It is not all about digital: New Internationalist has revamped their print magazine to bring in younger audiences

While publishers experiment with producing content for voice-controlled devices or concoct new Snapchat strategies, New Internationalist decided to go a different way and give their print magazine a makeover.

The revamped issue was launched yesterday (6 September) in London.

So what prompted this change?

A survey of New Internationalist readers revealed that many do not have time to get through an entire issue in one month, leaving the magazines piling up in one corner in a hope to catch up on all that reading one day.

"It's quite heavy content but that's the point of it," said Kelsi Farrington, production editor, adding that the bi-monthly magazine will also leave the readers more time to digest the content.

"We feel like there's something special about the New Internationalist content in print. Something you want to take time to read and understand,” she added.

And this does not only apply to older readers. When the magazine did market research, its younger audiences also expressed desire for a quality print publication.

"We have a lot of young readers, especially students,” said Farrington, adding that this is mostly down to face-to-face campaigns that bring in new subscribers from universities.

“So other than using social media, one of our biggest strengths is using face-to-face marketing, which is unique because not many people go out there and do that.”

Formerly a monthly magazine, it is now going to be published once every two months. Hazel Healy, co-editor, said that reducing frequency allowed the team to add some extra pages, photojournalism features, and more long-form articles.

"We also brought in some light touches, such as an ethical advice column which is given by a millennial, as these are the most ethical generation to ever have lived," jokes Healy.

Another new feature is “What If” a "visionary" column on how the world could be different, for those who do not want to accept the status quo. A new, 24-page section is dedicated to the main theme of each issue.

Healy said that on top of managing the magazine makeover, the publication was keeping a close eye on its digital strategy.

Farrington said that the feedback from their 1.3 million readers online and 20,000 print subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive.

Finally, we had a sneak peak at the November-December issue that is going to be about waste. Right in time for Christmas.

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