The Gravy Train Has Hit The Buffers

Publications aimed at LGBTQ+ and other diverse audiences are facing “good old-fashioned discrimination” as advertisers avoid them after political attacks on diversity and inclusion campaigns, editors have said. Senior figures at publications aimed at the gay community and other minority groups said a previous “gold rush” to work with such titles was over.

Nature is healing, at last. 

Tag Warner, the chief executive of Gay Times, said his publication, which had been growing digitally in the US, had lost 80% of its advertisers in the past year. It has also lost in excess of £5m in expected advertiser revenue.Warner, who has led the outlet since 2019, said his title’s growth had been accompanied by an enthusiasm from brands to embrace LGBTQ+ audiences. He blames an anti-DEI drive in the US for the dramatic shift.

Sure, people were happy to buy your rags but stopped immediatly Trump was electted. That's believable. Isn't it more likely it's just part of the general slowdown in the magazine market?

“I know that media and marketing is also going through a challenging year anyway, but when we’re thinking about other organisations that don’t talk to diverse themes, they’re not nearly as impacted as we are,” he said. “This is just good old-fashioned discrimination. Because discrimination doesn’t have to make business sense. Discrimination doesn’t have to be logical. Discrimination is discrimination.

It's not 'discrimination' if Mr Average decides he can only afford one magazine this week, and makes it 'Field and Stream' or 'National Geographic' instead of 'Horny Lumberjacks' is it? 

Nafisa Bakkar, the co-founder of Amaliah, a publication aimed at “amplifying the voices of Muslim women”, said there had been a “change in mood” among brands and advertisers. “There was this DNI [diversity and inclusion] gold rush,” she said. “It is, I would say, well and truly over.

Basic fact of business life, love: all bubbles burst. All fads have a shelf life. And I think most people are hearily sick of having the voices of Muslims amplified!

Mark Berryhill, the chief executive of equalpride, which publishes prominent US titles like Out and The Advocate, said some brands and agencies “may have been a little bit more cautious than they have been in the past”. However, he said it had so far meant deals had taken longer to be completed, in a tough economic climate.

It's the economy, stupid. Just like always.