What's happened to the state of the surf magazine?

I think as surfing has grown in popularity the average reader has changed. The big magazines all represent an effort to attract as many of those people as they can. So yes they are sort of an example of the times in a sense, but they are also a business. Surfers are a diverse group of people with many differing lifstyles.

I feel like for the originators of surf magazines and surf enthusiasts, surfing started out as a lifestlye all its own. for most people who surf now it's just a part of their lifestyle. There are plenty of landlocked people who are surfers. They buy the clothes, the equipment, the magazines, and eveything just like people on the coast do. The mags have to cater to these people too because they are part of the market. Anyways that's just one example but you basically would want to figure out what strategy will get you the most readers and subscribers if you really want to be successful.

The other alternative is to be like surfers jornal and have a high cost so you can still run a business, pay the bills, and put out the product that a small group of people enjoy. Less demand, higher price.

Anyways not sure I can comment on Pro surfers being idols or anything. I have always kinda seen them as normal people like anyone.

As for cookie cutter I think as professional surfers start to realize the benefits of taking competition very seriously (and the best ones do) it all becomes more cookie cutter. A pro athlete has to make many difficult lifestyle choices from what they eat, to exercise, to partying, to public relations stuff (saying the right thing etc, developing an image, promoting sponsors, YES, actually working all the time because being a professional surfer is a JOB.) to also working on specific skills that will be the most appealing to judges. So what you get are some people who do it better than others and win. Then everyone else sees what it takes to win and trys to adapt. Sure there is innovation, but that takes time. It has become formulaic and therefore cookie cutter because one has to in order to be any good. I think this will mean that as surfing progresses style and innovation will start to count for much more than whatever is established as neccessary: things like good barrel skills, turns, airs, etc will still be around but, it will be more about taking risks and doing it with your own flavor. People will borrow training tactics from other sports and adapt them to surfing to get an edge on the other pros. Obiously this is all about competative surfing.

As for the pros who don't compete I think it's even tougher and you have to in some sense work harder, not really fitness wise though depending on what you chose. Obviously big wave surfers have to be pretty fit, but guys who just surf every day are probably fit enough for other pro free surfing adventures. You have to make a name and keep yourself out there in the public eye however you can. You can't rely on an organised competative circuit to do it. Those guys need the mags, videos, sponsor events, and probably have to adapt themselves to keep interest... to be relivant. There are tons of people who are awesome surfers but are not pro free surfers. Ask yourself what's the difference between them?

ok well i'm done for now haha.

 

bill, part of it is the fact that you are CHOOSING to read the 2 surf mags out there w/ the lowest IQ & the lowest number of actual words per issue! of the "big 3", 'er is probably my favorite, followed by 'ing & tws in third. my favorite is, without question, the journal. another that's right up there is the surfer's path. it's a euro mag, but we can find here in the states from time to time at borders or a few surf shops.
as for the "cookie cutter pros", i think it's already been nailed on the head: surfing has become much more mainstream & much more serious business. it's also less socially acceptable, even in surfing, to be a falling down, puking idiot. (look at my word choice there...unconsciously i reflected the social stigma.) surfer's are ROLE MODELS now! no one wants there kid looking up to someone who gets stoned or trips out before going to "work". & the sponsors don't want their riders doing that b/c that sort of behavior will reflect poorly on the company.

i also think there's a certain amount of misguided nostalgia in your post, bill. i've seen some old surf mags, & yea...they were cool. but the writing wasn't all that great...lots of slang, just like today's mags. lots of pseudo-transcendental "experiences"...not so like today's mags, but not as much as you might think. it's just gone about in a different way.
so have the mainstream surf mags gone downhill since their inception? most likely. but not as much as you'd like to think. keep in mind that surf marketing caters to the youth demographic: 12-25 year olds, mostly males. isn't it possible that you're just out of step w/ that age group? i know that i sure am. that process began as soon as i surpassed a 7th grade reading level. there's still great surf journalism happening out there. it's just a little harder to find.

 

back to the mags...yes,they used to be awesome and now they are garbage.even the much-heralded surfer's journal is getting progressively worse in recent years.

 

The real discussion here is: How does one orienate something and/or what causes orienation to occur...

 

didn't you boys get the memo... it's not about surfing...it's about selling Copy! Some of these bozo's have never been close to a beach, let along been out in the ocean... it's all about selling advertisements & the almighty $$$$$.
quik, billabong, patagonia... sell! sell! sell! it ain't about what you like or enjoy...it's about the company's bottom line.

 

Surfer Magazine was incredible when Steve Hawk was editor... circa 96 or so. He had guest editors once or twice a year. Once it was Curren (wish I still had that issue), another time Sunny Garcia. He still writes for them occasionally and it's always the best piece in the mag. When Hawk was in charge it truly was the bible of the sport and I frothed over every issue. Now... I can take the surfing mags, or I can leave them. Mostly leave them.

 

Way too many Advertisements anymore

 

Surfer isn't that bad. I have had a subscription for a few years now and have read it for years longer than that. They had Donovan Frankenreiter and Joel Tudor as guest editors this year and have had some other special editions like the top 100 surfers of all time, the top 100 waves in the world, all of which were pretty good.

In addition to those, there was the interview issue that included interviews with Dane Reynolds, Bobby Martinez, Kelly (of course), Mick Fanning, and a bunch of others I can't think of at the moment. The photo annual is pretty awesome. The borrowed boards article that Surfer ran for a while was pretty cool and creative too.

I don't claim to be a super intellectual or anything like that, but I am a lawyer and Surfer is good enough for me. My only beef with Surfer is that sometimes it is too thin. One or two trips to the can and I have read the whole issue. I don't care for TWS or Surfing magazines. They seem to be geared for the teen aged surfers in my opinion, which is fine. Kids need stuff to read too. Surfer's Journal is great. Just haven't managed to get my grubby paws on an issue in awhile.

I have to disagree with Bill's comment that the mags don't cover travel to cool places these days. I have read about surf travel in Surfer to India, China, Nigeria, Alaska, Tahiti, Mexico, Costa Rica, Indo, Australia, Antarctica, Chile, Ireland, France, Spain, Israel, Japan, Iceland, Denmark, and the good old U.S. of A. I think those are all pretty cool places, many of which I will probably never get the chance to visit.

Pick up an issue of Surfer or subscribe for $15 a year. For a little more than a buck an issue, I am satisfied with this mag. My only beef is that some issues are way to skinny. Thanks for a thought provoking post SouthJettyBill.

 

Exactly..........

 

Cookie cutter surfing is as boring as the magazine. It's impressive but lacks the soul and vibe of the past. Out of touch, probably...but I'm not the only one. I rather watch a good longboarder than the bust an air and fall off wan-a-be's you see every day...IMO of coarse.

 

Kind of makes the point. IIRC, both surfer and surfing declared BK in the 90's. Losing money and going banko has an effect on the magazine's corporate owners.
Lewis Samuels had a great travel series in Surfer, recently concluded, about borrowing boards around the world, and it was good. And before that it was the guy sailing the south Pacific on his sailboat.
But those were the exceptions. Corporate masters control the expense accounts, so, for the magazines, there's less money for the real adventures.
Ever see or count how many pages of ads there are in both of those mags before you get to the content?
They've become trade magazines for the pro industry.