Fenlandphil's Blog A blog from the low country

I have been thinking about the change in communications, (does it hurt? well a bit), the papers well certainly the Sundays are less about news and as much about froth, the colour supplements out weigh the paper itself . Weekly free papers we receive have moved considerably away from news content and are substantialy advertising vehicles.

Are we consuming our news nearly entirely away from the print media, both locally and nationally, has the print media given up on objective balanced reporting? Can this also be said for specialist magazines although my local newsagents shelves seem as full of all kinds of different specialist publications as ever, sales seem to be declining. We have discussed here, on the forum, advertising response from gardening magazines and the concensus seems to be pretty much in the don’t bother camp. How do we think, we will in the future, consume our news and follow our interests, will it be on the internet, through networking sites both social and interest based (such as the GardenNetwork), television, will there be a revival in the printed media or will there be something new perhaps blending elements of all three coherently together. I have discussed this with my daughters who  feel that a magazine is a simpler media to navigate than pages on the intenet, I find this also but assumed it may have been an age thing not so apparently, my daughters are in their twenties. 

The greatest advantage I enjoy on the internet is interactivity, I can respond to articles, seek feedback and often get sound useful advice very quickly, this is something that television doesn’t yet in my experience allow or for that matter does the print media. Do those of you who buy gardening magaazines buy less of them, feel that they are less  useful than they once were or have they improved and suit your interests better.