In the last few months, two long-standing, popular media outlets have announced a return to their former print format – and we are here for it.
Is a resurgence of print among us? Looks like it.
Of course for N2, print hasn’t gone anywhere. We’ve been here 20 years, delivering hyperlocal, hyper-relevant stories to our readers in a format that will always be more personal and intimate than digital screens.
We love print. That’s why we are cheering on our fellow print publishers and celebrating when those who turned to digital find their way back “home.”
The Onion, the infamous satirical media company, recently returned to monthly print editions after a decade-plus of a digital-only format. According to an executive at Global Tetrahedron, the company that took ownership of The Onion, the print edition marks “a return to the tactile, back-to-basics format our most loyal readers have refused to shut up about, and it’s an inspiration to an entire profession that had, until now, totally lost its way.”
The executive called print a “superior vessel,” particularly in this digitally obsessed climate when “holding someone’s undivided attention … has become such a precious thing.”
We really couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
And then there’s J-14 magazine, a staple of every pop-culture-obsessed teen’s media diet. They went digital-only starting in January of this year, but it didn’t take long (six short months, to be exact) to return to print. August 2024 was their first back-to-print issue, offering “11 posters, 10 quizzes, dozens of celeb interviews and Sabrina Carpenter’s $14 beauty secret” – we all know images of our pop icons and personality quizzes hit differently on a glossy sheet of paper. Welcome back, J-14!
The Onion and J-14 are only two examples of news-sharers that have made recent news themselves by flipping back to their print media foundations. But others, like Vox Media’s The Cut, are giving print a try for the first time. This season, The Cut’s first-ever Fall Fashion Issue will appear “IRL” – physically in the hands of readers. And the reasoning behind this move may surprise you.
According to Vox Media chief revenue officer Geoff Schiller, the move to print is part of an effort to attract the youngest generation of consumers.
“Certainly the nostalgia factor that Gen Z is continually being fed played into it. We wanted to treat it like a product drop, which is also a nod to modernity, what’s happening now in culture.”
The Cut‘s editor in chief, Lindsay Peoples, cited the longetivity of print products as one reason for the decision to try out this beloved medium: “I wanted to take the opportunity to just make something that felt really of the moment, but that people would be able to keep with them and have.”
As print continues to prove its enduring appeal, we welcome (and welcome back) fellow news-sharers that are embracing the power of print. We will collectively hold tight to the belief that some stories are best told on paper.
Here’s to the lasting legacy and impact of print – now, always, and forever.
