The panel is led by Alex Mead, Editor-in-Chief of Rugby Journal along with Chris Jones, Editor of Today’s Golfer, James Andrew, Editor of FourFourTwo and Simon Hughes of The Cricketer. Tune in to find out how the absence of popular sporting events has impacted their titles and what the future may hold.
10 Things We Learnt:
Summarised by Alexandra Meunier
BA journalism student, Roehampton University
The BSME held the fifth of its Lockdown Lunches on Wednesday 3 June, where Alex Mead, Editor-in-Chief of Rugby Journal was joined by Chris Jones, Editor of Today’s Golfer, James Andrew, Editor of FourFourTwo and Simon Hughes of The Cricketer.
1. Thinking creatively: With a large majority of sporting events being postponed or cancelled, magazines have had to rethink the content they had planned for upcoming issues. After the cancellation of the European Football Championships, James Andrew, Editor of FourFourTwo and his team decided to move towards themed issues such as a cover feature on the 100 greatest managers in their latest issue.
2. Adapt to new conditions: With people having to spend time inside, editors have had to create content that is more focused towards home-based sporting activities. Chris Jones, Editor of Today’s Golfer mentioned that “practise from home has been a big cover line in the past two issues.”
3. A taste for the past: Simon Hughes of The Cricketer talks about a growing enthusiasm for historical features, as he noted there seemed to be “quite an appetite for looking back” whether it is reminiscing about great sporting moments or commentaries. Simon added due to the time constraints of producing a monthly publication you can sometimes overlook the ‘great events of the past’.
4. Newsstands have taken a hit: James Andrew of FourFourTwo explained publications sales at newsstands have seen an expected dip in sales, especially with retail outlets such as WHSmiths being closed but “they haven’t taken as big hit as maybe we had feared they might”. He elaborated further saying how supermarkets and newsagents are still selling magazines and that demand for subscriptions and digital subscriptions are increasing.
5. A lot is happening online: During these unprecedented times, many brands have developed their online presence and content. Alex Mead, Editor-in-Chief of Rugby Journal noted “this could be a future proofing practise for the industry.”
6. An opportunity to improve: New ways of engaging with the audience such as webinars have helped publications learn more about their audience noted Alex Mead. Simon Hughes pointed out it could be “an opportunity to improve digital offerings” by moving towards more interactive publications.
7. Fear over smaller sports clubs’ future: The editors shared concerns over what the Covid-19 crisis could mean for lower levels players and clubs, as a large number of them rely on the revenue generated by matches. James Andrew expressed his doubts on how clubs below the Premier League and the Championship will be able to survive as they do not have access to as much ‘TV money’ as the higher leagues.
8. Better access to players: Alex Mead revealed how getting in touch with top players has been less complicated than usual. As in fact, many of them have had to put their occupation on pause. This has made it easier to cover their stories in a more detailed way.
9. Building customer relationships: Chris Jones explained this was also a chance to interact more with their audience. He noted a growth in engagement on social media, probably due to the publication focusing on conversing with the public rather than just pushing content out.
10. Moving forward: The panel noted how much they have learned from working under difficult circumstances and how they might use those lessons in the future. Chris Jones mentioned how he was impressed by “how adaptable we can be,” he also added the flexibility of hours while working from home really worked for his team. Simon Hughes shared how “creating content that has a video and an audio element” has helped in keeping the audience engaged.
Join us for the next BSME Lockdown Lunches on Wednesday 17 June at 12 noon. Where travel is headed to next
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Jasmina Matulewicz, BA journalism student at Roehampton University
