The last thing I want is to see magazines going bust.

Over the last couple of years a number of NW business publications have fallen away.  They have been replaced by Crain’s and Good Company and How-Do, which have been life savers PR wise.

The lifestyle press is the North West has been doing well if the number of publications are something to base this statement on.  Buoyed by city centre living, a favourable economy and a property boom the numbers of magazines that I could pick up in Manchester about a year ago I estimated at 14.  There was one named after me I think called “Bob.”

In the last month The Magazine has been the centre of speculation as to its future and now YQ magazine has had to defend its position after cuts fueled speculation.

The lifestyle press has enjoyed the boom.  Any fall off in the property sector and its advertising and worsening of the credit crunch and you have to winder if more stories will unfortunately be appearing in How-Do with increasing frequency.

I am starting to hear this criticism being levelled at the media, as though any financial difficulties can be attributed solely to some irresponsible journalists.

If that is true, surely any upturn can be attributed to those same guys. So if your house has trebled in value you should be thanking your friendly local business journalist. Go on treat them to an expensive meal out at the very least.

It is true that confidence is everything. And of course the media has a strong influence here. But the fickle ebbing and flow of that precious feel good factor has more to it than the media wallowing in doom ridden scenarios, if we take away some ridiculous articles: one such piece in a national today claimed that the property market will not recover for 20 years. Who are you Mystic Meg or whatever she was called before the lottery. About as reliable.

The fact is the banks over lent, credit card companies over lent, mortgage companies over lent. We want our money back: Credit Crunch. I don’t have an economics degree I know but it didn’t help the lenders, so.

The media has power, it can influence, but somewhere, at least here, it is for the most part reporting the mistakes of others.

If you want to blame someone there are much more credible targets and some of them unfortunately include ourselves.

mad.co.uk ran a story on the current IPA Bellwether Report on the state of the UK marketing industry, the results give a mixed picture.

While direct marketing is suffering cuts across all sectors and PR is not fairing well, marketing spend is actually on the rise: reading between the lines things are slowing up but are still quite reasonably healthy.  This seems to be reflected on the ground from my observations as agencies continue to be busy.

How to interpret things?  Are we going over the edge into a recession, business is just being a little cautious or in the light of recent year’s healthy demand this news isn’t so bad?  I don’t know, but we will be all watching.  The fear is that we might talk ourselves into something worse than it needs to be - such are economies and that all important confidence.

It is pretty frightening stuff.  How many links could I get to such stories about impending economic doom today?

I have even seen the odds for a Great Depression like outcome, the worst economic climate since the war and an early 90s type recession.  Of course we might get through it  with passing alarm as in the late 90s with the Asian collapse.

WPP has remained upbeat: 17% increase in margins for PR in 2007.  Sir Martin Sorrell chief executive of the marketing monster that is WPP said in PR week: “I can’t recall a time when PR has been as strong.”

My humble outlook seems to echo that as far as I can see Martin.

Just posturing on his part?  I think he means it.

So if we have a slide in our economic fortunes what will happen PR wise?

It might be a mixture of losing and gaining business.  Some budgets withdrawn, other companies coming into play, using marketing and PR to maintain sales in hard times.

I feel as though things are in slow mo.  What can I do?  Keep outgoings low.  Check.  Have a mixture of accounts from many industries.  Check.  Do not rely on one big client.  Check.

I point my ship into the storm and use an anchor for balance.