Decline and fall

I just cancelled my subscription to Empire magazine. Here is the email that I sent them:

Hi Empire

I have been an Empire reader since 1995 and subscriber since 1997. But today I cancelled my direct debit.

My reasons:

1. You blur the lines between reviews and paid-for advertorials. It's difficult to know what sentiments are your own and what sentiments are included because they complement your advertisers' branding.
2. You want to be the world's biggest movie mag so badly that more editorial space is given to films that people want to read than films that are actually worth seeing. It's fine, of course, that you give your customers what they want, but your nine-page Fantastic Four features and multi-issue War of the Worlds extravaganzas compromise your credibility and isolate many of your readers.
3. You fancy yourself. Some of your writers are exceptionally good, but it troubles me that you write about them so often, and that you invent a reality TV-style competition where the ultimate reward is to join their hallowed ranks. I buy Empire to read about creative talent in the film industry, not to read about creative talent in journalism.
4. You tried to make Empire an interactive community-type thing, inviting and publishing readers' views for features like DVD Club. If you're unfamiliar with a director's work, hire some writers who know what they're talking about. Don't just tell us what we've told you -- why would we want to pay for that?

Best of luck for the future. I hope the Lord of the Rings nerds keep your magazine running for many years to come.

Kind regards

Robert Hayward

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