R.I.P. The Bulletin

Just days after Walmart’s streamlining of its magazine selection comes news that Australia’s oldest current affairs magazine is shutting up shop. The Bulletin has been published for over 128 years, and during a colourful (and sometimes controversial) history, has been a staple of Australian news and current affairs. But with circulation figures down to the mid 50,000s, its publisher can no longer justify its existence.

I’m probably like many others who tend to read magazine-like articles on the web rather than in print, so the end of the print edition is not really the biggest surprise.But whilst I haven’t read the magazine regularly for ages, I  enjoyed its summer holiday edition over the break; and its online election bullring coverage was one of my bookmarks leading up to November 24th last year.

So it’s a real shame that the publishers (ACP) haven’t found a way to make a web version of The Bulletin work. I guess like many older media institutions, its readership wasn’t comfortable with the digital - and it wasn’t attracting enough of us who were.Despite the fact that I rarely read it, it’s a shame its gone.