This week on Inside Culture Fionn Davenport looks at the future of magazines as the digital age throws up all sorts of challenges and opportunities in the world of publications.
Joining him in studio are Dr Jane Suiter, Director of the Institute of Future Media and Journalism (FuJo) at Dublin City University (DCU), Ciarán Casey, CEO of Harmonia magazine group and Rebecca Markey, CEO of IFP Media.
The panel discusses how magazine are dealing with a drastic fall in advertising revenues as that money pours into non-traditional media such as social media and alongside this there’s also a fall off in sales. How can this be overcome? Is there any point in printing magazines at all?
Well, magazines are able to adapt, says the panel and there are many ways they are shifting with the times. The luxury end is doing particularly well – a model which is also repeated in the book industry – and how the magazine is edited to match the needs and wants of the readers is also crucial. And of course there’s design. One magazine Teen Vogue appears as a print version in exactly the same size as a mobile phone or tablet. Also, for many magazines the subscription model still works best.
Fionn travels to the DLR Mill Theatre in Dundrum to visit an exhibition of work by members of Illustrators Ireland. He joins three of them,et An Margarne Suggs, Úna Gildea and Olwyn Whelan to look at their work, discuss the role of Illustrators Ireland and to look at issues facing illustrators today. The works in the exhibition represent a variety of styles and techniques from collage, hand-drawn work to digitally drawn images. The discussion ranges from the strength of illustration in Ireland today to how illustrators work with authors and publishers and how it’s important for illustrators to get the credit due to them for their work – something which isn’t always achieved. We also hear from each of the illustrators about books and other artists which have inspired them as they set out on their journeys.
Louise Williams visits a burlesque life drawing class in Dublin. Dr Sketchys came to Dublin in 2010 and Galway in 2014 and now hold regular nights which involve cocktails, life drawing,competitions and tassles. Reacting against the formal life-drawing classwork popular in art schools, Dr Sketchy’s calls itself an ‘anti-art school’.
Finally, Fionn talks to Hollywood author and screen-writer Jonathan Ames about his work. Jonathan has written for TV series such as Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzmann and Blunt Talk with Patrick Stewart. He’s also the author of comic novels, crime fiction and a graphic novel. His crime novella, You Were Never Really Here is currently being made into a film and will star Joaquin Phoenix. As well as discussing his work, Jonathan Ames also talks about his love of mixed martial arts, the odd bar brawl and how working in Hollywood can be a tough gig.
Broadcast on Monday, 17th April 2017.
