As people age, like many on this board, magazines and their online versions become less interesting.
The longer you’ve been hunting and shooting, the more it takes to catch and hold your interest. The short of it is, older fellows are not their target audience. They are looking for a younger demographic. Younger readers have less experience, so basic 'how to', hunting and shooting articles get consideration.
Here's an example. This is from the editor of a Cdn magazine asking for pitches:
Expanding viewership
Try to include groups beyond our core demographic (males 35-65 yrs.) such as families, women, and different ethnicities, particularly in photos. This should not be staged, but reflective of the content. Please include this info in your pitch if it's relevant.
The older I get, the more my focus sharpens - the more I realize that I have way fewer days ahead of me than I have behind me and that I need to focus much more on stuff that deeply interests me and quit trying to be well informed about all the latest "advances" in the gun world. "Want the skinny on the latest WonderGun?" Nope. "Want to know all the recipes for feeding it?" Double nope. Since the rags are full of that stuff, and most of the reviews/insights about the vintage stuff that does interest me contains very very little I don't already know/am aware of/already own in my fairly vast personal library, caused me to drop magazine subscriptions years ago and now only peruse them at Barnes&Noble - and actually buy maybe one out of every six I peruse. Not to say I know everything but I thirst for more intimate knowledge about vintage stuff than what the "introductory" type articles usually provide. Sure, a little stuff gets by me that maybe I should learn about or would like to learn about but, meh, I'll live and the world will continue to spin on its axis but at least I'll have saved myself a bunch of money.
I'm also one of those guys who detests reading digital magazines/books. My very soul requires feeding by paper&ink. When it comes down to one last old curmudgeon still buying physical books, that guy will be me.
What you say makes a lot of sense, gnoahhh. I was at a writers conference just before COVID hit and we had a few speakers who talked about target audiences and updated business models. One fellow talked about satisfying the demographic that I quoted from a writers guidelines letter. Specifically,
Try to include groups beyond our core demographic (males 35-65 yrs.)
He said that the under 35 crowd has different priorities. Most are focused on their job, starting a family, nice cars, mortgages and travel. They would rather drop $1000 on an iphone rather than a Tikka. We've all heard about, or read that the younger crowd wants sound bites. Their world is composed of faster moving info-bits. They want to get to the point. As a result, writing has changed to feed their need. Shorter articles. Less story telling. More info and tech.
But when you reach 35, your focus shifts to things that you will pursue for the rest of your life. And you have more disposable income.
This evolved into a discussion of magazine advertising. The spenders are the 35 to 60 year olds. That fell in line with the guidelines core demographic ages of 35 to 65. The editor has to satisfy the publisher and the magazine's bottom line. He does that by satisfying both advertisers and subscribers. After all, no one makes money when a magazine closes its doors and people stop buying things.
The younger crowd cares more about the latest stuff. They don't want older things. (Our generation was the same.) They are used to tech. They expect performance and like us, are products of their generation. You might say that they are updated versions of ourselves.
This generation wants tactical gear, fancy scopes and the latest cartridges...like the 6.5 CM, for example.
Most older hunters and shooters don't care for the 6.5 CM because they have a cartridge or three that will do the same job. Few would give up their 6.5x55 or 260 Rem for a Creedmoor. Please note I said "few" not "none". This is especially true if the rifle used has a unique provenance or a long history with the owner.
There is a lot more than what can be adequately covered here.
Writers, well known or not, are the means to an end. Their writing skills get you to read the magazines where the ads appear. Readers will buy things. Corporate bank accounts will swell.
And while paper magazines won't disappear in the immediate future, electronic tablets, or whatever they will be called down the road, will replace wood pulp and ink.
There is a constant changing of the guard. To paraphrase Elton John from the Lion King - it's the circle of life.
