I’ve been kind to Fly Rod & Reel magazine on this blog. They’re the only major fly fishing magazine willing to repeatedly take on divisive environmental issues via Ted Williams, and there’s little I like better than looking in on John Gierach’s life.
So I was interested to read that editor Paul Guernsey was leaving the magazine, and in the midst of a revamping of their online presence. From the magazine’s press release:
“Publishing is all about managing change, and while we’re sorry to lose someone with Paul’s fly-fishing background and editing experience, our commitment to the sport and the industry is as strong as ever,” said John Viehman, Down East Enterprise group publisher.
For years, visiting’s FR&R’s Web site was akin to stumbling on a months-old train derailment. Ted William’s blog should be one of the most-trafficked in the industry, yet reading it required lots of clicks. Painful stuff.
They’re re-launching their online presence, and they’ve made improvements — and they’re relying on multiple blogs to keep the readers coming back, so there’s hope – but there’s still a long ways to go. They even managed to kill off their on-life-support message boards.
Still, the blogs lack RSS feeds, stories require multiple click entries, and we’ll see if they can generate the kind of content needed to keep the readers coming.
And yes, it’s hard not to survey the sites of the major magazines without wondering why a bunch of blogs and message boards run by parttimers are outpacing the leading fly fishing magazines in technology, engagement and content.
Good luck to FR&R — and Paul Guernsey.
[tags]fly fishing, magazine, fly rod and reel, paul guernsey[/tags]
