The Negatives of Magazine Subscriptions?

I’ve been a fan of magazines for many years, and although that willingness to sink ever increasing amounts of money into a bound collection of shinny paper, with its ever increasing amounts of adverts has waned in recent years; I still derive a great deal of pleasure through there purchase.

I love an impulse purchase, and magazines are no exception. Searching for that one issue that really tickles your mood and interest, whether before a long journey or just to round off a shopping trip, was always something I would look forward to; still, the majority of my magazines arrived via way of a subscription.

There are some obvious benefits to magazine subscriptions; They are almost always cheaper, they may give you access to titles you would otherwise have to repeatedly request or order in and you get to enjoy them without leaving the house.

So the positives of magazine subscriptions are great, but are there any negatives?

Unfortunately I believe there are some negatives, which I would like to draw your attention to:

  1. Perceived readership of your titles by store clerks, management and owners may be reduced.
  2. Missing out on meeting like minded individuals in store.
  3. Missing an opportunity to raise awareness by carrying or reading the magazine in public.
  4. You may not be aware of subtle threats to your sport, such as the WHSmith policy on age restrictions.

Now, let me just make it clear that I’m not saying you have to give up those subscriptions, I like them just as much as you. I would just like the shooting/firearms community to be aware of any negatives and make the best choices they can in support and promotion of their sport and rights; that may mean making no changes, cancelling one subscription to pick it up locally, or just buying the odd extra issue locally and passing it on to a friend, colleague or relative.

If you can think of anymore negatives or positives please add them bellow as a comment or start a discussion about this topic on our Facebook page.

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