A sad day for Australian media.
Bauer Media has announced today that the eight Australian glossies it put on pause earlier this year due to COVID-19 will not be returning to publication.
In May, when the print titles were first suspended and before Bauer Media’s Australian and New Zealand assets were sold to Mercury Capital, Bauer CEO Brendon Hill insisted that the eight titles would ‘absolutely’ be returning to print in September.
Bauer Media acquired Pacific Magazines, Seven West Media’s magazine publishing arm, in May, letting go hundreds of staff in the process. It was speculated at the time that because of the similarity of several of the titles Bauer now owned post-merger, that the smaller publications were unlikely to make it through.
But the news today that some of Australia’s most beloved titles are closing means that it is not only smaller publications that have been affected by the dual hit of the pandemic and the Bauer merger. Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Good Health, NW and OK! are the titles that are now closed, with Bauer reportedly working through these closures with its staff.
Hill has described the last few months as being “a challenging time for Bauer and our team”, pointing to a steep decline in advertising revenue as one of the key reasons for the closures. “We were delighted to acquire Pacific Magazines in May and were thrilled to recently announce a new future under Mercury Capital,” he said.
“No one could have anticipated the swift, widespread and ongoing impact of the pandemic on our business and industry. We, like many other media companies, have deeply felt the impact of COVID-19.
“The reinstatement of these titles and teams was always dependent on the advertising market bouncing back and the return of domestic and international travel. Despite promising signs from advertisers in recent weeks, this has not outweighed the medium-term outlook for these titles.
“Additionally, with a second lockdown in Victoria and minimal travel, it is not feasible to sufficiently distribute NW and OK! without transit channels. The financial impact of these factors and the ongoing economic uncertainty makes the return and sustainability of these titles no longer viable. We have been forced to reset and future-proof the business like all of the media industry has,” Hill said.
Staff across the board – sales, editorial and production – will be let go. Bauer has said that it will attempt to locate alternative work for as many of its staff as possible.
The above titles, each in their own way, have made an indelible mark on Australian culture, and it’s disheartening to contemplate what their closure means for Australian print media going forward. For myself and many others, magazines are one of life’s true joys. Over the years they have taught us, entertained us, motivated us, challenged us, connected us, inspired us, and, yes, sometimes infuriated us.
Genevieve Phelan, one of Fashion Journal’s contributing writers, summed it up well in An ode to Australian glossies, a piece she wrote following the Bauer merger earlier this year: “The physicality of print magazines is something I’m confident we’ll never entirely lose. That’s where the magic lies – in the intimate, lean-back psychology of peeling open a manifesto of the times with a cup of something hot or red.
“Magazines are liminal artefacts that sit somewhere between a book, an art gallery and a seat in the front row of a fashion show. They give us a rare and unparalleled glimpse into the inner workings of creative minds. They curate arresting imagery with tactfully numbered words bound together by big ideas and important concepts.
“To the innumerable talented people behind these Australian mastheads, thank you. For those who got it right and got it wrong and for those who felt giddy the first time they saw their byline or published a piece that resonated with a reader, congratulations on all your work. It’s the end of an era, but not of the entity itself.”
