This blog is always ready to excoriate sloppy, poorly-researched, casual, take-it-or-leave-it "journalism". However, such damning adjectives could not be used in relation to the Word music magazine. Sadly, faced with falling circulation figures, the magazine will soon fold (http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/an-announcement-about-the-word-magazine-0 ).
Unlike other music monthlies, the magazine wasn't afraid to explore wider cultural issues & genres. It employed writers who didn't treat readers like idiots. Nor did assume that devoting whole issues to "heritage" acts (Beatles/Dylan/Stones) amounted to music journalism.
That said, the effect of the web & the wider economic climate combined to produce a perfect storm for the magazine, as the Guardian notes (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/29/magazine-word-to-close ):
"The Word's demise is symptomatic of the extremely difficult environment for paid-for music magazines, which face a squeeze from an increasing number of free titles and the music industry's falling advertising budgets. In the last six months of 2011, all paid-for rock music titles experienced year-on-year falls in circulation, according to the ABCs."
Word magazine won't be the only victim of the current climate & future trends, far from it. However, it's a title which doesn't deserve this fate.
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