Angela Gilchrist
With DC Thomson’s iconic publication The People’s Friend having recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, we caught up with the magazine’s editor
The People’s Friend has the Guinness World Record for longest running women’s magazine – that’s something to be proud of, isn’t it?
It certainly is! The Friend is a real Scottish success story with over 170,000 copies sold a week – a copy of the Friend is sold every 3.44 seconds! I feel very lucky and privileged to be its Editor, but really, its success is due mainly to its readers. They are – and always have been – so wonderfully supportive of everything we do.
Has it been hard to keep up with the times without changing the magazine’s identity?
I don’t think so. We stay in touch with our readers and their lives, and then reflect that back in the stories and features we carry. The core values have never changed – that you should always feel better for having read a copy of the Friend.
What is the secret of the magazine’s longevity?
More than anything, it’s the bond the magazine has with its readers. They are fiercely loyal and it’s not unusual for people to read the Friend for 40, 50 even 60 years. They take such an interest in what we do and sometimes phone for a chat!
You have a readership of 400,000, but that’s not just Uk-based, is it?
We have readers all across the globe, and we ship around 20,000 copies overseas every week. The majority of those go to Australia, with copies also sold in New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. And, of course, you can subscribe from anywhere in the world – we have subscribers in over 44 different countries.
A Wee Blether With…
How do you see the Friend – not in the next 150 years, perhaps, but in the next 15?
Thriving, of course! Now more than ever, there’s a place for a magazine that offers a brief, blissful escape from reality. We also have all the exciting possibilities that the digital revolution has opened up for us. Facebook and Twitter are brilliant for further strengthening that bond we have with our readers, and also help us spread the word to new audiences about what we do.
Is having a social media presence important for magazines?
It’s becoming more important – and it’s a great way of communicating directly with our readers, and for them to communicate with us. But the print magazine is still where most of our time and energy is focused – Friend readers love print, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Social media is a great way for us to spread the word about the Friend to new audiences, though.