The Plaid Horse Magazine: All Ads No Substance

[ratatat]

I’ve been receiving The Plaid Horse magazine for awhile now and have found its contents to be really disappointing. I was wondering if others feel the same?

Be it their website or their physical magazine, it’s frustrating to see one of the few equestrian periodicals stuffed to the brim with ads. It would be one thing if it were just your normal, run of the mill, print magazine ads, but TPH dedicates pages of stories to what are clearly ads without disclosing as such. Similarly, these features are posted to their social channels without any ad disclosure at all.

Even at a glance, articles like this one and this one, are clearly ads. The talking points are pulled directly from the websites, and there isn’t a story here at all – just praising a company or product.

I guess I was just expecting more based on how popular the publication is; something more akin to Calling All Horse Girls with articles about interesting up and coming riders or unique events or something. Instead, it’s just an inundation of nonstop ads.

It’s nice when there are real articles, even if they do tend to be all very similar – features on top junior riders at elite competitions from the same handful of barns.

I was just curious if any felt similarly or had recommendations for other publications that have actual articles.

[Belmont]

I will say it’s not just TPH. Magazines are hard these days. She’s making most of her money on ads, and that is why the magazine is inundated with them. The “articles” that are ads are likely part of the companies ad package or they paid more for them.

What’s happening with smaller industry magazines is they can’t afford (or don’t afford) to pay journalists and writers anymore. They rely on the marketing group of whomever is financially compensating them through ads and using that as filler. Pay me to write articles in my magazine!! It’s why so many magazines have lost journalistic integrity and why so many articles are obviously written with AI.

We stopped wasting advertising dollars on industry magazines two years ago, because we were paying $6k per year to write content for their magazine that produced no ROI.

For clarity, I’m not speaking of my experience advertising in TPH in particular.

[ratatat]

I totally hear you and it makes sense! I guess I’m just surprised at the commitment to putting out a physical edition that has diminished so much in quality.

Perhaps I just don’t have the insight, but I will say I’m consistently surprised to see the articles continuously covering the same articles over and over – I’ve never seen TPH or Piper put out a call for community writers or interesting topics.

In fact, the only requests I’ve seen were for their small business contest and their writing contest, which, interestingly, had a topic they didn’t even require submitters to adhere to. Even the winners of the latter I was rather surprised by – the pieces didn’t even appear to be edited as they regularly switched tenses and had multiple grammatical errors.

I know you’re definitely right, it’s just disappointing when Piper positions herself as the face of the industry.

[dags]

@ratatat

I’ve never seen TPH or Piper put out a call for community writers or interesting topics.

Really? Because if you bother to comment an opposing viewpoint on one of their posts you are immediately invited to “write an article” about it for their magazine. I’ve always wondered if they actually pay the writers for those, or just get free content from it.

[ratatat]

Oh I meant like an open call, not a taunt to people who disagree with them to buck up or butt out

[Bristol_Bay]

It’s not a magazine, it’s a trade publication.

[ratatat]

We can argue semantics but their slogan is literally “The Plaid Horse is North America’s Horse Show Magazine.”

[cristalle]

This sounds to me like something of a personal vendetta by the OP.

[ratatat]

I don’t have any sort of personal vendetta – just am an avid reader and horse person. We (equestrians) have a limited number of publications in our industry, so, yes, I’m going to point out that one of the bigger ones disappoints me because they so heavily have ads, which they don’t disclose.

And unfortunately, sounds like a number of individuals agree with me. I don’t think it’s a personal vendetta to provide accurate criticism and dialogue about one of the most widely available publications in our industry. If you disagree, well, that’s okay.

[Tha_Ridge]

Even if it is, they’re not wrong. Even the cover stories in TPH are mostly paid ads.

[Halternatively]

Or your comment is deleted

[Tini_Sea_Soldier1]

Ooof… Shots fired.

Honestly, not sure what magazines you’re receiving otherwise, but given the print industry’s struggle to stay alive and relevant, they’re not doing anything out of the ordinary. My last 2 years of Food & Wine magazine are a constant ad for Viking Cruises, Oceania Cruises and whatever Food & Wine Festival is coming up. I have no doubt that part of their content is based on what they’ve been paid to promote.
This isn’t any different than when Cosmo, Allure, InStyle promotes “Top ____”. The brands send in items for them to test and therefore they promote the brands based on their contributions to the mag’s ad budget and also whatever product they comp to them. Heck, even most of the “Top Docs” or “Top Lawyers” articles in publications are paid content. So again, this is commonplace.
Quite frankly, it’s nice to see someone put out a publication that doesn’t hyper focus on only Wellington. There’s life outside of West Palm and although it’s nice to see it touched upon and bigger classes highlighted, the rest of us deserve some recognition as well.
I worked in media for a decade, paid content was a thing that happened and actually kept publications profitable in tough times. I’d rather read the sales pitch in an article then try to wade through a website with content that may not be relevant to me.
I think Piper’s magazine is put together quite nicely. The covers are always stunning and the online and print content is relevant to our current landscape.

[cristalle]

@Tini_Sea_Soldier1

Honestly, not sure what magazines you’re receiving otherwise, but given the print industry’s struggle to stay alive and relevant, they’re not doing anything out of the ordinary.

Exactly this. Putting out a magazine is extremely expensive, and even more so in these tough times, and we have all seen the often losing battle that print media has had in the age of online ‘publications’.
Everywhere, in every town, local newspapers have folded.
And just a question, who here actually subscribes to the print COTH anymore, (or ever) ?
TPH is an attractive, well-put together magazine in a niche market, trying to stay afloat, and advertising dollars are the only way that can be done.
If you don’t like the content, perhaps take the publisher’s suggestion and write something yourself.
Or, try publishing a magazine yourself.

[dags]

@Halternatively

Or your comment is deleted

Or you get a nasty message from Piper herself.

[Pennywell_Bay]

@dags

Really? Because if you bother to comment an opposing viewpoint on one of their posts you are immediately invited to “write an article” about it for their magazine. I’ve always wondered if they actually pay the writers for those, or just get free content from it.

Or kicked off the page….

[Tha_Ridge]

@Pennywell_Bay

Or kicked off the page….

It’s me, when I questioned her journalistic ethics about blasting Colin Syquia at Devon two years ago.

Anyway, for all those saying that it’s next to impossible to run a good publication without advertiser support, there’s actually a new generation of beautiful, niche print publications doing that. Believe it or not, print is “booming” — if you do it right from an authentic, ethical perspective. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s possible. I’ve worked in editorial my entire career and have actually never felt as bullish about print as I do right now. But for all of you looking for an alternative horsey read (or even just an additional read — very different product ), stay tuned.

[HJdaydream]

@Tha_Ridge

But for all of you looking for an alternative horsey read (or even just an additional read — very different product ), stay tuned.

Put me on the list of people who will sign up for this! I prefer Sidelines at the moment, although it also can also feel like a paid ad at times.

I have heard from reputable sources that TPH will email people and/or business saying ‘we’d love to feature you/your business!’ and then when they confirm interest TPH sends their prices. Not knocking it, but I agree that marking it as “Advertisement” would feel more genuine.

[ratatat]

@cristalle

TPH is an attractive, well-put together magazine in a niche market, trying to stay afloat, and advertising dollars are the only way that can be done.
If you don’t like the content, perhaps take the publisher’s suggestion and write something yourself.
Or, try publishing a magazine yourself.

I agree, TPH is an attractive, well-put together magazine in a niche marketing. I don’t even mind that they have advertising content. What I’m taking issue with is the abundance of paid content over legitimate articles. I think its ethically wrong to not disclose that these are paid partnerships, even if it seems obvious to us, it isn’t to everyone. Likewise, I think it’s at the least gross to go so far as to have a paid ad as your cover story.

I work in the industry, I understand paying to get on a “Top X” list or for a placement in the magazine. The extent of which there is product placement throughout, though, is wild. Even if I’m being generous, in her latest article, I estimate that at least half of the articles are paid pieces.

If I’m being extremely candid, I would say that it results in appearing as if Piper is running a physical magazine for the sole purpose to give herself a byline and insert herself in the industry.

[Halternatively]

@ratatat

If I’m being extremely candid, I would say that it results in appearing as if Piper is running a physical magazine for the sole purpose to give herself a byline and insert herself in the industry.

This tracks with everything I’ve ever heard about her, from people who know her quite well.

[dasikins99]

I noticed the same tendencies. I’m a fan of Sidelines and don’t read PHM regularly, but remember thinking this over the last several months.

I also wish we had a more robust news outlet for showjumping. I’ve seen Mclain take two severe falls over the last year without any update. I know this is a normal part of sport as we like to keep things quiet, but one can always wish