Industry Flashcards
Who originally published attitude.
- What was the trend of the kinds of magazines they published
- What other media form did they own
Attitude magazine was originally published by “Northern & Shell”
- Northern & Shell used to publish a range of magazines and newspapers but they were quite tabloid and gossip-based.
- They also owned a few TV channels including Channel 5, and some adult TV channels and magazines.
What gradually happened to Northern & Shell
Bit-by-bit, N&S started to suffer financially- starting to sell off their assets like their TV channels and magazines, and then they started selling off their newspapers.
This potentially reflects the very difficult nature of magazines & print-publishing- decline in readership.
Who bought Attitude of N&S?
Stream Publishing bought Attitude from N&S, they’re independent but do have a range of other magazine titles to their names (“Flight Time”).
They’re quite small, they’re based in Surrey and have less than 30 employees as of 2021.
What’s significant about the managing publisher of Stream publishing
What other magazines does he own - why is this significant?
Darren Styles, currently the Managing Publisher for Steam Publishing. He’s gay and said he bought Attitude as he felt offering niche LGBTQ magazines was important as there were so few out there at the time.
He previously bought the title “Winq” which is a Netherlands-based gay magazine- it was doing quite well. Attitude magazine and website was one of the main competitors for Winq.
What is significant about Stream purchasing their competitor
horizontal integration - to absorb the competition into their own company. They then owned both leading gay magazines in Britain & Europe.
Stream publishings vertical integration
Which theorist can be applied
Stream Publishing’s vertical integration allows them to control the entire production process, from writing and editing to printing and distribution. This independence gives them creative freedom, challenging Curran & Seaton’s theory of powerful media industries.
Attitude’s global expansion, with print editions and websites in countries like Thailand, Belgium, and Vietnam, reflects Hesmondhalgh’s idea of minimizing risk by replicating successful formats. This strategy leverages the existing success of the magazine to expand its reach.
