Have niche tastes? Then e-zines are just for you

June 17, 2010

Electronic magazines allow youth to delve into issues they are passionate about

"Most of the people who write for these magazines and run these popular e-zines know each other. They are mostly the same bunch of people who end up writing everywhere"

- Sohini Dey

"It's not really a small circle of people. I don't know about the others, but I always try to encourage new writers. They don't have to be well connected or be a part of a certain circle; they just have to be good at what they do. A little enthusiasm doesn't hurt either."

- Arun Kale

Yoshita Sengupta

Newspapers are made of wood not elastic, goes a saying. There's only so much news they can carry; they must prioritise. And despite the vast online space available on their dedicated websites, these remain a near echo of their print content. The niche, therefore, is a slot that e-zines (electronic magazines) have begun to position themselves in over and events that mainstream media cannot always cover.

Only last week, 24-year-old- Arun Kale, launched Helter Skelter (helterskelter.in). a magazine that focuses on independent and alternative culture in India, specifically art, literature, music and films. His previous endeavour, Split that was launched in 2006, was centred on new music album releases, song and concert reviews with Indian and international rock bands. "Split was very niche and popular only among people who followed the Indian and rock music circuit. With Helter Skelter, we intend to cover art, literature, music circuit. With Helter Skelter, we intend to cover art, literature, music, films and reach out to a larger audience," he adds. "The magazines focus on things that mainstream media might not find worth covering. They provide an alternative to the mainstream media, hence I think are alternative."

Another popular e-zine is passionforcinema.com that reviews both Indian and foreign cinema, with a wide array of reviewers - Anurag Kashyap being one of them - writing under pseudonyms.

That these portals target a niche audience and cater to them is a reason for their popularity, "I read e-zine because they tell me what I want to know, and in greater detail," says Akash Sharma, 21, an upcoming musician. They have also given a lot of young writers the opportunity to share their opinions and get noticed. "It's not about the money we write for these magazines because we are passionate about certain topics and want to be heard. We don't have to wait for years to get into the mainstrean media to do that," says Prabal Bose, 22, students and a part-time writer.

Not everyone promotes new voices however. "Most of the people who write for these magazines and run these popular e-zines know each other. They are mostly the same bunch of people who end up writing everywhere," says Sohini Dey , a mainstream media professional. But Kale disagrees. "It's not really a small circle of people. I don't know about the other, but always try to encourage new writers. They don't have to be well connected; they just have to be good at what they do. A little enthusiasm doesn't hurt either," he says E-zines may not be popular among the masses but they waren't designed for everyone anyway. But as more and more people slowly begin to discover the niches, they have the potential to become pop soon. These also have very low operating costs. "These magazines are a good option for people who are passionate about certain issues and want to share then with likeminded people. All one needs is an internet connection and a hang of IT, and one can run an e-zine at a cost as low as Rs1,500 a year," says Akash.