Phil Barker on the rise and fall of Australian magazines in 'Axed! Who Killed Australian Magazines?'

Good Reading Podcast

In the 1990s Phil Barker left the male-dominated world of the Daily Telegraph to work on magazines such as NW and Woman's Day. It was the golden age of Australian magazines with circulation at an all-time high. But along came the internet. A failure to deal with the challenges of the digital age saw a once great industry fall into decline. In 'Axed! Who Killed Australian Magazines', Phil Barker tracks the highs and lows of Australia magazines' journey from prince to pauper. From the bad content deals to a lack of understanding of the Australian market and a failure to prepare for the future, this book brings together all the sordid details, the downfalls that didn't need to happen, and the great characters that defined Australian magazines. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Phil Barker about the golden age of Australian magazines in the 1990s, the largesse and the excess of an industry at its peak, the challenges of the digital world that were barely met, and casualties and the survivors of a once great industry.