70% of all Danes prefer to read magazines in print rather than digitally. This is shown by a study prepared by YouGov for the Graphic Employee Association.

When you consider that our everyday life has gradually become digitized in every possible way, some people might argue that it is surprising that the traditional physical magazine still has a large fan base. But with a little thought we can see that print magazines have a wide range of advantages that no electronic media can match.

The Danish summer is upon us, and this is actually quite a good opportunity to illustrate the point: When we have our summer holidays, we finally have time to get immersed in things. Finally there is time to relax with a good book or a beautiful magazine.

Of course we can check electronic versions of magazines and the news on a tablet, but when we are enjoying our holiday by the hotel pool, it is still the book and the magazine that are our first choice. Because it is only the print media that can provide a physical and undisturbed reading experience. The print media has built-in peace and quiet and you also avoid the distractions that are par for the course when you are online.

Try to notice how often you get distracted when you are trying to read an article online. There are constant messages that the site uses cookies and at the edge of the screen there are dancing ads with the day’s offers on plane tickets or sunscreen. And if you are really lucky, a message will pop up to tell you that another e-mail has landed in your inbox.

So just the fact that you are offline with the print medium plays an important role when assessing the ability to get the reader to immerse themselves in the material.

The study by the research company YouGov also shows that 39% of respondents use magazines when they want to immerse themselves in a given subject.

There are several examples of illustrious media ‘turning things around 180 degrees’ and going ‘back’ to traditional print.

In the United States, Newsweek realized that there was a need for a print version and there are also some good examples on the domestic front. In 2014 the weekly newsletter Monday Morning chose to retrace its steps and appear in print again.

Here the primary reason for Monday Morning changing back was that the printed word has a special ability to retain impressions and information. The ability to keep the recipient’s attention simply makes the print medium more suited to present issues and agendas that require time and space for reflection. And also you do not need to have passwords, batteries or Internet access to immerse yourself in the magazine’s exciting stories.

Have a good summer – and happy reading!