Don't get me wrong; I don't dislike the beginner stuff. I just wish that
it would be a little more detailed and more in-depth. On the other hand,
some of the advanced articles could use a little more explanation to
help the beginners absorb them. You can't learn to swim in a kiddie
pool, and jumping off into the deep end isn't very wise either. Sink or
swim is all too often the situation a new hobbyist is in, and a magazine
should have the main purpose of educating ALL of it's readers as well as
entertaining them.
Someone looking to optimize his coral's growth may find an article on
high-tech lighting of great interest, but anyone else would most likely
be bored to tears, especially if he/she couldn't grasp the information.
Those lighting articles need to written in such a way that the goldfish
bowl and plastic plants crowd can at least get SOMETHING out of them. On
the other hand, the article about siphoning gravel could be useful to
the absolute rank beginner and few else, but wouldn't it be nice if it
had some tidbits of advanced info scattered within it? Not only would it
help make the article bearable to the expert nobbyist, it would help the
beginner learn more than he/she otherwise would have.
I guess that's the thing I'm really trying to say. Beginners don't like
FAMA because they can't understand it. As a result they stick to AFM and
TFH, where they don't learn much of anything. Once again, though, AFM is
working on that. The others need to do something as well. John B asked
if the magazines changed or if the reader's needs changed. Of course
it's a little of both, but the readers' needs are the main variable. A
truly great magazine would be able to cater to all of it's readers.
Yeah, right...
THAT is one juggling act they've all been trying to perform for quite
some time, and they've all failed.
Hmm... I just got an idea for a new topic.
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