– “But did you really have to publish that? Couldn’t you give it a softer tone?”
This conflict is unavoidable, but it is also survivable. The powers at work manage their differences because the field covered by news reporting is much broader than the specific interests of any single advertiser. Thus, the publication does not depend excessively on any one external source of funding.
A very different situation arises when the publication’s raison d’être is the consumer goods available on the market — and there are many such publications, particularly in Japan. Their fields are diverse: cars, watches, fashion, gastronomy…
Publications in Japan.
And the problem now is obvious — the number of potential advertisers is very limited, and the publication becomes more vulnerable to any negative reaction its reporting might provoke.
But who is the reader of the publication? For whom is it produced? Where does the publication’s loyalty truly lie?
Beyond polite words and public relations, the litmus test is simple: does that publication ever say anything negative about a product? According to them, is there a bad car on the market? A bad watch? A bad pen? Do they ever dare to publish a negative review?
Because at the end of the day, they must decide whether they are in the business of reporting — or in the business of collecting advertisements.
Mannenhitsu-no Yamada – Akkerman #13 Simpliest Violet
Bruno Taut
October 28th, 2025
etiquetas: mercado, publicaciones
Bruno Taut
October 28th, 2025
etiquetas: mercado, publicaciones
5 comments:
Profundas y agudas preguntas, Bruno Taut.
En realidad, el asunto se extiende a muchos órdenes de la vida pero, centrándonos en los medios y publicaciones que se dedican a las estilográficas, la respuesta no es muy halagüeña. Son los Blogs independientes, como el tuyo, los únicos que se salvan de tener que rendir tributo a los patrocinadores de turno. Si echas un vistazo a los canales sobre estilográficas de YouTube que gozan de más difusión, invariablemente nos encontraremos con reseñas de plumas que ensalzan el modelo al caso, añadiendo algún defecto de poca monta para salvar las apariencias. Y si nos fijamos estrictamente en plumas japonesas actuales, tienden a cero los que se atreven a poner algún "pero". Por ejemplo, ¿acaso no se echa en falta una mayor variedad de sistemas de carga cuando se constata que antaño, precisamente en Japón, podían encontrarse multitud de sistemas de carga, alguno de ellos revolucionarios y merecedores de mejor suerte? ¿Y qué pasa con los alimentadores?, ¿cómo es que, hoy en día, se utiliza siempre el mismo tipo de alimentador con independencia del tipo de plumín, mención aparte los flexibles? ¿Es de recibo que la Pilot Custom Urushi tenga como sistema de carga un convertidor con reserva de tinta de tan solo 1,2 ml? ¿O que ese mismo modelo tenga la sección de agarre de plástico cuando su cuerpo es lacado? ¿Las plumas chinas son tan buenas como dicen o es que lo que se valora es su bajo coste por lo que ofrecen?
Las únicas publicaciones que pueden aspirar a ser objetivas son aquellas que no se dejan arrastrar por corrientes de opinión patrocinadas, y eso implica que el autor sea un experto en su campo. No hay mucho de eso en el panorama actual, me temo.
Saludos y gracias por otra de tus estupendas crónicas.
I am very familiar with this problem, having worked in magazines for decades. One thing I would add is that magazines also have limited space. So if they have space for, say, five pen reviews, why bother telling people what they should not buy when they could tell people what is worth buying? Plus, that way the can sneak around the problem of giving a bad review to an advertiser, haha.
Waterman's 13,
Gracias por tu comentatio. Me alegra ver que el lector es capaz de continuar la conversación más allá de lo poco que yo pueda decir. Como bien dices, mis reflexiones no se limitan a las publicaciones escritas sino que son extensibles a cualquier forma de comunicación.
Pero me atrevo a decir que en este mundo online, en el que los costes de producción son significativamente menores que en los medios tradicionales impresos, es más fácil encontrar reseñas honestas y hasta comentarios negativos sobre productos comerciales.
Nos vemos en Madrid. Saludos,
BT
Anonymous,
Thanks for adding yet one more detail to the discussion. At the end of the day, I am afraid, it is all about excuses on how not to say what was worth to say, and the space constraints are great to avoid saying what we all know was the actual reason.
Thanks for your comment. Cheers,
BT
It would be interesting to learn what might have influenced your reflection in this entry. To me it is amazing that it is still possible to publish magazines like 趣味の文具箱. In the US the only magazine that I know of is the small magazine published 3 times a year by the Pen Collectors of America (https://pencollectorsofamerica.org/pennant/) for members.* It starts at $45/year for the lowest rate. It also has a good deal of ads, but also good content on vintage. I am not a member, but have friends who are.
One of my other hobbies is photography, and I used to love scanning Japanese photography magazines. Some focused on photography techniques, others on vintage equipment, others on famous or emerging photographers. Like 趣味の文具箱, many were unique a relatively unique Japanese format of mook (book + magazine), so it could have a longer shelf-life in a bookshop. They had amazing graphic design and photographs (of course). A few like Asahi Kamera アサヒカメラ had listings of upcoming gallery and museum exhibits and news with real reporters. It had a strong reputation as it was tied to the Asahi Newspaper, and had a history going back to the Taisho era. Sadly, it was closed in 2020 due to circulation drops during the pandemic. I would not have been surprised if it had struggles to balance critical news/ reviews and sponsor agendas. Sadly, general interest photography commercial American magazines died even earlier, like Popular Photography, which became more and more a place for reviews of gear by advertisers and less information on vintage gear and things that did not have advertising tie-ins.
I think the take-home, or what I am trying to get at, is that blogs / podcasts / videos like Cronicas are important public spaces where one can write freely and praise good independent things and also give critical comments. They are also important as counters to the ease of making our hobby just a mass consumer one of just buying more and more (like fast fashion in all of the collectable colors). We know what that is doing to the planet and our lives, so I'd like to propose a toast to Cronicas and all of the other independent media in our hobby who keep it educational and enjoyable.
PS there is at least one other online magazine in the US but it is a digital subscription for around $20/year (https://penworld.com/) and seems to be largely ads
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