Wild Magazine up for sale

[Xplora]

It appears the publisher of Wild is letting it go in preference to a B2B centric publishing strategy. Had to look that up but it seems to mean Business to Business. Not sure what that means either. If I were to buy the mag I would follow a B2B strategy also. Back to Basics instead of the fluff it carries on with at the moment which is the reason I cancelled my subscription. That was about the time they reviewed portable sound systems for your I-pod so you can annoy everyone at camp more effectively.

If you would like to purchase the mag then contact John Blondin via [email protected].

[awildland]

I just got the same news in an email.

Damn...if only I hadn't spent my life savings on adventures...

I think it doesn't come as a surprise. The revolving door of editors over the last few years had me wondering about the direction and future of the magazine and the financial demands they were under.

Although i agree the magazine has lost some of its authentic, cutting edge wildness it is still such an iconic magazine, with a rich history, it would be a shame if it disappeared completely...

[Mark F]

Yes - B2B is Business to Business - basically trade magazines. Easier to extract advertising dollars and reproduce press releases which means no expensive journalistic input.

[davidf]

print journalism is dying fast. Hopefully annuals will exist but publishing online has taken over. Looks at the Fairfax job cuts

[slparker]

I stopped buying it when i discovered this forum in 2008.

[kjbeath]

Yes - B2B is Business to Business - basically trade magazines. Easier to extract advertising dollars and reproduce press releases which means no expensive journalistic input.

I was receiving one for some reason. Lots of big ads together with some sourced articles. The writing is not bad, there are now about 3-4 PR people for every journalist and it pays better than journalism.

On the magazine, it seemed to work best when it was like a few bushwalking mates with writing skills got together and decided to make a magazine. Which it was.

[roysta]

It appears the publisher of Wild is letting it go in preference to a B2B centric publishing strategy. Had to look that up but it seems to mean Business to Business. Not sure what that means either. If I were to buy the mag I would follow a B2B strategy also. Back to Basics instead of the fluff it carries on with at the moment which is the reason I cancelled my subscription. That was about the time they reviewed portable sound systems for your I-pod so you can annoy everyone at camp more effectively.

If you would like to purchase the mag then contact John Blondin via [email protected].

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[roysta]

I also ended my Wild subscription last year.
I find the NZ equivalent , Wilderness magazine, is a far better publication, but then I do take a few trips to NZ each year.


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[flyfisher]

When Chris Baxter passed, my subscription stopped.

It was for many years, a top magazine and I have all copies up till around 100

FF

[PedroArvy]

I also subscribe to Wilderness NZ and not to Wild. Need to take a look at the latest issue and work out exactly why.

[JohnStrider]

So what was the main reason for it going under? Judging by your comments, it sounds like it was starting to get away from its roots and what made it great all those years ago.

[PedroArvy]

How about we all pitch in and buy it? I am a specialist in digital technology and think we could lift the game here surpassing Wilderness NZ on that front. All we need are some outdoor journos and a strong digital marketing presence. Surely this site has one or two?

[sim1oz]

Does anyone know how much they want?

[Mark F]

You won't be seeing my money. The major issue with producing publications like Wild isn't the technology but the cost and difficulty of creating content and doing it at a high standard every month/quarter for the foreseeable future. It is really a parallel to web 1.0 rather than web 2.0.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

So what was the main reason for it going under? Judging by your comments, it sounds like it was starting to get away from its roots and what made it great all those years ago.

Yep. I've been subscribing for maybe nearly two decades and in recent years it's been hijacked by young "go - getters" pushing an enviro-socio-politico agenda. I don't (generally) disagree with the politics but it's not why I get the mag. At the same time it has moved well away from being a really good bushwalking resource... often describing "less travelled" routes when compared to their more commercially - focussed competitors (AG outdoor and great walks). Nowadays I look forward to reading those other mags more than Wild. A real shame I think.

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[SkippyK]

Just wondering whether any of you read Wildlife Australia magazine? And if not, why not?

[roysta]

How about we all pitch in and buy it? I am a specialist in digital technology and think we could lift the game here surpassing Wilderness NZ on that front. All we need are some outdoor journos and a strong digital marketing presence. Surely this site has one or two?

This outdoor Journo would sooner do it for Wilderness NZ.


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[neil_fahey]

Wild has been purchased and will continue being published for now. I won't say who the new owner is without their permission but I thought I'd let you all know.

I'd have imagined that a good chunk of WIld's audience would've been here on Bushwalk.com, and judging by the feedback here I'm at least partially right. Would love to know what you guys would change about the mag in its current form so I can pass this on?

[roysta]

Wild has been purchased and will continue being published for now. I won't say who the new owner is without their permission but I thought I'd let you all know.

I'd have imagined that a good chunk of WIld's audience would've been here on Bushwalk.com, and judging by the feedback here I'm at least partially right. Would love to know what you guys would change about the mag in its current form so I can pass this on?

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[roysta]

No one should ever be afraid to look at another publication for ideas. Frankly I think they should check out Wilderness NZ over a yearly span to see what they've done. It's hard in the current print/digital world, but in my opinion the way Wilderness operate with their email outs during each month works well for me


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[Xplora]

Would love to know what you guys would change about the mag in its current form so I can pass this on?

Thanks Neil. I wrote to the editor a while back expressing my concerns about the direction of the mag. I said I would not be renewing my subscription because it had gone away from the original intent which was to supply information to adventure seekers. Instead they were reviewing portable sound systems and becoming more about environmental issues than getting out into the wild. The balance had gone. My first change would be the editor. Perhaps others were voting in a similar way and falling print sales pushed the owners to sell the mag. There were also a great many fluffy trip reports. People trying to be journalists with an exponential use of 'feel good' adjectives. I still get the wild updates on email but nothing there has excited me enough to buy the mag. Someone should have been going to SOTA in Canberra every year as that is where the industry supply those who supply us promotes its wears and new stuff is always on show. It is now called ORA and is in Sydney this June. http://www.outdoorretailer.net.au/

[neil_fahey]

Cheers guys. Interesting about the "fluffy" trip reports. Obviously I don't know specifically which articles you're talking about but I much prefer the ones where they make some effort to give a sense of place, rather than just "we did this, then we did that".

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Would love to know what you guys would change about the mag in its current form so I can pass this on?

I said I would not be renewing my subscription because it had gone away from the original intent which was to supply information to adventure seekers. Instead they were reviewing portable sound systems and becoming more about environmental issues than getting out into the wild.

^^This (as per my above post). They can differentiate themselves from their competitors by concentrating on paths less travelled, which they used to do. GW and AGO are more geared towards "soft" adventure, including a great deal of content focused on commercial/guided experiences. While I don't have any problem with that and quite like those other pubs, I always liked that I could turn to Wild for info and suggestions on more remote, off-the-tourist-track adventures. Would be good if the new owners could get back to that, with less of the politics or pages and pages of sponsored material on the latest portable lamp offerings from Kathmandu etc.

[ribuck]

... I always liked that I could turn to Wild for info and suggestions on more remote, off-the-tourist-track adventures ...

Yep. There's a reason why the publication is named "Wild".