which I do a lot of writing for, is now dominated by large glossy magazines which tend to devolve into catalogues for upscale boatyards and advertising for highly expensive gear (like halyard winches that cost more than all the boats I've owned combined. It's pretty clear they no longer cater to the average sailor who wants to read an honest review of a used boat, or learn how to overhaul a marine head. They are essentially fashion magazines, sort of a Cosmo on the water. These rags may have been started by individuals committed to sailing, but are now more often than not owned by faceless conglomerates who manage whole stables of magazines aimed at specific spending demographics, not enthusiasts for a hobby or sport. Besides ads for utterly unrealistic boats and equipment, they are also peppered with advertisements for high priced luxury automobiles and Rolex wristwatches, and real estate in the Islands.

The magazine I write for is a mom-and-pop outfit, filled with informative reviews of older, mass-produced boats that tend to turn up on the used market, plus evaluations of new marine products, summaries of boating publications and maritime law, navigation tips, maintenance advice, and other practical information useful to the budget sailor, including guides to popular cruising grounds. There used to be a lot of boating rags like this, but they have been steadily bought out by the big boys and either allowed to die, or morphed or absorbed into the glossy marketing vehicles I mention above. It's not that there is no market for this type of publication, indeed, it's growing like crazy! It's that the new non-nautical boating industry simply doesn't find it profitable to serve it, or is simply not knowledgeable enough to realize that market exists.

I sense something like this is happening to our entire society, as the commercial sector realizes that perfectly profitable markets can be abandoned for even more profitable ones, and small entrepreneurs are squeezed out by inefficient, low quality, but powerful big businesses. The concept of "economies of scale" does not always apply In a way, it is exactly what is happening to the MSM.

I belong to an association of maritime writers and journalists, and these concerns are not just mine, they are thoroughly discussed in the industry. Writers, in particular, are not faring well under the new "business climate", which treats the scribbler like crap, sort of how the recording industry used to treat all but the very most successful musicians. Unlike that industry, I don't see web-based technologies coming to the writers' rescue any time soon. I'm very lucky to be a free lancer with a day job, I wouldn't want to have to earn my living this way, not in this environment.