Haymarket Media MD answers concerns over magazine imports to Australia

Debate over foreign magazines on Australian newsstands recently prompted Jeremy Vaughan, managing director of Haymarket Media in Australia, to give the publisher’s perspective.

“There’s always been a healthy appetite for international copies in Australia,” said Vaughan, who publishes a portfolio of local magazines but whose parent company, Haymarket Media Group, has been importing UK titles into Australia for more than 25 years.

“We publish FourFourTwo in Australia and we also import the UK edition, and both editions co-exist on the shelf and complement each other’s activities.”

Vaughan, who was recently elected to the board of the trade organisation Publishers Australia, was responding to lively debate over a story in Publishers Australia’s newsletter, as well as concerns voiced by the Newsagents Association of NSW and ACT (NANA).

“I can certainly understand the frustration of the NANA if, as that organisation alleges, some overseas publishers are using the channel to ‘dump’ international copies,” he said. “And when cash flow becomes challenging it can be extremely demanding for small businesses.

“Only 3000 of the 5000 newsagents in Australia carry international copies and, from my experience of the Haymarket international portfolio, I believe that the distributors have some fairly robust processes in place to minimise wastage and improve ranging.”

Vaughan added: “Many Australian publishers have used the success of international titles to launch local editions and we are surrounded by a myriad of success stories in this area, so there are several upsides to international copies, both from a retail and publishing point of view.”

Vaughan became one of three new directors of Publishers Australia at its recent annual general meeting in Sydney. His election comes at a time of strong growth for the association of specialist magazine publishers, according to Australian media and marketing news site Mediabiznet.

Read Vaughan’s comments in full on the Publishers Australia website.