Opinion
What the Queen’s death says about the power of magazines
As the royals farewell Her Majesty and welcome in King Charles, readers are looking to the glossy titles for guidance, writes Erin Holohan, Are Media editorial director, celebrity titles.
“Surely all you had to do was press send, right?!”
This, I can guarantee you, is what every magazine editor was asked in the wake of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month.
Yes, Her Majesty was 96 years old, and yes, there had been discussion about her ailing health for some time. But far from hit send on pre-prepared content last week, the editors of Australia’s biggest magazines filed into their offices, some the minute they heard the news in the early hours of Friday morning. They were ready for days on end of hard work as they sought to produce hundreds of pages of special editions that would pay tribute to a 70-year reign and a historic passing.
So why couldn’t they just hit print on pages of prepared summaries of the monarch’s life? At the heart of it, is the fact that loyal magazine readers expect so much more.
Long before Instagram reels and YouTube clips of the royal family were readily available to royalists and those who just live for the drama surrounding the monarchy alike, magazines were the only authority on all things royal.
With a unique connection to generations of Australian women, magazines have been a staple in homes around the country for decades – shared between mother and daughter, gifted from friends and passed on from one neighbour to another. In short, there’s history there.
When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip travelled to Australia on countless occasions, magazines shared every incredible image of the visiting monarch at our most recognisable locations. When Princess Diana’s devastated sons walked behind her coffin at her heartbreaking funeral, again, it was magazines that Aussie women turned to in a bid to say their own final farewell to the People’s Princess. When Prince William married Kate Middleton, yes, you guessed it, mags were there with all the stunning images of the new princess, printed, in gloss, to keep and treasure forever.
It is this legacy that meant that when the death of the sovereign was announced on September 8, second best simply would not do. Instead, magazines needed to do better. Their loyal readers, and even those not so loyal, expected them to do something more – to be the authority, to share the news, the pictures, and the tributes they knew would pour in from all over the globe.
It’s not just the weight of expectation that had editors working around the clock, but also the knowledge that what magazines offer is something no other media outlet can – permanency. While coverage on television, radio and social media is often fleeting, magazines act not only as sources of information, but keepsakes. They’re tangible, and years to come readers will dig them out to show the future generations a snapshot of a moment in time. Unlike newspapers, that snapshot will be glossy, the images big and beautiful, and the pages filled with emotion.
In a world saturated with news and run by social media, Queen Elizabeth’s passing has reminded us of the special place magazines will always hold in the hearts of readers, both in Australia and across the globe.
Erin Holohan, Are Media editorial director, celebrity titles.
