more on paddling magazines
a very interesting thread. i’m no expert on what it takes to make a good magazine, but it seems that good quality is hard to create and takes good writers, photographers and maybe more than i understand about the roles of publisher and cheif editor. the mags under fire in this thread i agree with you all, generally deserve their darts. there seems to be a real lack of vision or editorial thread in them. in a word, they seem weak somehow. Sea Kayaker mag is a much stronger product and i think that much of the credit belongs to Scott Cunningham who’s stamp is all over the mag. this is a good thing, because his overall wholistic and comprehensive vision seems to drive the content and quality, though it lacks some freshness.
i’m surprised another magazine wasn’t singled out more earlier on for their high quality. the Rapid Media family of mags, Rapid, Adventure Kayak, and Canoe Roots are of, i think, excellent grassroots quality: in writing, editorial, stories, photos, etc. the main reason is because it has vitality and vision, brought to bear on the mag market by the founder/publisher/chief editor, Scott MacGregor. this guy gets it. he gets serious ww playboating, but also gets traditional canoeists, i’m serious. he’s from the center of it and has a lot of respect for it.
anyhow, not sure what my point is, but it is unfortunate that there isn’t a monthly out there that really goes to the smaller towns, back roads and wilderness areas, meets the builders and paddlers of all kinds of traditional gear, skills, etc, and still writes about it with verve, and wit. i’m not an old fart, but i am a young fart and while i mostly paddle sporty kayaks, i am fully in touch with my inner canoeist. i am also a big fan of great writing. one of the things that i love about PNet is that there’s a sizable group of folks out there, American and Canadian, who so love paddling, and so love the lakes and forests of NA, that it puts aside regional and national differences in this passion. could Canoeroots make it like this? hard to say, i’m guessing that Scott M would not bet this collective businesses on it, or it would be happening…
paddle magazines
The Boundary waters Journal. Gander Mountain sells it,or, WWW.boundarywatersjournal.com. pretty well rounded,sticks to the subject matter.
Che-Mun
It’s dedicated to wilderness tripping in northern Canada, which usually means canoes. It’s not high-quality, more a newsletter than a magazine, but it stays on topic.
– Mark
My favorites
Are Sea Kayaker, Wavelength, Adventure Kayak, Canoe Roots…used to read C&K and Paddler alot. Still read Paddler once in awhile but not often at the moment.
Anybody remember…
Canoesport Journal? Now that was a fun read…
If you’re a sea kayaker…
…there’s almost never anything interesting to read in Paddler. It typically takes me about 5 minutes to leaf through it (mostly looking at the ads) and I’m done with it. If I wasn’t forced to take it due to being a member of an ACA-affiliated club, I would never even pick up an issue of Paddler.
I told them
the last time they did a survey a few years ago, to focus on STUFF THAT NORMAL PEOPLE PADDLE OR CARE ABOUT. For a while there it was choked full of trips to far away places that normal people could never afford or articles like the top ten women in paddling in the 90’s. YAWN.
While thay have been better of late(printing Mikes article is a sign of this)they still do not get it like Canoe and Kayak. C&K’s writers are out there paddling with local groups around the country. They produce articles that you look forward to reading. A C&K writer recently went along on a trip to the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande with some of my DDRC friends. I can’t wait to read about it to see if his account matched their’s.
I stopped getting paddler about a year ago when my ACA membership expired (the DDRC quit ACA as a club), and until it was mentioned in this post, I had not even missed it. Cant say the same about C&K.
I liked the top 10 girls article
I thought it was very well written and responsive to the needs of the 50% of us who are female. A similar article about top 10 males would be interesting, too.
Backpacker
Backpacker running paddling articles is exactly why I didn’t renew my subscription.
C&K started to lose my interest in the last year with uninspiring articles, sucky reviews, so, hopefully, the new editor and housecleaning will improve the magazine. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does.
Paddler - We’ll I’m an ACA member, so I get it free. I really like the pictures in the center of the magazine.
Not really
They did one and it was just as useless and boring. Thats not what most people want to see ina paddling mag. A poster above said it was taking abou 5 minutes to skim, and find nothing. Maybe the new blood on staff will improve it.
No offense Canoe Dancing, but I’m…
really glad my travel and paddling tastes are not so limited. I have been inspired by many fine paddling writers and boated over many parts of the world. It is really accessible to many more people than you think. Most of us just don’t report evey wave that passes under our hulls like some. You will like CR and Belize, by the way.
Dogmaticus
"Industry rag"
I belong to an ACA affiliated club, and my membership dues is supposed include a subscription to Paddler magazine., But I have received it only a few times over the course of two years, have never received a membership card, indicating that ACA’s general management is shoddy and in disarray. For that alone, I have a low opinion of the magazine. In addition , the magazine is pretty bad, very heavy on advertising , a classic “industry rag” and has no soul.
They can go gargle with peanut butter for all I care.