AFR Magazine, the monthly insert of The Australian Financial Review, is marking three decades in print with a 120-page “Visionaries” issue, a new Watch Supplement, and reflections from editor Matthew Drummond on the evolving relationship between digital data, editorial instinct, and luxury print.
Drummond, who has helmed the title for the past eight years, describes the anniversary issue as the largest edition in his tenure.
It includes an exclusive cover story on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a deep dive into the transformation of Brisbane ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games, and a reflective interview with Monica Lewinsky, marking 30 years since her time in the White House.
“This has been the biggest issue that I’ve ever done,” Drummond told Mediaweek. “The pagination of this book is bigger than any issue that I’ve ever done in eight years. You will see… this is a thumper of an issue.”
Editorial strategy meets digital signals
In a media landscape increasingly driven by digital metrics, Drummond said AFR Magazine has developed a more sophisticated editorial strategy that uses digital traffic data as a guidepost, not a rulebook.
“The way it’s evolved in my time, which is eight years, is that we look a lot more closely at what the digital traffic tells us about what subscribers are interested in,” he said.
“So, all the magazine stories get posted up on AFR.com in the week ahead of the magazine coming out in print, so that each one acts like a piece of content marketing.”
“And that, I think, is the reason why our readership is so strong in print, because our huge digital audience now can see in a lead-up to the magazine what’s in it. And so that’s, I think, why the print readership is now at half a million.”
Still, Drummond is clear that data doesn’t make the final decisions. “Data on readership is, by its nature, backward-looking, whereas media has to be forward-looking,” he said. “You’ve got to have your instinct as an editor as to what is right for the magazine.”
Themes, Rich Lists, and what readers actually want
The magazine’s themed issues remain a staple of its publishing calendar, covering topics like fashion, innovation, and design, but Drummond points to the Rich List and Young Rich editions as the most significant additions of his tenure.
“Two of the big changes in my time have been to create a dedicated Rich List issue and a dedicated Young Rich issue,” he said.
These lists are now consistently among the most-read features.
“In this issue, you’ll see a feature on the architect William Smart,” Drummond explained. “He did designed Judith Neilson’s White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney, and he’s also done buildings for Andrew Forrest.”
Legacy instincts still hold true
AFR Magazine launched in 1995 under founding editor William Fraser with a clear goal: to reflect the tone and intellect of the Australian Financial Review. According to Drummond, that editorial DNA still runs through every issue.
“We looked forward to all the things that are happening now with many of the Dynasty’s – the Fairfaxes, the Hancocks, the Packers, the Murdochs. That was pretty much a Rich List story,” he said.
“That is bang on the content that our digital readers want to read.”
He adds: “I look at that first year and I think: this is what AFR Magazine is. It’s about people at the top of their game.”
From fashion spreads to global interviews
The anniversary edition builds on that legacy with features on leaders in technology, politics and business. Drummond travelled to Brisbane to report on the Olympics transformation, while the magazine flew its technology editor to San Francisco for the Altman interview.
“It just shows that the calibre of people, even the people who are leading the revolution around generative AI, they want to be in a printed magazine.”
The team also spoke with Lewinsky about public life, legacy, and the personal cost of global infamy. “We interviewed Monica Lewinsky in the US, because 30 years ago is when she was working in the White House for Bill Clinton. So we interviewed her about what’s changed in 30 years, and what hasn’t.”
Print still matters in the digital era
Despite digital dominance, Drummond is adamant that high-quality print remains irreplaceable.
“The people at the vanguard of revolutions still know that print magazines are unbeatable when it comes to quality, for storytelling, for journalism, for escapism, for inspiration, for just enjoyment and time well spent,” he said.
He sees a unique appeal in a curated, finite print product, especially in contrast to endless digital scroll. “It quietens the brain down… that sense of calm and flow state, compared to how you feel when you’re scrolling on your phone. It’s very different.”
Changing mix of advertisers
AFR Magazine’s success is closely tied to a stable of luxury advertisers, a mix that’s evolved in response to shifts in both industry economics and consumer sentiment.
“If you go back to the early years of AFR Magazine, it was full of car ads. Now in my time, the car ads have all but disappeared,” Drummond said.
But that may be shifting again.
“The car ads are coming back because the car industry needs its products to be seen as luxury products.”
He notes that finance brands are also returning, driven by a desire for higher-impact campaigns: “We feel that there’s a calibre of advertiser who understands that eyeballs is not everything. What really counts is brainwaves.”
The future of human-made content
As artificial intelligence reshapes creative industries, Drummond sees an opportunity for print to reaffirm its human roots.
“There’ll be more and more of a craving for some product which has been manufactured, curated, and produced by a team of humans,” he said. “The value of that physical printed product is going to stay just as valuable, if not more, as we get more and more content being driven by machines.”
Reflecting on the magazine’s origins, Drummond sums up its mission simply: “This magazine needed to encapsulate, in magazine form, the tone, the intellect, the style, the interests of the Australian Financial Review newspaper.”
That remains the case: thirty years in, and counting.