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How has the cultural role of magazines changed in a\u00a0digital world?<\/strong><\/p>\n Magazines today fulfil a\u00a0very different role to the one they\u2019ve done in the past. Today they are cultural artefacts. They retain something they\u2019ve always had, which is that they record the time in which they were published. They\u2019ve lost that surface-level information and entertainment role and are now proper cultural artefacts. They record their time and delve into what people think and what people are experiencing around the subjects at hand, rather than simply giving basic information.<\/span><\/p>\n You described magazines as recording their time. What do you mean by\u00a0that?<\/strong><\/p>\n A magazine is a\u00a0great time capsule of the era in which it was produced. Obviously, in terms of the movies that might be on the front cover, they record the time in which they were made. But they also record it through the illustration, the typography, the design and the visual style. All these different elements come together. Although making a\u00a0magazine is a\u00a0far slower process than much of our media today, there\u2019s still a\u00a0speed to it, which means that the production process picks up quirks and design trends. It presents things almost unconsciously from the people making it. When you look at something 10<\/span> or 20<\/span>\u00a0years later, it\u2019s a\u00a0record of\u00a02026<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n What can people get from a\u00a0print magazine that they can\u2019t get online?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not a\u00a0matter of denying the role and importance of digital channels, but magazines are an oasis outside of that. They provide a\u00a0more mediated, more considered, more edited set of proposals and ideas that have a\u00a0beginning, middle and end. That offers something different to our digital world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What difference does it make to sell magazines in a\u00a0retail environment like Selfridges?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our magCulture shop has now been around for 10<\/span>\u00a0years, and it\u2019s established itself as having a\u00a0role within publishing. It\u2019s become a\u00a0destination for people who love magazines and love print, and that\u2019s great. But it\u2019s so important to reach beyond what can sometimes be quite a\u00a0specific bubble. Selfridges is in a\u00a0different part of town. It occupies a\u00a0unique space between the tourists and visitors to London on Oxford Street, while just behind it is Marylebone, with lots of smaller independent brands. Together they present a\u00a0really exciting opportunity to introduce the magazines we celebrate to a\u00a0completely new audience.<\/span><\/p>\n Why is it important for people to support independent magazine shops?<\/strong><\/p>\n People talk about globalism being over, but clearly it isn\u2019t. Look at our high streets. The end of globalism hasn\u2019t quite happened. Our high streets are either dominated by international brands or they\u2019re empty. I\u00a0think it\u2019s more important than ever to support independent shops. Independent media and independent magazine shops need that support in order to keep those vital independent voices out there. Yes, they\u2019re speaking to the converted, but they\u2019re also hopefully bringing in new people who don\u2019t yet know about these voices.<\/span><\/p>\n Do you think magazines offer an alternative to algorithm-driven culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n The promise of the internet and all our digital channels, apps and social media was that it would open up and free the world. I\u00a0think, increasingly, the algorithms that power all those channels are actually closing down our world. The idea that information was free and open to everyone has largely been stamped on by the internet giants, and now it\u2019s a\u00a0matter of algorithms dictating what we do and don\u2019t see. That\u2019s hugely frustrating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I think it\u2019s really important that we have forms of media that are free to publish what they want to publish and get it in front of people who might be interested in it, rather than being dictated by some kind of artificial intelligence that\u2019s simply feeding you the same things again and again. Of course, there are elements online that need to be censored \u2013 we can have that argument \u2013 but there\u2019s also a\u00a0lot that should simply be shared, and it isn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n Magazines, in that respect, are far more open. They operate according to long-standing editorial rules about what\u2019s acceptable and what\u2019s not, and they\u2019re able to present work that would very quickly be censored or closed down online. I\u00a0think magazines have a\u00a0fantastic role in doing exactly what they\u2019ve always been good at and exactly what they\u2019ve always done.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n