Are blogs the new magazines of the future?

By Jasper Gape



I just finished reading a blog from Momus of click opera frame about the imminent death of the magazine format, which of course I can relate to because some of my artwork was not only featured in this months issue of Black Magazine, but it was also Black Magazine's last issue ever as the mag announced that it went into liquidation (which probably explains why the mag took so god awfully long to come out).

Pavement, New Zealand's longest serving magazine closed its doors in 2006 due to a decline in advertising revenue and I would suspect that the internet was getting so popular around that time which also meant that blogs (or information conveniently available for the end user) was garnering much of a niche and unique readership which posed a threat to magazines.

Should magazines and other print media be cautious now? I mean give or take 3 more years, and you could be reading your daily through a 12"monitor!

Now not to play the dumb blonde advocate here, but have you noticed that Nz Herald, Rolling Stone and whatever mag you can think of the top of your head now have blogs on their sites? Does this also mean that our beloved print industry is also endanger of facing extinction? I can pretty much visualize it now, getting up in the morning, have some coffee, some toast, plopping your laptop on your lap, and not ever having that guilt of destroying another tree just so you can feel informed about current events.

Another thing which relates to the manufacture of the magazines is why on earth mags like Pavement and Black Magazine are sooo bulky? I know because of the advertisement and shit, and a good article about a certain someone does the magazine justice (Many memories from Pavement's vast articles), but why fill it with heaps of pointless photoshoots? Don't you know people have insecurity issues with their bodies? Just shoot the model at the back of the studio and call it a day!

Have you ever lifted a magazine (and by lift, I mean pick up)? Well back to the issue about blogs.

Are there any good blogs to read?...........Well it all depends on personal tastes. Much like a magazine there are thousands of blogs online. So to each, their own.

This blog for example is all about the facets of music, art, video games, TV, Movies and pop culture in general. The reason behind the name was influenced by many nerds who are out there either behind the scenes or infront of you everyday to amuse and entertain you, like Bill Gates! hahaha!

So lets end on this high and amusing point by saying this. Will blogs replace magazines? Straight up, yes they will. I mean lets face it, we're in the future now, and not many people can keep up with collecting magazines all the time. In fact I threw all of my IDN and Computer Arts magazines out because they now are available via their respective websites. So kids, remember what to say to your pops if you ever want to stay out of trouble..........Buy me a Computer!