New “Power of Print” Ads Trash Talk Internet

When I first saw the new Magazines: The Power of Print ads last spring, they gave me hope. In the world of a magazine major, where I am constantly told by my parents and non-journalism student peers that magazines are dying, the ads were a nice reminder that readers do still enjoy the glossy, tangible print versions of magazines.

Additionally, the collaboration between Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines,Meredith Corporation, Time Inc. and Wenner Media was inspiring. To see the heads of competing publications working together to save an industry I want to work in sent to me, as well as to the general public a message; magazines are here to stay. According to MultiVu, a PR newswire company, “With the full support of the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), the campaign targets advertisers, shareholders and industry influencers, and seeks to reshape the broader conversation about magazines, challenge misperceptions about the medium’s relevancy and longevity, and reinforce magazines’ important cultural role.”

An older "Power of Print" ad

The ads have indeed started this conversation. However, the tone of this conversation has changed with the “Power of Print” ads that just came out. Featuring, a woman laying in a hammock presumably reading a magazine, the new ads don’t just promote print magazines, but also comment on the drawbacks to the internet. ”They (print magazines) don’t show video or deliver pop up ads out of nowhere,” the new ads state.

New ads

While, the creators were most likely trying to send the same message as the other advertisements, I found this one to be slightly distasteful. Although I know there is an importance to advocating the longevity of print media, journalists must also accept that the internet has opened up an even wider array of markets and target audiences. Magazine websites that offer additional content, blogs from different publications, iPad versions of publications, and many other web-based versions of content allow magazines to reach many more people than was once possible. I’d like to see the ads go back to merely advocating print, rather than attacking something we need to embrace and utilize.

Do you agree that the new ads have taken a different direction from the previous ones, or are they merely promoting the same message? Do you prefer your content delivered through print or electronically? What are other ways that publishers can advocate print?

Diwali Night

Diwali-at first just a foreign-sounding word, soon became an eye opening experience in a few short hours of celebration and learning.

Wanting to break out of our usual weekend routine, my friend and I recently attended the Southeast Asian Student Association and Malaysian Student Association's collaborative Diwali festival at Drake University. The Hindu holiday, meaning celebration of lights, was celebrated with Southeast Asian cuisine, dancers and a presentation on the meaning of Diwali, as well as on the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project (the benefiting organization from the evening).

Although the evening was a fun break from the monotony of college weekends and a unique cultural exposure for me, my main takeaway was the reminder that all sorts of people with various backgrounds and experiences attend my tiny liberal arts school. I've found that going to a small school makes it far too easy to make generalizations about people. We go to classes and see the same people everyday; we go to parties and talk to familiar people and spot them downtown, wave because we've had at least one conversation with them. But just because we see these people all the time, doesn't mean we actually know them. We don't know their fears, hopes, or hidden trials.

Diwali showed me that maybe some of these guys aren't just the fratty boys I see out. Maybe that frat guy cares about his family in the same way I do, maybe he has a culture completely different from my own, or maybe he's passionate about something I've never seen him do. As I watched one of my sorority sisters dance across the stage, her ears adorned with jewelry and wearing a colorful sari, I was struck once again with the fact that I don't really know her. She isn't another random Drake student, but someone I eat dinner with, share secret rituals with, and she has a whole separate life just like I do.

I don't know why I never came to this realization before. I know how frustrated I get when people think they know me: a sorority girl with a 4.0, someone that loves to have fun as much as I study, the girl on campus always in a skirt. But little do they know that I've suffered heartache, lost a parent, raised myself and come out on the other side a little broken, but strong. It saddens me that I could generalize people in such a hypocritical fashion.

So I got more out of Diwali than buttered chicken. I was reminded to open my eyes and get to know the people around me, because a liberal arts education could give me much more than a bachelor's degree.