Utne Reader March / April 2007
Danielle Maestretti Utne Reader
I was eager to hear what Kucsma, Angel, and Awehali thought about the future of print publishing, but I also dreaded asking them. I anticipated bitter tales from the trenches of penniless magazine production; I thought perhaps they would feel frustrated or unsuccessful. That is, after all, how these endings are usually described: A magazine 'fails' or is 'killed'-there isn't really a graceful way to end it. The fact that it has stopped publishing is given more weight than what it accomplished while it was publishing.
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Clamor published more than 1,000 writers and artists in its 38 issues, Kucsma says. 'One of our goals was for Clamor to be an amplifier for voices in the margins, for people who would not otherwise have had a mass media audience reading their stuff,' he says. 'And in that way, we were really successful.'
Kucsma says he's not ready to give up on print just yet, though he is studying digital archiving and preservation in library school, and he suggests that independent publishers might shift their energies to multimedia projects that are 'less environmentally and financially taxing.'
Which brings us to a paradox that's becoming increasingly difficult for independent publishers-especially progressive, environmentally conscious ones-to resolve. 'Being values-driven,' says Awehali, 'I think we're fundamentally and structurally at odds with the systems we use to print, to distribute, and so on. It's really no surprise that we found it difficult to survive and thrive in a hypercapitalist periodicals marketplace.'
As costs of fuel and paper continue to rise, he concludes, 'I don't see a future for sustainable independent print media at all, but I'm not so sure that means there shouldn't be one.'
Print may be difficult-unsustainable, even-but it clearly holds an enduring allure for people who want to get their ideas out there, and new magazines will no doubt continue to emerge. Fellow print lovers, I implore you to support these projects, old and new, if you can.
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