Whats happened to What Motorhome magazine? (1 Viewer)

[BobtheBass]

Has anyone noticed a big change in What Motorhome magazine the last few issues?

They seem to have completely stopped reviewing vans and gone over entirely to doing a couple of page write up on new vehicles which could easily have been put together by cutting and pasting the manufacturers on line catalogues. No actual inspection of the vehicle appears to have taken place, no comments are made by the "reviewer" good or bad and no star ratings given, just this is what its got and this is how big it is.

I don't really know why this should have happened, unless all the journalistic staff except the editor have left for some reason. It has gone from being my favourite magazine eagerly awaited each month (I know, I'm a salesman's dream) to being a complete waste of space. I have in fact complained to them today and cancelled my subscription, but am I the only one bothered?

 

[G7UXG]

Same as any other specialist magazine... there's only so much you can write before it becomes repetitive. I stopped buying them years ago.

There's no better source of help and advice that that received from Funsters

Mike

 

[Fellraven]

I bought one of those mags when I was trying to sus out which van to get. I read an article that stated " some vans are notorious for damp problems". But did not tell which ones. That just seemed to be a totally pointless article as the reason I was reading it was si I could avoid buying one.

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[sylvester1954]

This site informs motorhome owners about the world of motorhomes, camping, insurance,the law, bird spotting, cooking and even TV programs one may be missing far more than either of the two leading motorhome magazines...simply superb!

 

[TheBig1]

the magazines became little more than paid for adverts long ago. they get paid by the manufacturers by way of full page adverts and will never bite the hand that feeds them. if they did, they would have no vehicles submitted for "testing" and would cease publication

any partially usefull features such as diy advice and campsite reviews are pale shadows of what they were with far better sources on social media being far superior

it is inevitable that all paper magazines will disappear before long

 

[MR. FUSION]

This site informs motorhome owners about the world of motorhomes, camping, insurance,the law, bird spotting, cooking and even TV programs one may be missing far more than either of the two leading motorhome magazines...simply superb!

That must be worth a months free subscription at least

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[MR. FUSION]

the magazines became little more than paid for adverts long ago. they get paid by the manufacturers by way of full page adverts and will never bite the hand that feeds them. if they did, they would have no vehicles submitted for "testing" and would cease publication

any partially usefull features such as diy advice and campsite reviews are pale shadows of what they were with far better sources on social media being far superior

it is inevitable that all paper magazines will disappear before long

The only place I see people reading papers is on public transport and the free edition of the Metro. I personally find the exit sign more interesting and showing better balanced reporting.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

No minority niche publication is ever going to publish genuine reviews.

They are utterly dependent on their advertisers for their continued existence and those same advertisers are the people supplying the products to be reviewed.

No publisher in such a situation is ever going to risk printing anything other than fawning praise of the products supplied by their most important source of revenue are they?

 

[FJmike]

This reminds me of Bike magazine back in I think it was the 70s made a decision to print honest reviews which lost them access to a lot of motorcycles, but after a while the manufacturers took it on the chin. I don't know if they still hold this policy as I haven't read a motorcycle magazine for a few years.
When in France I often buy Campingcar Magazine and although I struggle to read French it's easy to see how much better their reviews and testing is compared to their British counterparts

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[Deleted member 29692]

Another factor to consider is that What Motorhome is published by Warners.

If they start annoying the manufacturers by printing bad reviews, however justified they may be, the implications are potentially bigger than just losing the advertising revenue in the magazine.

Most of the main motorhome companies are part of a larger group now.

How would those big profitable shows get on if one or more of those major groups refused to be involved because some hack at What Motorhome decided to start printing hatchet jobs reviews?

Never make the mistake of thinking that any publication of this type is there to provide you, the reader, with a service. They aren't.

They are businesses whose sole function is to generate profit for their owner. Nothing more nothing less. If the best way of generating that profit is to ignore that the brand new Swift ( or Hymer or Burstner, insert whatever brand you like) they had to review fell to pieces like a clown car after 2 miles of a road test and instead write a review claiming that it's the best motorhome ever built then that's exactly what they will do.

 

[MR. FUSION]

Another factor to consider is that What Motorhome is published by Warners.

If they start annoying the manufacturers by printing bad reviews, however justified they may be, the implications are potentially bigger than just losing the advertising revenue in the magazine.

Most of the main motorhome companies are part of a larger group now.

How would those big profitable shows get on if one or more of those major groups refused to be involved because some hack at What Motorhome decided to start printing hatchet jobs reviews?

Never make the mistake of thinking that any publication of this type is there to provide you, the reader, with a service. They aren't.

They are businesses whose sole function is to generate profit for their owner. Nothing more nothing less. If the best way of generating that profit is to ignore that the brand new Swift ( or Hymer or Burstner, insert whatever brand you like) they had to review fell to pieces like a clown car after 2 miles of a road test and instead write a review claiming that it's the best motorhome ever built then that's exactly what they will do.

Ah well, on the positive side, at least that clown car Swift didn't get a chance to start leaking badly

 

[DigglyDog]

Never make the mistake of thinking that any publication of this type is there to provide you, the reader, with a service. They aren't.

Like most niche publications, You, or at least your eyeballs and attention, are the product being sold to advertisers. After a while when most stuff has been done to death, the mags slope gently away to die in a corner.

Sad, really...

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[BobtheBass]

But up until 3 months ago their reviews were, at least to a point real reviews carried out by real people, albeit with an agenda to please the manufacturer. Now they don't even see the vehicle by the look of things, cobbling what they write together from stuff they found published on the internet. No use whatsoever and I for one have no intention of wasting any money on their tripe.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

The only place I see people reading papers is on public transport and the free edition of the Metro. I personally find the exit sign more interesting and showing better balanced reporting.

The Times has just gone to £1.60 per copy and it has all the propaganda that you could wish for in it all on the agenda the BBC uses as well. I noticed the magazine thing long a go Fishing ones Gardening ones you name it if you go back two year the same article in a different order.. These magazines tend to only have a few staff writers to copy and paste the next edition.

 

[The Nomad]

Stopped buying any type of paper-based magazines on MH's and indeed any other subject many year ago now.
The growth of the internet has rendered them all defunct in my view.
I can get vastly more information, reviews. entertainment, product details, shopping opportunities, databases, etc etc, all right up to date, at the click of a mouse for free.

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[Lenny HB]

It's another one of those British things, give us good review and we will spend some money on advertising. Doesn't help the industry at all, if the manufacturers were taken to task with all their build problems highlighted in the press they would be more inclined to get their act together. All the time they get glowing reviews and consumers buy on the back of them there is no inclination to spend money improving the product.
Doesn't happen in Germany with the maket leading Promobil magazine if they think a Motorhome is crap they say so.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

glowing reviews and consumers buy on the back of them

Surely nobody is really stupid enough to buy something based on a magazine review are they?

 

[BobtheBass]

I've just had a reply from the magazine in response to my unhappy comments. Seems like they have just "relaunched" whatever that means and plan to continue using the same (lack of) reporting format. Oh well, I enjoyed the old magazine whilst it lasted, the new format is not worth bothering with.

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[rosalan]

There was a time when MMM's special offer included an outrageous amount of Autoglyn products and a 'free' What Motorhome with the MMM. I could not be bothered to cancel it until a couple of months ago, when in all honestly I found it totally irrelevant and stopped it coming.
Does anyone know how to remove my donkey ears?

 

[mikebeaches]

I've just had a reply from the magazine in response to my unhappy comments. Seems like they have just "relaunched" whatever that means and plan to continue using the same (lack of) reporting format. Oh well, I enjoyed the old magazine whilst it lasted, the new format is not worth bothering with.

I am broadly in agreement with you. The thing that stood out about 'What Motorhome' magazine was the focus on new models, often before they were even on sale.

Now it's true that motorhomefun is an excellent technical resource as well as being lively, friendly and sociable. But I don't see it as a go-to resource for discovering all the latest models that are going to be released and exactly what innovative new features they will include.

For me, that was where 'What Motorhome' stood out.

MMM and Practical Motorhome are of minimal interest.