Author(s): Phil Barker

Corporate History

Axed charts the dramatic decline of the magazine industry in Australia from the million-selling highs of the 1990s to the recent round of mergers, closures and mass-redundancies. What went wrong? Written by former magazine editor Phil Barker, Axed explains how a once thriving and lucrative business that boasted the highest circulation per capita in the world has been reduced to a shadow of itself. Featuring in-depth analysis of archival reporting and brand-new interviews with key players in magazine publishing from the 1990s to today, Axed examines the personalities, publications and scoops that created a booming industry that once dominated the media landscape.By following the story throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Phil explains how mismanagement, unchecked spending, falling advertising revenue and the challenge presented by the rise of the internet all combined to undermine the previously unassailable position magazines held in the Australian consciousness. He also examines how a series of sales, closures and mergers at companies like ACP/Bauer Media, Pacific Magazines and News Magazines further contributed to magazines losing their status as some of Australia's leading brands. Prominent magazine executives and editors who witnessed the industry's decline and failure to capitalise on digital opportunities have gone on the record, ensuring Axed is the most thorough account of magazines' fall from market leaders to media afterthought.