined to agree with CM about the future of print on paper, and am pessimistic about the continuation of newspapers which, like the Guardian, are inevitably undermining their paper circulation. Eventually it comes down to business, but it is unrealistic to expect high quality writing for free - we all need to make a living!

Dave

[druidh]

That line at the bottom about Singletrack Magazine is worth studying. It does look like they've managed to create/develop a new style of publishing taking advantage of the connected world.

[Phil the Hill]

Walk Highlands and some of the regular posters on here should license some of their walk reports and photos to the magazines - that would improve them no end.

[NickyRannoch]

Walk Highlands and some of the regular posters on here should license some of their walk reports and photos to the magazines - that would improve them no end.

This is pretty much the reason i avoid them unless i pick one up for curiosity for a train journey. Why would i be interested in 1 person's review of 1 item of clothing or 1 walk when I have instant access to multiple reports of gear every hill and bump in Scotland.

Where there might be a future is distilling the various news stories about the hills from all the various stories, taking an editorial approach to these stories, republishing work of older writers, articles on historical mountaineering etc rather than gear reviews and routes.

[Tinto63]

I still buy TGO and generally enjoy reading it, but the other outdoor magazines don't really interest me, except Outdoor Photography which I have started to take, this seems to have a good balance of articles plus stunning pictures (and how to take them). It also does out door gear reviews. Whether it will improve the quality of my pictures is another matter!

[alan.sloman]

I see Cameron has not lost his well-honed predilection for rehashing other people's articles;

Take a look here http://alansloman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/outdoor-magazines-circulation-pressures.html for all the points covered in Cameron's piece and a very lively discussion in the comments thread...

I believe that Cameron is being less than generous about TGO - the revamp under Emily's editorship has made a big difference to the magazine. It is also far less "Scotland-centric" than it was under Cameron's stewardship.

Cameron doesn't give circulation figures in his piece. These can be found in the original article I have linked to.

[electricfly]

I see Cameron has not lost his well-honed predilection for rehashing other people's articles

From what I can see you wrote a short piece about a decline in readership of the top 3 publications quoting figures that would indicate that Trail and Country Walks have dropped considerably since 2008 whilst TGO has made a slight gain, but is still the 3rd placed of the three in terms of readership totals.

You then go on to discuss the dumbing down of TGO during certain recent issues and it gets a bit confusing about who you seem to want to point the finger at for this.

I really don't see how you can suggest that Cameron McNeish has rehashed your "article" as if it were some sort of plagiarism. Other than the subject matter the two pieces could hardly be called similar. You do not have the right to monopolise a subject just because you wrote about it a while back on your blog.

[malky_c]

Still, no such thing as bad publicity, eh?

[IainG]

I used to buy Trail many years ago, mostly because I was seduced by the covers!, but I got fed up with the constant recycling of articles and I was sick to the teeth of huge 10 page articles almost every month on either Tryfan or Scafell and virtually nowhere else.

it also had a very 'laddish' editorial style..."Get bonkers in a Bothy" or "Go wild in the wilderness hell"..., that sort of nonsense!