Is digital publishing the future?

It’s been a big week for digital publishing, with the internet allowing Wikileaks to be disseminated quickly and concisely across the globe. The true impact of this case has yet to be seen, on digital publishing, freedom of speech, and of course the global political scene; however, what this week has shown us is that web design and digital publishing is moving the way we digest and react to news forward faster than ever before.

Of course, the Wikileak information online was published in tandem with more traditional press methods around the globe. In five different countries major newspapers were responsible for printing the story, including The Guardian in England and Le Monde in France.

A couple of days after the first Wikileak file was published, Richard Branson announced that his company, Virgin, were turning their back on traditional print for good and launching the ‘first truly digital magazine’. The publication will be a culture and lifestyle magazine entitled Project, and will originally be available exclusively via the Apple App store for iPad.

The digital publication will be priced at £1.79, although it is intended that editorial should be the same level as any high-quality weekly magazine. Content will be further supplemented by links embedded into each page for ‘further reading’, e.g. a movie trailer accompanying a review.

Project looks to be the first in a new swathe of digital magazines, with Rupert Murdoch already announcing his intentions to create a digital-only publication. However, from a somewhat muted reaction to Project, it looks as though there is a way to go before traditional print is phased out completely with one critic commenting: “the articles themselves, as well as the messages in the souped-up advertisements, can come across as afterthoughts when there’s so much audio-visual distraction”