The Irish Independent notes the near €1m losses over at Irish left-wing publication Village Magazine since it launched 16 months ago. (free reg req.)
In the short period of time since its launch the magazine has changed its format to a more compact edition (going from 14″ x 11″ to 11.5″ x 9″). In the two different sized editions I have to hand (issues 11 and 97) the pagination has also decreased (from 70 in #11 to 62 in #97). Considering the fact that there are less pages and even less space to fill on each page this could mean one of two things; either the staff were struggling editorially to fill the publication or the company was struggling to justify the scale of the project financially. There’s every chance that both issues are to blame to some degree.
Journalistically the magazine is a mixed bag; John Waters is a regular contributor and of course Vincent Browne is the editor; on top of this journalistic heavyweight Frank Connolly, whom after numerous great pieces of investigative work became the target of a claim by “Justice” Minister Michael McDowell that he was involved in IRA activity in Columbia is also a member of staff. On the other side of the coin the number of writers is relatively small with the likes of Colin Murphy and Emma Browne churning out a lot of the magazine’s copy. This is almost certainly as a result of the financial situation the magazine has found itself in and its budget is said to be zero for the foreseeable future.
The cover of the magazine, which is always a vital selling point has also gone under some changes since launch with the ‘Village’ masthead starting out as a large red strip and slowly shrinking into the left hand corner (as you can see in the images below). In #11; which sports a bigger masthead there are four stories detailed, on #97 there are just two.
There is every possibility that the format and front-page changes made to Village since its launch have damaged its readership; sudden and consistent changes do not sit well with the public in any industry. Another weak point with Village is the amount of spelling and grammatical errors on show in the publication; in #97 a silly typo is apparent on pg. 13, and that’s just from a quick scan of the headlines and sub-headers.
As Village magazine approaches its 100th issue it is obvious that the publication is still a work in progress. Hopefully it won’t go to the wall before it is given more of a chance to shine and its biggest problem is the chronic under-staffing; in a better situation it has probably the best chance of becoming home to investigative journalism in Ireland.
Rumour has it that it is not the only political publication facing financial hardship in Ireland however; Village’s idealogical opposite is also said to be considering its options as the purse strings grow ever-tight, but hopefully more on that later in the week.
Issue #11
Issue #97
(images not reflective of actual size however comparative scale difference is accurate.)