Did you miss me?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m only asking out of politeness, because the field where I grow all the rats\u2019 arses I give about your concerns remains as barren as ever.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s been a while since we spoke, and I feel I should explain my absence and subsequent return.<\/p>\n
After all, we were very close once, weren\u2019t we?<\/p>\n
Then something terrible happened and I went away.<\/p>\n
Then something terrible ceased happening and I have come back.<\/p>\n
And yes, thank you for asking, I\u2019m fine.<\/p>\n
I have spent my time away from these pages wallowing upon some of the finest bikes ever built. And some others. I have ridden Super Dukes, and Adventures, S1000XRs, Tuono RRs, a BMW R nineT Deus Ex Machina managed to turn into some kind of dire fungus, and many other intriguing motorcycles. I have made lots of videos, written many articles, worked on new books, and ridden tons of fresh and exciting roads. And I have fizzed myself dry watching the greatest MotoGP season I have ever seen. My dance card has been fuller than a German border crossing.<\/p>\n
Doubtlessly some of you are now feverishly typing sooky-la-la Emails to Editor Dobie about my return.<\/p>\n
Once again, I direct your attention to that desolate field over there where no rats\u2019 arses will ever grow.<\/p>\n
None of your moaning about me worked with any of the previous five editors, and you can be assured it will not work with this one either.<\/p>\n
So why did I leave AMCN all those months ago?<\/p>\n
Contrary to what you might have heard, or would desperately like to believe, it was because I chose to. I was not pushed and I was not sacked. My departure was not a budgetary consideration.<\/p>\n
As I said, something terrible happened and I went to play elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Why have I returned?<\/p>\n
No, it\u2019s not to dance gleefully on the powdered bones of my foes, though I\u2019d be lying if I said the swirling dust isn\u2019t pleasing to my nostrils. And it\u2019s not to recommence strangling the beige with their own wretched entrails, though that will occur from time to time.<\/p>\n
I have returned because New Editor Dobie asked me to return.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re right. It\u2019s entirely possible he may have suffered a savage blow to the head when he put his Editor\u2019s hat on and is not thinking clearly.<\/p>\n
After all, according to his first editorial, he is under the impression this magazine belongs to you, the readers.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t. Sure, there is a sense of \u201cownership\u201d among the readership, but that\u2019s just a delusion. You don\u2019t own the roads you ride on, do you?<\/p>\n
The magazine belongs to the company that owns it.<\/p>\n
But, and this is an important \u201cbut\u201d, the magazine is an extension and a reflection of its editor. It\u2019s his \u201cthing\u201d. In that sense, it belongs to the editor far more than it belongs to the owners or the readers. After all, he is responsible for what is on every single page. It is very much his circus and his monkeys. If the magazine is shit, then it is because his editorship is shit. If it is packed with great stuff, then he is doing his job right.<\/p>\n
Motorcycle magazines are struggling to survive in a changing market. Many have closed. Many are in their end-game. Readership habits are changing. People consume media differently these days. Yes, blame the Internet. Or ISIS. Or Abbott. Or the former Labor government.<\/p>\n
It still is what it is.<\/p>\n
As the colostomy bags of the older magazine readers explode and they\u2019re wheeled into retirement villages for weekly kerosene baths, they are not being replaced with younger readers; which is a bit disconcerting if you\u2019re in the magazine publishing business.<\/p>\n
The only constant in this rapidly changing paradigm is great content. Content is and always has been king. Whether that content is online or on paper, if it\u2019s great then it will be consumed avidly. If it\u2019s crap then it will be ignored \u2013 and rightly so.<\/p>\n
You, the reader, are a discerning individual. You know what you want and you know what you\u2019re prepared to pay for. If you don\u2019t like it, you won\u2019t buy it. You\u2019re still buying AMCN, which is nice.<\/p>\n
New Editor Dobie\u2019s job is clear. AMCN must be a beacon of great content, fine writing and genuine magazine craft. And the on-line stuff has to be on-point too.<\/p>\n
My job is also clear.\u00a0 Dance about the place like a drunken bear, celebrate motorcycling in all its manifold glories, try not to crash test bikes and deliver content that will make you laugh, yelp, whimper and fume \u2013 probably all at the same time if I\u2019m on my game.<\/p>\n
Stop crying. Your anguished tears will change nothing.<\/p>\n
As for New Editor Dobie\u2026well, he feels I have something worthwhile to, once again, contribute to this title. He may well change his mind when the hate mail starts, but by then I will know where he lives. And I can go to his house and show him where that infertile field lies, and how there will never be any rats\u2019 arses growing in it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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