By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more
Forum sponsored by:
Forum sponsored by Forum House Ad Zone

Content

All Topics | Latest Posts

Search for:  in Thread Title in  
1 2 Next > Last >>
David Dowlen04/09/2011 16:36:29
2 forum posts
As a recent subscriber to ME i would say that I'm very happy with the content. Keep up the good work.
David
DMB04/09/2011 22:18:59
1585 forum posts
1 photos
I started buying ME when it was weekly back in June 1962 and ever since. Seen quite a few Editors come and go, some mediocre, some good, some very good. Also had MEW from first issue. An excellent mag which somehow continues to improve, David building on whats gone before, extremely successfully.
Pity the next Editor of both mags - he (or even she!) will find David a very hard act to follow. Well done David.
John.
mgnbuk05/09/2011 07:56:21
1394 forum posts
103 photos
Just goes to show that the "You can please some of the people all of the time etc. " statement still holds true.
 
I cancelled my MEW subscription on Friday after receiving Issue 181, due to sustained dissatisfaction with the quantity & quality of content. This was brought to a head when my wife passed me Issue 180 with the comment "that's a thin issue" - subsequent investigation revealed less than half the pages were "content", with the rest being (frequently un-related) advertising, "advertorials" & the incessant pushing of Magicalia exhibitions, offers etc.
 
The move from 6 to 13 issues has had a detrimental effect on the quality of the magazine from my viewpoint. The comments from the Editor on this forum & in the magazine don't give me any hope that the current situation will change in the foreseeable future, so after subscribing from very early in the magazines life it is time to quit. I just missed the DD being taken out, so will get the next 3 issues - if things take a dramatic turn for the better I may reconsider, but I rather doubt that will happen.
 
£0.02
 
Nigel B.
DMB05/09/2011 09:09:14
1585 forum posts
1 photos
Perhaps the consistently higher secondhand prices asked for MEW against ME, shows how much more MEW is valued by readers. Also, it seems that the odd back copies wanted are difficult to obtain without paying a high price to a commercial outfit.
Terryd05/09/2011 12:34:49
avatar
1946 forum posts
179 photos
Posted by John Coleman 1 on 05/09/2011 09:09:14:
Perhaps the consistently higher secondhand prices asked for MEW against ME, shows how much more MEW is valued by readers. Also, it seems that the odd back copies wanted are difficult to obtain without paying a high price to a commercial outfit.
 
Hi John,
 
It possibly also reflects supply and demand, I reckon a lot more MEs are sold than MEWs. Back catalogues of MEs are also available in many main libraries, but I have yet to see an MEW, hence the need to buy. I do admit to being a subscriber myself though.
 
Regards
 
Terry
Gone Away05/09/2011 16:07:23
829 forum posts
1 photos
Posted by John Coleman 1 on 05/09/2011 09:09:14:
Perhaps the consistently higher secondhand prices asked for MEW against ME, shows how much more MEW is valued by readers. Also, it seems that the odd back copies wanted are difficult to obtain without paying a high price to a commercial outfit.
 
I think it probably reflects more on the fact that, until recently, multi-part articles were rare in MEW whereas they were the norm for ME. Because of that, single, used issues of MEW were inherently more useful than those of ME.
Mike05/09/2011 16:58:42
avatar
713 forum posts
6 photos
After 53 years in journalism (including more than 20 editing specialist magazines) I have much sympathy for the present editor of ME and MEW. Compliments are rare, so well said David Dowlen and John Coleman - I agree with you both.
Satisfied readers only very rarely bother to write and make their feelings known. I always used to reckon that as long as I was getting an equal number of complaints from all of the various factions in the readership, then I was doing my job.
In one respect, perhaps I am an oddity, in that I find the ads as interesting as much of the editorial. But then, I have never built a steam engine and have no immediate interest in doing so in the future, but I am interested in equipment and tooling that falls within my budget.
Furthermore, I would be reasonably sure that David, like the majority of editors, has a strict advertisement/editorial ratio dictated to him by the company's bean counters, and there's nothing he can do about that!
 
mgnbuk05/09/2011 20:06:14
1394 forum posts
103 photos
Furthermore, I would be reasonably sure that David, like the majority of editors, has a strict advertisement/editorial ratio dictated to him by the company's bean counters, and there's nothing he can do about that!


Certainly magazines are commercial enterprises & rely upon advertising to be profitable. But there has to be a balance between editorial content & relevant advertising. For my part, I feel that balance has gone too far in the wrong direction - too little editorial, too much largely irrelevant (to my mind) advertising. If I wanted to be exposed to products aimed at the model (or full sized) railway enthusiasts, I would purchase Model Engineer or other railway oriented magazine. The current editor appears to think that all MEW readers must be steam or railway enthusiasts also - not applicable in my workshop ! I stopped taking ME after MEW came out, as ME without the workshop bits was too steam & railway orientated to be of much interest.
 
The content has also, for me, been lacking of late. I realise that you cannot please all of the readership all of the time and, having taken all but 2 or 3 of the magzines since it's inception, should expect some repetition and items outside my particular areas of interest. But it would be more of an incentive to keep subscribing to have an occasional article that did ! Increasingly I have felt that the editorial bit was just something to be filled up - while a good picture can be worth a thousand words, several poor (poor as in adding nothing to the article, not necessarily as in out of focus etc.) pictures are just padding.

It may be the current editor, may be the current management or a maybe a combination of the two - the end result is that this ex-subscriber felt that the current incarnation of MEW is not sufficiently engaging to carry on subscribing.


Steve Withnell05/09/2011 20:30:04
avatar
858 forum posts
215 photos
I thought the content of todays ME was very well balanced with IC, Loco, stationary steam and a clock article. Struggling to see how you can do better than that.
 
Steve
 
 
 
 
chris stephens05/09/2011 23:05:47
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Steve,
Try and get hold of some MEs from the late forties or early fifties, then you will know how.
chriStephens
David Clark 106/09/2011 08:41:59
avatar
3357 forum posts
112 photos
10 articles
Hi There
I can only put in what I have.
Plenty of steam engines, lots of I/C engines, very little traction engines.
I try to give a wide variety of articles.
Not everyone is a steam enthusiast.
 
Regarding advertising, I will talk to the management and see if we can raise the price of each magazine by £2 and drop 50% of the advertising.
 
I am sure everyone would be happy with that.
regards David
 
Mike06/09/2011 09:12:46
avatar
713 forum posts
6 photos
David is right: it is an unfortunate fact of present-day publishing that advertising brings in far more money than profits from magazine sales.
Diane Carney06/09/2011 10:25:59
419 forum posts
11 photos
Look on the bright side... in 2020 this forum will have a thread that says "try and get hold of a 2010 / 2011 MEW .... those were the days!!!"
 
Diane
Steve Garnett06/09/2011 10:59:02
837 forum posts
27 photos
Posted by David Clark 1 on 06/09/2011 08:41:59:
Hi There
I can only put in what I have.

 
Absolutely. For the people complaining about the content, I think that their time might be better spent trying to create some more. Perhaps then they might appreciate just how much effort goes into even a simpler article before it can be deemed publishable.
 
I have yet to find a single edition of MEW that hasn't at least provided food for thought. Even if I only get one good idea from an edition, that's well worth the cover price.
Geoff Theasby06/09/2011 11:07:20
615 forum posts
21 photos
I was talking to a member of another club once and he said he wished there was a magazine which concentrated exclusively on railway models.
I told him that people had told me that they thought there was too much about railways. It takes all sorts!
mgnbuk06/09/2011 13:15:38
1394 forum posts
103 photos
I can only put in what I have.

Previous editors were a bit more active in providing content for MEW - and it was more interesting as a result.

Regarding advertising, I will talk to the management and see if we can raise the price of each magazine by £2 and drop 50% of the advertising.
I am sure everyone would be happy with that.
 
Go back to 6 issues a year, with each issue having twice the current editorial content - like it used to be ! A side effect would be more editorial time available to generate content when none was forthcoming.
 
If the price went up to cover the extra production cost, this would still be better VFM than the current arrangement.
 
£0.02
David Clark 106/09/2011 13:18:37
avatar
3357 forum posts
112 photos
10 articles
Content is forthcoming.
I have box loads of multipart articles.
I do generate content.
What do you think I do all day?
regards Daviid
 
William Roberts06/09/2011 14:23:37
27 forum posts
Press on David, I think you do a grand job and often wonder how you manage all you do and still have time to go in the shed.
Regards Bill
Trumpet / Flugel06/09/2011 14:57:30
8 forum posts
I also think that David and his team do a great job. Producing three magazines month (every month!) is a serious challenge.
 
The content of the magazines IMHO is pretty well balanced. I would not be stimulated by reading just about subjects with which I am familiar. It's the things which I haven't seen first hand which get the old grey matter stirring. Maybe some articles are not relevant to my current activity, but I'm sure that one day I'll come across a situation where that bit of reading will come to mind.
 
Keep up the good work!!
 
Peter.
Roger L06/09/2011 15:04:07
8 forum posts
Having worked in magazine publishing myself I understand that advertising pays for much of the magazine and can actually be useful to the reader in itself. However, I like to know whether what I am reading is editorial or advertising -- and there have been some cases recently when I haven't been sure. An 'article' earlier in the year on Reeves left me unsure whether I was reading editorial or advertorial. If it was the latter, I think it should have been signposted as such.
 
In the latest issue there is a Trade Topic piece about an airbrush that refers to "a quality airbrush at a good price". Is this comment a piece of editorial judgement based on having seen and used the product, or was it just a line from the press release?
 
If material from trade suppliers is being used to create editorial pages then I think they should be signposted as such or more use made of the editorial blue pencil to remove un-substantiated claims that otherwise just undermine the credibility of the magazine.
1 2 Next > Last >>

All Topics | Latest Posts

Please login to post a reply.

Magazine Locator

Want the latest issue of Model Engineer or Model Engineers' Workshop? Use our magazine locator links to find your nearest stockist!

Find Model Engineer & Model Engineers' Workshop

Sign up to our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter and get a free digital issue.

You can unsubscribe at anytime. View our privacy policy at www.mortons.co.uk/privacy

Latest Forum Posts
Support Our Partners
cowells
Sarik
MERIDIENNE EXHIBITIONS LTD
Shopping Partners
Subscription Offer

Latest "For Sale" Ads
Latest "Wanted" Ads
Get In Touch!

Do you want to contact the Model Engineer and Model Engineers' Workshop team?

You can contact us by phone, mail or email about the magazines including becoming a contributor, submitting reader's letters or making queries about articles. You can also get in touch about this website, advertising or other general issues.

Click THIS LINK for full contact details.

For subscription issues please see THIS LINK.

Digital Back Issues

Social Media online

'Like' us on Facebook
Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
 Twitter Logo

Pin us on Pinterest

 

Donate

donate