Dispatches: a new publication defining a new category

04.04.2009 | Author: Miguel Garcia-Guzman | Posted in Photography

By now we are very aware of the decline of print media, where not only local papers close but even leading national newspapers suffer severe declines in readers, sales, subscribers, advertisement revenues and profits [at least in the USA].

It had to happen and it was expected given that the internet has become the source of news for most young people. A transition that as much as it was feared by print media, it was mismanaged as a model to handover revenues from print to the internet failed to become the possibility that many hoped. Premier newspapers like the New York Times run extraordinary websites, updated to reflect the news of the day, linked to other internet content and offering excellent multimedia information, all for free. The hope was that online advertisement would justify the zero cost to access online information and would allow an evolution to digital that would compensate for the decline in print revenues. Unfortunately it has not happened as these media companies have structures built for print media, and so carry the cost and overhead associated with a large number of reporters.

In the middle of this crisis, something interesting is happening. New print media is emerging and old print media is evolving [e.g. Newsweek]. Publishers that realized that rather than reporting on the same news that anyone can find in the internet at the reach of a google search, the secret is to find a niche for reporting that targets a readership interested in material that can not be found around. Modern reporting, with a new design that combines excellent writing with extraordinary photography.

Welcome to Dispatches.

dispatches took root on an olive farm in Provence, flourished on a Kashmiri houseboat, and was toasted into reality with champagne at the East Gate of Angkor Wat. Its founders are a photographer who believes his lens should not filter out humanity, a reporter who feels real news can only be seen from up close in its historical perspective, and a pharmaceutical executive who thinks entrepreneurs should do more than make money. [source]

With a mission statement that says it very clearly, this is different, this is excellence, this is something worth to talk about, this is something that was needed, this is print media that will reach and saciate people with the apetite to submerge in the best quality reporting you can find.

The need for dispatches grows more pressing by the day. At a time when we urgently seek deeper and broader coverage, what we get grows shallower and narrower. The Internet allows us access to information we could not have dreamed of in the past, but it also misleads, distorts, and confuses.

Our mission is to help fill this growing void with an independent look at the huge challenges facing the world today. We seek to spark curiosity and provide factual bases to inspire discussion, protest, and change. Our target is not only the professional world watcher but also citizens who want to make a difference and students who must deal with crises they inherit. With a fresh design and innovative delivery, we aim for the widest possible appeal. Yet we are rooted solidly in the journalistic tenets of integrity, credibility, and accountability; this, in the end, is paramount. [source]

Each magazine, is indeed a book. Each covering a distinct topic, each as relevant and interesting as you can expect for leading reporting of current affairs, with perspectives that are unique and can not be found somewhere else. And each magazine/book includes portfolios with photography by the best photojournalists around.

I have been a subscriber since issue #1, Dispatches In America [photography by Antonin Kratochvil] with two additional issues already published, Dispatches Beyond Iraq [photography by Yuri Kozyrev]and Dispatches On Russia [photography by Seamus Murphy]. All I can say is “go and subscribe”.

For an additional reason to subscribe to Dispatches, you can win a print by Antonin Kratochvil.

A new publication that defines a new category. Each issue, one topic. Each issue, multiple views of diverse thinking. Each issue, excellence in photography.