Stamp Magazine is no more

Today I received a copy of Stamp Magazine. I have been reading it for several years. It is always interesting and I learn a lot from it.

It calls itself "the world's best philatelic magazine" and it is probably right. Unfortunately, after 91 years, this issue is to be the final edition.

The editor, Guy Thomas, says this: "In difficult economic conditions, with copy sales and advertising revenue declining while printing and publication costs rise, our publishers can find no way to keep it viable. "The void is very unlikely to be filled by a new UK-based title which can offer the same quality of writing, illustration or presentation."

Mr Thomas offers his view that philately itself will continue to thrive but "the tradition that is sadly doomed is the publication of magazines... people under a certain age just don't buy magazines. They all get their information via a screen, usually a tiny screen. That 'certain age' is now 40+ and rising all the time. "This new generation has a dismissive phrase for sources of information and entertainment that they don't use. They call it 'legacy media'." He adds that he warned of the need to change things two years ago at the RPS London annual conference.

What can I say? I am 13 and I read magazines, including Stamp Magazine. I have even had a letter printed in it - the Letter of the Month no less. I've never heard the term "legacy media" before, let alone used it. I do, however, have lots of words for people who make silly generalisations about younger people without actually talking to us.

I do use a phone, tablet or laptop to find a lot of information - yes. But Mr Thomas talks about young people being "dismissive", which is interesting when his own view of younger people seems to be quite dismissive. Many of us actually have lives beyond phones. I agree that magazines aren't as popular as they once were, but they are useful especially when they are about very specific subjects. I also read history and archaeology magazines, which are very good and a lot better than some of the nonsense you find online. I also subscribe to other magazines like The Phoenix, so what Mr Thomas says is not completely true.

I don't know about the "economic conditions". But if you're going to say that people prefer online resources to printed format, then I'd suggest that sounds like a pretty good reason to continue Stamp Magazine as an online-only resource. Readers like me would be able to get the "quality of writing, illustration and presentation" that makes Stamp Magazine so special, and of course the information and updates that are so useful. Stamp Magazine could be like the fantastic, award-winning British Archaeology magazine, which has gone from strength to strength as an online publication and remains a minefield of brilliant information. You can access back issues all the way back to 1995 and search for articles on specific subjects. It's actually far better than being a print-only publication. (I'm a member of the Young Archaeologists' Club.)

You'd think that as the editor pointed out the need to modernise back in 2023, there would have been a move towards a greater online presence. But no... despite having 5,200 facebook followers and almost 2,000 on twitter/X, Stamp Magazine has made no posts on facebook this year and hasn't posted on twitter since 2017. The Stamp Magazine website, which was not too bad, is already defunct. There is no explanation as to why. So there will be no ongoing online presence. There is no chance of creating something for the digital world from the legacy of 91 years of great magazines. Just like that, it has all gone. An "economic" decision, of course, but I don't understand why more wasn't done to keep it going in an online format.

Maybe not knowing how to reinvent itself for an online world was part of the problem for Stamp Magazine? The editor praises its "quality of writing, illustration and presentation" but its design, the typefaces used, the style of illustration and presentation hasn't changed during my lifetime. To me, it looks the same as it has always done. It's just kept on doing the same things, maybe doing them well, but not doing enough to keep itself relevant in the modern world.

It's not my decision and there's nothing I can do about it. I understand it is hard, but I think there could have been other options. I used the website quite a lot too, so I will miss that.

So, what do we do now?

Well, I know what I want to do. Stamp Magazine was one of the inspirations behind this blog.

It inspired me to write about stamps. Here is the letter, which was published in the April 2021 edition, when I was 8:

It was the first time I was a published author and I was very proud of it. I still am. I haven't written very much on here but that is going to change. In one respect I definitely agree with Mr Thomas and that is about a "void". I think he's right that there probably won't be a new title which does the same things that Stamp Magazine used to. No, the world is changing as he makes clear, which is why the "void" has to be filled by people doing things differently. Maybe in ways that make information available "via a screen"? Perhaps also the "void" should be filled not by a single publication but by a lot of people doing different things.

You can find out a lot about philately online. Sure, there are stamp forums out there. There are online stamp shops. But there isn't something that really does what Stamp Magazine has for almost a century and give us a great mix of articles on history, reviews of new issues, opinion pieces, geeky articles about printing processes, interesting facts, up-to-date news and so on. How do we replace it?

The art of writing is far from dead and I hope others agree. Stamp Magazine may have gone but stamp collecting hasn't and neither has the internet. It shouldn't be hard for people who care about their hobby to use one to promote the other.

I can't do all of that. I'm not an expert and can't do what a skilled, professional team has done for many years. But I can do something. I am renaming this blog Xanthe's Stamp Magazine. I will write more regularly, at least once a week. I will mainly write about history and new issues, and will review all new issues from the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. But I will also give my own opinions on all kinds of things around stamps and try in a small way to create something that people will find interesting and want to engage with. It will of course all be online, so don't expect any printed magazines to appear.

I like to share my thoughts and of course this will help me develop my own writing. I enjoy writing and I hope people will enjoy reading it. I may never have the reach and influence that Stamp Magazine had, and I don't think this will be the best philatelic magazine in the world, but I would like to do my little bit to "fill the void".