Re: Scouting Magazine, August / September2008


"Ewan Scott" <ewanscott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:k3sb94da5c4d1vd8rslgl90etmiqrekkqp@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:41:06 +0100, "Eddie Langdown"
<the3lang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Sorry, but I find Scouting magazine pretty much a waste of time. It is
flippant, superficial, over designed eye-candy. An insult to the
intelligence of leaders who know what a Beaver Scout, a compass, a tent
and
tree look like and who would appreciate settling down to a good read.
While a few short snappy pieces help any magazine to be more 'readable' ,
but we also need some longer good factual articles with relevant
illustrations, not a constant raiding of picture libraries for yet even
more
smiley faces.
In 100 pages, given all the adverts, letters and quiz pages, we still have
about 30 articles of under 1,000 words, some far less. Mostly in tiny
print
with huge photos and complicated page lay-outs.
The presentation, and a great deal of the content is more like a teenage
magazine..... which would be fine if it were distributed to all of our
teenagers.
I really would like a little more substance over style.

Injection please nurse..

Eddie,

If I didn't understand why it was like this, I could have said exactly
what you have said.

The problem is that by and large the people who "buy" magazines are
novices who buy them to develop their understanding.

Ah, you might say, then why all the short superficial features? Surely
they would want detailed instructional articles?

They might, but if you give them that detailed instructional type of
article they won't read it all.

Many moons ago I used to get commissions to write 1,500 - 3,000 word
articles for specialist magazines. Latterly the average feature had
been reduced to under 1,000 words because the publishers research had
recognised that readers didn't have the attention span to read more
than that at one sitting. They also started dictating that there
should be minimal punctuation, because people didn't understand it.
Also, sentences should be limited to 8-12 words.

The press were dumbing down in general prior to the advent of the
Internet. The Internet has compounded the issue. Features that need
pages to be scrolled are frowned upon ( in the UK at least).

The title that I edit now has a mix of features of varying length. It
is read by its target market around the world. When I meet readers
from abroad they tell me that they like the idea of short and snappy
news items mixed with more in depth articles. UK readers, tell me they
don't have the time to read longer articles so they tend to ignore
them.

If we were to produce something that you and I and a few others here
would appreciate, then those entering the game would possibly be put
off by the technicality of some of the subjects.

The problem is that is "we" already know something, then someone
telling us about it is almost certainly going to be accused of being
patronising. If we skip over the background and the detail to get to
the nitty gritty that "we" want, we alienate and confuse those who
don't know the ropes.

Having said that. I believe that the SA should rise above modern media
thinking and produce a quality publication for everyone.

Ewan Scott
http://www.claytonwestscouts.org.uk

http://www.whitleybeaumont.co.uk

I was hoping you would respond Ewan.... yes I can follow what you are
saying.
One of the problems is that Scouting probably doesn't PAY anyone anymore, I
used to get a few quid from the previous Scouting magazine... it all helps
you to feel valued. I have rattled-off a piece for Andrew, I did take time
to organise some photos to accompany it. If I was offered £100 I might
actually take time to research and develop an article to some depth and
content, and to revise it to 'house-style' .
Also, we are not buying this magazine, as we do like Hello & TV Times, so
there is no need for the 'grabbing' little stories.
As a leader I would like to know more in-depth stuff about the about the
expeditions, activities the groups and profiles. I want to know what went
wrong, how they overcame difficulties, about burn-out in leaders, dealing
with personality clashes in groups, how do Counties and Districts deal with
situations where Explorer scouting is not functioning; are there
alternatives? What are the experiences of groups and districts merging?
Etc.
From the positive images, the huge range of snippets of activities, this
magazine appears to be aimed at the general public and teenagers.
Eddie Langdown 16th Bermondsey London


.

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