Today we learned that the independent magazine The Skinny is closing. It leaves this September’s issue as the sudden final issue of the longstanding Scottish arts publication. This is after it was announced that Radge Media CIC, the company who publish The Skinny alongside Fest and GNAW, have ceased all operations.
In a heartfelt statement made on the magazine’s website deputy editor Peter Simpson thanked contributors and readers for the last twenty years, urging them to continue the message of the skinny.
“This may be the end for The Skinny, but it’s not the end of what we believe in: the power of independent journalism, the value of art and creativity, and the importance of print media.”
The departure of The Skinny, while disheartening, is one of many independent magazine closures in the last year.
Spanning various genres from health and beauty to music and art, we have seen longstanding publications have to print their final page. In March, Wired took magazines off shelves in the UK. At the same time, the revived legacy magazine The Fall announced they were publishing their last handful of issues that month and then ceased production.
Oxfordshire’s Nightshift printed its final issue in April. That locally produced paper had an opportunity that saw fans off with a fitting farewell, something The Skinny couldn’t do. Nightshift’s editor and publisher Ronan Munro outlined that “financially, it was always up against it” which is a sentiment shared by Peter when announcing The Skinny’s closure.
“We are devastated that our work has come to such a sudden end. We have not been immune to the economic difficulties in the Scottish arts and despite our very best efforts, funding pressures across the sector, rising costs and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have contributed to an increasingly challenging situation.”
With a cultural cornerstone like The Skinny leaving bars and cafes across Scotland, is it time to examine where the increased arts spending is going? Maybe it’s us as readers and consumers who need to act and campaign to keep what keeps our cities colourful and alive.
I was introduced to the skinny in first year, just after I had moved. It was perched on a coffee table in the university. From then on, I went out of my way to search for the magazine every month. Maybe it’s your turn to do the same. Who knows, it could be us next having to say goodbye.
