AMC Kills the Print Version of Outdoors Mag

[ChrisB]

Just got the email notice about this.

Not sure if it is a causality of the pandemic or more altruistically motivated.

From the pen of John Judge himself....

Paper Trail

The summer issue of AMC Outdoors magazine arrives in mailboxes across the country this week. Its feature stories will take you from the top of Mount Washington to the whitewater of the Lehigh River, and its departments will make dozens of stops in between, covering news and items of interest in the outdoors community with the journalistic knowhow that readers have counted on since 1993. It’s another strong issue that we’re all proud of. It’s also the last you’ll see on paper.

As a conservation non-profit, we have a deep responsibility to the resources we choose to consume, and we’ve got to be nimble and efficient in everything we do. This has always been the reality, of course, but COVID-19 has laid it bare like it has so many other things—not least the challenges inherent in communicating through the fog of a pandemic. Leadership and privilege are at play, too, just as they are on the national stage: I think we exercise each of them appropriately by deciding we’ll no longer mail five million sheets of paper every year.

 

[David Metsky]

When I was active in the Boston Chapter leadership there were a lot of discussions of the worth of the paper magazine vs the online offerings. The bottom line at the time was that it cost a lot and was less functional than the Web content, but there was no substitute for having a magazine in your hands to engage with members, especially older members. I suspect that line has shifted over time and the younger members have little or no use for the magazine while the older members are less involved in the club.

 

[TomK]

So that means a big reduction in membership fees is coming, since costs are reduced... Right?


TomK

 

[maineguy]

Hopefully the same fate does not await Appalachia.

 

[Mike P.]

What Dave said, for a while I used the paper copy to plan hikes to avoid where the Chapters were going. If you tell me that FB groups use the online version to plan responsibly, that's great. (BTW, I've bought my share of bridges this Spring, I'm moving a couple to the ADK where they may be missing on the trail I'm headed to next.)

 

[jniehof]

So that means a big reduction in membership fees is coming, since costs are reduced... Right?

I don't think fees dropped when Appalachia was removed as a membership benefit. I imagine they'll also still be developing a lot of the Outside material, just online.

Hopefully the same fate does not await Appalachia.

My guess (and hope) is it's pretty safe. There's a separate committee and an additional charge, which hopefully covers costs (except for slackers like myself--life membership still includes Appalachia). My guess is that the people who want to sit and read something physical in detail are better served by Appalachia anyhow. I tend to read it almost cover-to-cover whereas Outdoors is a flip-and-toss...many of the most interesting articles in Outdoors are ones that have already been posted online and shared around. Some of the photography will suffer from the loss of print format, but that's what Wild Northeast is for.

 

[Peaks]

Well,

First, with the dropping of the print version, AMC is following in the footsteps of many other organizations.

Second, the print magazine was always promoted as a membership benefit. When we joined AMC, it was published 10 times/year. More recently, it has been 4 times/year. So, how much tangible benefit does membership have with print version gone?

 

[David Metsky]

At least I made it into the last print version.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

At least I made it into the last print version.

Frame it!

Tim