US Editor Recommends New Hacks Go Online

Should young journalists ignore print media and head straight for the internet? Yes, they should, says Atoosa Rubenstein, former editor of Seventeen in the US. At least, that’s what she said when she visited New York University’s media students:

Print magazines don’t have a wide open future anymore, now that many readers are moving online.

I tend to agree with that statement. I have an occasional discussion with my boss about the future of magazines. He thinks they’re pretty much doomed. I see them following the route of theatre in the age of movie and TV – becoming a high quality, minority interest, rather than a mass market form of entertainment.

However, the student bloggers are less convinced:

I had to remind myself, however, that her view of magazines may be a bit skewed, considering that her new career plans are in digital. One of Rubenstein’s reasons for leaving Seventeen, she said, was due to the positive reaction she got from girls who created a dialogue with her on her MySpace page. I think that surrounding herself in the world of teen girls has influenced her perspective about the future of media.

Well, perhaps being surrounded by teen girls has given us a perspective on the future of media consumption that even those five years older can’t truly appreciate just yet. After all, teen girls are, in theory, next decades women’s magazine buyers…

[via Dan Blank]