Jumping the Shark : When Is A Good Magazine Over?

[Luxx]

We all love magazines but love hurts sometimes. A magazine we once thought amazing can become redundant, repetitive and banal in a matter of issues. Time has come to point out the worst offenders, predict when the good times will be over at the current fashion darlings and talk about why mendacity has taken over in favor of innovation.

So, which magazines do you think have jumped the shark? And why?

I think Pop is a good example of a magazine that was tip top for very long but the second Mert and Marcus left it was over. I cite the Stephanie Seymour issue as the moment when the magazine became officially non-essential. The multi-cover issue made up for it in some respects but honestly it lacked kick. There was a lot of good content but there was also the sense that the magazine was ending in some ways. This new issue with Drew Barrymore looks like a trainwreck and a half but we'll see when it hits newsstands.

 

[penny609]

Sounds like a very interesting topic, thanks for opening this thread

I'm going to quote Youarearockstar who said a few times ago how 10 lost its appeal to him and I couldn't agree more even if last cover with Karlie Kloss was more convincing again.
I used to love this mag and buy it eyes-closed for its relentlessly strong, innovative and consistent contents especially when it came to their castings. New faces popping up out of the blue and out of the beaten tricks. Mixed to great styling all over its pages.
Now 10 doesn't look really bad to me but more like a regular magazines with regular contents, nothing striking or moving the lines.
Though, while saying this everytimes a new issue is out, I still hope for the next one to be better or at least a bit different from the previous one if it's not able to go back to their fantastic formula.

I'm also quite sad to see Wonderland seems on the same slope. I can still rely on Tank. For now

 

[ChloeFrancoise]

To be honest, a magazine being repetitive doesn't bother me much as long as I like the content and like how the magazine is in the first, even though I don't mind some change. I'm more aggravated by seeing a perfectly good magazine that I use to look forward to become terrible, especially since there's not that many magazines that I can easily find that I actually want to bother with in the first place.

 

[surrealseven]

I think Pop is a good example of a magazine that was tip top for very long but the second Mert and Marcus left it was over. I cite the Stephanie Seymour issue as the moment when the magazine became officially non-essential. The multi-cover issue made up for it in some respects but honestly it lacked kick. There was a lot of good content but there was also the sense that the magazine was ending in some ways. This new issue with Drew Barrymore looks like a trainwreck and a half but we'll see when it hits newsstands.

I totally agree on this one

It was a downward spiral i think, from was the Sienna Miller issue. The upcoming issue with Drew lost the essence of Pop totally and I certainly don't expect any good content from them anymore. I think it is also wise for Grand to leave Pop, since I feel her creative juices for Pop have already been drying up

And certainly, Bauer has a hard act to follow for their relaunch.


.

 

[BerlinRocks]

I don't know why but I feel MMA would have a lot of things to say ...

 

[Faith Akiyama]

^yes she would...and rightfully so!

On a practical standpoint, it's likely over when a publication cannot keep up with innovations in technology and capitalize/expand quickly upon those business prospects. We have not seen many instances of this yet, but in another few seasons, who knows?

 

[thejarc]

I'd def. say Vogue UK.
I once loved it soooo much.
But the past couple of issues were just boring

 

[La bordélique]

I used to love NYLON a few years ago. I think we all know what kind of a joke the magazine became...

 

[thejarc]

I used to love NYLON a few years ago. I think we all know what kind of a joke the magazine became...

Things like: Paris Hilton on the cover

 

[vogue28]

For me? US VOGUE! It has its ups and downs for me. But seriously If I see another celeb on the cover of a "High Fashion" magazine I was cry.
This lastest issue of POP (Drew Barrymore) was a total let down for me too.

 

[kimair]

i need more time to think about some other mags, but the one that instantly popped in my head when i read your post luxx was harpers bazaar...
it jumped the shark after the death of liz tilberis, unfortunately...
she worked so hard to give the magazine a freshness that it had lost in the late 70s-80s, and while i loved the kate betts era, it was such a departure from what had been done before...it was off in a completely new and jarring direction...
with covers like paris & nicole and a pregnant and nude britney, it has yet to recover...

 

[BerlinRocks]

I used to love NYLON a few years ago. I think we all know what kind of a joke the magazine became...

same here but with a french example : Jalouse ....
Jalouse has become, imo, a joke when they started to emphasize their boho side .....
and when Jennifer Eymère took the magazine in hands (though Isabelle Peyrut is still fashion EIC, non ?), first i thought she would do something fresh. but it quickly became a huge mistake ....
so Jalouse has become a joke like 3-4 yrs ago .....

and to be honest, Vogue Paris could quickly jump the shark ........... if they don't stop making a caricature of themselves as quick as possible .....
though it would never stop me buying it ..... because they manage to produce some good stories. mais quand même .... be carefull !
and please don't give the irony argument. it's such a gavauldé term in fashion ... i tend to more and more hate the "fun", "irony" words in High Fashion. it's like the people are not taking themselves seriously, but still want the 6 zero bill ....

 

[tigerrouge]

One scenario I can offer, is that a publication sometimes goes rotten from the inside out - by the time readers detect a change in content, the real problem has been ongoing for some.

If you feel appreciated by a company, you'll work long hours on the title, and invest a lot of energy and care in creating its content, because it's a matter of pride, and a desire to communicate something worthwhile to the readers that they will appreciate.

It's certainly not for the money because you do not get paid a great deal, not in comparison to your friends who are quantity surveyors and environmental scientists.

But companies being companies, they will try to take advantage of their workers - for example, the unpaid overtime people put in for the love of the job becomes expected of you, rather than something extra. Add together all shorts of cutbacks or abuse, and resentment grows between employee and employer at the expense of the title, because by then, who wants to invest their heart in it? Who wants to work the extra hours to create special content?

And then readers start seeing a title that no-one cares for anymore, because creating a good magazine or newspaper isn't a 9-5 job. Editing - visualising, organising, guiding - requires you to bring into play your business brain, your creative side, and your inner drill sargeant, it's quite a personal investment. When the editor/top people stop investing themselves, the magazine starts drifting.

Then editorial staff leave. The cure is a new team, a new attitude and a new lease of life.

I've seen other publications die a slow death from mishandling of advertising sales, where the revenue slowly dried up, both from economic conditions and bad handling of clients. It's in the nature of salespeople to go for short-term results (bigger commission for them at the end of the month) without having the wit to plan ahead for the year. A good salesperson would - but they're outweighed by the shysters who got the job because they were good at talking ****e down the phone, and who might not be there in three months time. The sales floor often has a high overturn of staff, most have no loyalty to the company.

So the above is a small sample of some boring factors that may affect the quality of a magazine we see in the store.

 

[kasper!]

i would def say vogue italia...besides the cover and meisel story..it's nothing..i just stop buying it this year...but the all-black issue is an exception..

more and more celeb eds..like sep 07 issue..some articles about art..it's so "poseur"...is it an art magazine?...and vogue italia have many contributer photographers..while they have much more amazing eds in other magazines...like mario sorrenti..his work at w is much better than at vogue italia..

 

[nyc_art_style]

I also feel at times that tfsers have extremely high expectations when it comes to magazines, including myself. I remember when I was just getting deeply into fashion in 2005, and US Vogue would amaze me almost every month. Now hardly any magazine does that.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

Dazed and Confused,use to love it, but now it is something that resembles some hipster's paradise. totally irrelevant. We already have ID that is a good compromise.

 

[Deleted member 45369]

I also feel at times that tfsers have extremely high expectations when it comes to magazines, including myself. I remember when I was just getting deeply into fashion in 2005, and US Vogue would amaze me almost every month. Now hardly any magazine does that.

I went through the same exact thing. Around 2004 when i started getting into fashion magazines. I would love US VOGUE every month and everything else seemed not to compare. Than I got a subscription and after one year I decided not to renew and have only bought a few issues since.

I feel like US Vogue is like Fashion 101 for beginners. To the untrained eye it's stunning but once you become more knowledgable about fashion, you want something that pushes it forward or exposes it in a new light. Thats Vogue Paris for me. A few years ago I did not get the appeal of it but now I love it.

 

[unipine]

Vogue Italia comes to mind.. the last issue was an improvement but the last year or so has been stale overall.. they need to stop with the old Hollywood glamour type editorials and find some new ideas.. it's not necessarily bad but it's definitely too safe..

 

[vogue28]

I used to think that UK ELLE was But then they "re-vamped" and it's one of my favourites now.

 

[Luxx]

I think another sign of a magazine's downfall can be when they attempt something fresh but it fails. This month Bazaar enlisted Terry Richardson to shoot the cover but the newsstand cover falls flat and the corresponding editorial of Lohan is rather blah. It doesn't have any of Terry's harshness or sex so it all seems very watered down compared to what he can do. For what it's I think they were attempting something different but the only payoff is the subscriber cover which has sort of a disco ball appeal. Other than that the pictures are just flat - flatter than is work for GQ even. Had they let him really cut loose they could have had something worthwhile, especially given that the subject is Lindsay Lohan, as over exposed as she is she's usually willing to go in whatever direction the photographer pushes her in.


Bazaar has been teetering on the edge of oblivion for some time now.