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R.I.P Dirt Magazine

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Whoever came with that idea - go to hell. The only problem with their paper version is that their delivery company was run by a bunch of retarded baboons. I will say it again. Their mags were not selling because your paper subscription was PISSING PEOPLE OFF. All the data shows that e-mag for tablets is a failed experiments, big newspapers are going back to print (Newseek says hello). I get that we are a niche and it may be a sustainable model but seriously? I really worry that movie will cheapen the mag in terms of content.

Also I hate my tablet. I read 15000 pages a year on it. Do I really need to be thinking of work when reading dirt? I still buy most of my mags paper. I don't have to worry about getting them wet and it's easier to apprecieate a good layout. I guess it's some corporate douchebag push from future. Didn't they also kill their snowboard mag? Whoever stands by those decisions can eat a bag of dicks.
 

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
Very sad news! I just renewed my subscription a couple of weeks ago. :(

Without printed version of DIRT, going to my mailbox will suck 100% of the time...
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
A lot of talk about preferring reading ink-and-paper content but the sad fact is, publications are dying because 1) people don't want to pay for content because they can get so much for free off the interwebs; and 2) they don't really care if the content is inferior so long as it's free.
 

dropmachine

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
2,922
10
Your face.
Dirt is also in a tricky spot because of the language. I think that even though most of the time what they say is honest and spot on, ,idiots don't understand what they are actually trying to say.

MBA makes me say. Perhaps if Dirt would whole heartedly and without shame gobble and choke on the shaft of the industry, they would still be around.

I'd rather they stopped printing then turn into MBA.

Long live Dirt.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
A lot of talk about preferring reading ink-and-paper content but the sad fact is, publications are dying because 1) people don't want to pay for content because they can get so much for free off the interwebs; and 2) they don't really care if the content is inferior so long as it's free.
True, but its not a big deal drop a paper mag in the shitter while dropping a deuce, which is certainly not the case with a smart phone or tablet.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
A lot of talk about preferring reading ink-and-paper content but the sad fact is, publications are dying because 1) people don't want to pay for content because they can get so much for free off the interwebs; and 2) they don't really care if the content is inferior so long as it's free.
Another sad state is the $$$ figure paid on print ad versus a electronic one. Having a photo hit paper in most industries means good money. Maybe not so much in the cycling world but it still pays better. Having Dirt go away just means that there will be no more race images from up and coming shooters hitting paper. And on that note who the hell is gonna cover the UCI every month now?
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
A lot of talk about preferring reading ink-and-paper content but the sad fact is, publications are dying because 1) people don't want to pay for content because they can get so much for free off the interwebs; and 2) they don't really care if the content is inferior so long as it's free.
And both makes you question DIRT's move to digital only even more (if it is not an April fools joke). What they had going for them is that it was more than just another website. I am forced to read Decline digital (which is free!), but if I could get the printed version here in Yurp I would buy it. And it is not the best mag, but the printed pics in a large format are just awesome. No matter how big your screen is, a mag in your hand has something special.
 

schwaaa31

Turbo Monkey
Jul 30, 2002
1,431
1,018
Clinton Massachusetts
Hopefully they'll at least put more effort into the website now. Maybe it's just me, but for the last 10-12 months, the contents been seriously lacking. I would check their site 4-5 times a week, where now I check it maybe once a month. And when I do, I'm usually pretty disappointed.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
R.I.P. magazines
Not realy 3.3% of all magazine readerships is tablet magazines. Most of them is free.

A lot of talk about preferring reading ink-and-paper content but the sad fact is, publications are dying because 1) people don't want to pay for content because they can get so much for free off the interwebs; and 2) they don't really care if the content is inferior so long as it's free.
That's not really true. People are willing to pay, they are just to lazy to do so. Every click on the internet means less people will go through with it. Paying is a few clicks more. Unless buying mags is as easy as buying a book on kindle the trend will continue

True, but its not a big deal drop a paper mag in the shitter while dropping a deuce, which is certainly not the case with a smart phone or tablet.
Yep, I read a lot in my bathtub. It's a pita to keep a heavy tablet above my head.


Also probably the guys in dirt don't realize that the form of ads defines the conent of their mag/page/whatever. Now they go online they basicly go to the days of yellow press. The articles will need to be shorter, there will need to be clickbaity titles that lure you in. Overall there will be less content and more spam.

Plus I have real diagnosed ADHD and it pissess me off to read stuff online. Well I guess all I'm left with is design mags.
 

klunky

Turbo Monkey
Oct 17, 2003
1,078
6
Scotland
Whilst it makes me sad that Dirt is doing this I feel its purely from a nostalgic point of view. Dirt has been poor since 2011 I think.
Printing yellow text on white backgrounds, missing out pages, typos etc all add up to a frustrating magazine.

I used to enjoy the racer interviews and bike checks along with product reviews but these seem to getting more and more sparse.

It also got to the point where reviews from Jonesy were impossible to understand! I would genuinely read reviews and not know if the bike was any good. And testing 6k bikes and saying the damper was not good enough? Im not so sure that can be correct. Likewise how tall is he exactly every bike he ever rode was too small.

I know he is a fast as hell rider and I have no doubt he knows what he is talking about but I don't think he managed to convey that in a journalistic manner.

As for dropmachines comment about idiots don't understand dirt reviews - I guess that makes me an idiot but in the mean time can you translate this review on the old orange blood?

"Blood Orange, different oranges.
Smaller than an average orange, no it's larger than an average orange.
Orange Blood, an orange was the last thing I thought it would be.
Contradictions... Colours, bikes being sent back, sizes.
Rode Steve Wade's, didn't like the shock.
Ordered one- didn't like the size or the colour.
Got Rowan Sorrell's- liked it.
Ordered another- didn't like the colour.
Got one- it got sent elsewhere.
Got another one- had too low gearing.
Name- not what I thought."

I wonder if it has anything to do with advertising rates dropping as manufacturers get fed up with dirt saying that the new mega bike they manufactured has a poor damper and is too small? Or the small bike shop adds drying up due to the praise dirt always give to YT etc.?


Bring back Jerry Dyer!
 

demonprec

Monkey
Nov 12, 2004
237
15
Whonnock BC Canada
been having a tough time finding current editions of the mag for the last year , all the stores that carried the mag where always 4 to 6mths behind on their issues . at least DECLINE is still in print only mag to buy now .
 

yd35

Monkey
Oct 28, 2008
741
61
NY
Whilst it makes me sad that Dirt is doing this I feel its purely from a nostalgic point of view. Dirt has been poor since 2011 I think.
Printing yellow text on white backgrounds, missing out pages, typos etc all add up to a frustrating magazine.

I used to enjoy the racer interviews and bike checks along with product reviews but these seem to getting more and more sparse.

It also got to the point where reviews from Jonesy were impossible to understand! I would genuinely read reviews and not know if the bike was any good. And testing 6k bikes and saying the damper was not good enough? Im not so sure that can be correct. Likewise how tall is he exactly every bike he ever rode was too small.

I know he is a fast as hell rider and I have no doubt he knows what he is talking about but I don't think he managed to convey that in a journalistic manner.

As for dropmachines comment about idiots don't understand dirt reviews - I guess that makes me an idiot but in the mean time can you translate this review on the old orange blood?

"Blood Orange, different oranges.
Smaller than an average orange, no it's larger than an average orange.
Orange Blood, an orange was the last thing I thought it would be.
Contradictions... Colours, bikes being sent back, sizes.
Rode Steve Wade's, didn't like the shock.
Ordered one- didn't like the size or the colour.
Got Rowan Sorrell's- liked it.
Ordered another- didn't like the colour.
Got one- it got sent elsewhere.
Got another one- had too low gearing.
Name- not what I thought."

I wonder if it has anything to do with advertising rates dropping as manufacturers get fed up with dirt saying that the new mega bike they manufactured has a poor damper and is too small? Or the small bike shop adds drying up due to the praise dirt always give to YT etc.?


Bring back Jerry Dyer!
I agree completely. A savant on the bike and on all matters bike, but really subpar in articulating his genius. However, his incomprehensible prose could just be a clever ploy to avoid badmouthing products he didn't really like.

LOL on your comment that no bike was ever large enough for him. So true. That and the tired script that he constantly wrote for a movie called "There's Something About Bos".
 
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norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Also you got a strange feeling he could have gotten the crappiest frame and he would have loved it as long as it had a proper gear with suspension properly tuned for him (we still don't know what that is. sometimes it's a boxxer team, sometimes it isn't but it definately can't compare to an orange)
 
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weedkilla

Monkey
Jul 6, 2008
362
10
Wow.

Most important thing to come out of this thread - I've just realised the monkey logo is a teddy bear when viewed upside down.

I'll miss dirt, online mags don't do it for me.
 

Muddy

ancient crusty bog dude
Jul 7, 2013
2,032
907
Free Soda Refills at Fuddruckers
I'd tried to read DIRT and the one issue was waaaayyyy too left of center to consider ever again. Something about a friend/brother/carpooler who started calling for revolt and killed himself. But it was three pages back to back about this dude, the crapload was Ted Kaczynski trying to be Will Ferrell instead the other-way-around.
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
Publications are dying because advertisers have better options then print. With online spend at a minimum you know the number of interactions users had with your ads and at it's best you can track sales back to your ad spend.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Publications are dying because advertisers have better options then print. With online spend at a minimum you know the number of interactions users had with your ads and at it's best you can track sales back to your ad spend.
That's not exactly true. Niche publications can still survive. Advertisers realize that while you get a ton of "impressions" on the net most of them are worthless. Also peope perceive mags and net differently. Because they pay for mags and because it's print you can position your brand differently.

To be honest our company also cuts a ton of print ads but our goal is reaching every person in the country. FMCG, Movies, Music, Pharma or Cellphone companies never advertised in dirt anyway. Unless readership numbers were down from lets say 2011 for print If I worked at a bike company and not in a movie company I would still consider advertising in dirt. You get a bigger ad, no banner blindness and a longer interaction. Buying banners for bike pages is retarded. It doesn't fit the product at all. There are a few exceptions of bike sites offering interesting ad formats but 99% of that money would be better spent on events, teams and other crap that generates buzz and PR.
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
I run product management for an S&P 500 media tech company; we do a lot of campaigns across all industries (including move studios and all of the major as agencies). Very few companies are left that use the print ad model now that so much of the industry has moved to pay for performance programmatic. Yes there are garbage impressions, but if you're managing your buys well it's not an issue. Realistically there are not enough advertisers who want to spend premium dollar on print brand campaigns to keep that industry alive much longer. There may be a few niche survivors, but they'll be few and far between.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I run product management for an S&P 500 media tech company; we do a lot of campaigns across all industries (including move studios and all of the major as agencies). Very few companies are left that use the print ad model now that so much of the industry has moved to pay for performance programmatic. Yes there are garbage impressions, but if you're managing your buys well it's not an issue. Realistically there are not enough advertisers who want to spend premium dollar on print brand campaigns to keep that industry alive much longer. There may be a few niche survivors, but they'll be few and far between.
If we are throwing out references - I used to work as a planner in one of the Saatchi group companies and now I'm a strategiest for a large movie distributor.

Working for an S&P 500 company means your clients were never interested in niche magazines. Not in 1999 not now. You want reach and my company wants reach but that's not the goal of every company. That's a common mistake large media houses do. Also for some magazines there is simply no alternative on the internet. The way a given medium earns it's money directly influences it's content. There were companies trying to create "premium" portals on the web but so far all have failed. We consume internet and print differently so I doubt there will ever be an alternative to some of the better print mags. If only some blind execs realized that.


Saying print is dying is just a crappy catchphrase. So did they say about music, movies and probably a ton of other stuff that's not really dead just lost a bit of fat. I love how marketing people always generalize. The only thing that happened is the internet has eaten the low end that has survived only because the industry was in a very comfortable place. Print is alive you just have to handle your magazine well (Ie. not how future handled dirt and a few others). Yes most magazine have lost some money since the big guys shifted but what was the last time big companies advertised in fashion mags, wired or action sports mags? For those outlets it's not really a change. Most of their advertisers still pay for their ads. Hell they are the same companies (Wired is a nice exception since they shifted to high end companies as advertisers).
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
Some of our clients did and still do advertise in niche magazines, but nowhere close to 90s levels. There may always be some magazines, but there's no way you can ignore that the industry is a shell of what it used to be.
 

csermonet

Monkey
Mar 5, 2010
942
127
this is up there with the sacking of Clarkson. Dirt was the epitome of what a DH mag should be, for me at least. I have been subscribed off and on since middle school, and when I wasn't subscribed I would buy them locally if I could find them. The reviews were good, the stories were good, and the photography was awesome. It was always a good magazine to leave on the coffee table for non-riders to pick up and flip through and keep their attention, without making us look like geeks.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Just received DIRT 158 (yes, I know, mail is slow here) and nothing mentioned that they will stop the printed mag. They even advertise for subscriptions. By now I would have at least hoped I would get informed about this by them. The publisher has my contact info, e-mail and such. Why no official word besides what is posted on the webpage? Still think this is an April fools joke or a clever marketing campaign to get more people to subscribe. Remember Hafjell last year?