Tyler Brûlé (of Monocle fame) on Print, Journalism, Readers and Advertisers
January 8, 2009
“Jet-setter, international style maker and Monocle magazine founder Tyler Brûlé is confident about the future of print as he launches a series of branded shops and newsstands internationally.” So, says the introduction to Brûlé’s interview with Katja Pantzar, English Editor of Bluewings magazine, the Finnair Magazine published by Sanoma Magazines Finland. Tyler Brûlé is the cover subject of the Jan. 09 issue of the magazine and he shares with Katja his views on print, journalism, and the readers of today among many other design and travel related issues. Here are some of the highlights of his answers:
On Print:
“The printed word and image on glossy or matte paper is a very effective way of getting a high-impact message across. Our view is that the web is not a great place to read anything, which is why most of our web content is video or audio-based.”
On Journalism:
“With Monocle, we’re going to completely different parts of the world and investing in a level of journalism which I think is rapidly evaporating – that’s a view that’s shared by both advertisers and consumers…”
On Readers and advertisers:
“We are a premium product… There’s an audience out there looking for quality. We are lucky because we can spread our risk around globally: for example, we have a lot of Japanese advertisers who simply don’t advertise anywhere else internationally. This shows that our advertisers strongly believe that our readers will read their content.”
All I can add to that is Amen! If you want to see more of Tyler Brûlé’s views on print and journalism click here.
If you would like to read the entire interview with him in Bluewings magazine click here (Thanks Calhan)
Mr. Magazine 
u can find the mag; http://www.digipaper.fi/bluewings/?
Tyler Brûlé believes so much in his own statement that the Web is not for reading, that you can only access the magazine articles (to read them online) if you are a subscriber. If you really believe that print and Web are two separate worlds why not open up your current or back issues on the web to anyone? They will not be read anyway so what are you afraid of?
The stupidest thing is: I am a high paying customer since I buy nearly all issues of Monocle from a newsstand. So I pay more than a subscriber, but I cannot access the magazine content online.
It just happens that I read something interesting in the current issue, but left a copy of the magazine at work. i am now at home and want to reread the article online. But since I am not a subscriber but “just” a paying customer, I am not allowed to do so.