Today marks the start of the 2020 Mapping the Magazine conference, hosted by Lusófona University in Portugal. It is the sixth edition of the conference, with it being founded 15 years ago by Tim Holmes of Cardiff University. Previously the event has been hosted at universities in Cardiff, Sydney, Chicago and now, Lisbon, virtually.
The conference kicked off with an opening speech, chaired by Carla Rodrigues Cardoso. Carla explained that despite the conference being virtual this year, the next three days will strive to “preserve MtM6 spirit.”
Over the next three days, nine panels, 28 papers and scholars from all over the world will come together to share their knowledge surrounding magazine studies. Joining Carla in the opening session was Professor Mário Moutinho, José Gomes Pinto, Luís Cláudio Ribeiro, Maria José Brites and founder, Tim Holmes to say a few words and their thanks to the organisers of the event.
James Hewes, CEO of FIPP, gave an insightful keynote surrounding the key trends in the media- post coronavirus crisis. He explained how “coronavirus is accelerating trends that were already there.” Whilst the platform “Zoom” have seen a 253% increase in their share price since January 1st, a negative impact has been the decline in newspaper advertising revenue which could see many towns and cities without a local news outlet after this crisis. This is a global phenomenon and James informed how a critical message for media companies is to ensure they have “multiple revenue streams.”
Up next is a presentation about Magazine Trends, chaired by Teresa Mendes Flores.
