What is it with home magazines right now?

[sunkengalleon]

I have a nasty house magazine habit - ideal homes, house beautiful etc etc. So far i've yet to read one which mentions the lockdown even in passing. The introductions are still about getting together for Mother's Day, Easter, bank holidays. Still have articles about days out and festivals (with dates for this year).

I'm starting to find it really off putting, but I guess there are others who might like an hour in a parallel non covid world.
Aibu to feel increasingly irritated by their refusal to even acknowledge reality??

I suspect it’s because each month’s edition is written and printed months before it’s actually published.

What Blogdog said. They will have gone to press before lockdown.

Magazines generally have a really long lead time; months and months and months.

They don’t have time machines and can’t travel back to change their content - you’d be surprised how far in advance they go to press.

Christmas editions are usually produced in August.
They’ll be interesting this year.

Well Mother's Day, Easter and the May Bank Holidays will be mentioned in the editions that come out a month before those actual dates so February, March and April. All prepared, written and sent to print before lockdown.

Three month lead times. We used to have Christmas in July!

I just received this month's copy of Elle, which absolutely acknowledges our new reality. If they can do it, I don't see why other magazines can't.
Magazines are dying off now - they need to keep relevant if they want to survive

As others have said, long lead times. I used to work for an in-store magazine for a major retailer and we'd be brainstorming xmas articles during the summer heatwave. It was quite surreal to go to tasting events in the sweltering heat and drink mulled wine.

They probably won't write any lockdown style articles because they would be inaccurate by the time it goes to press. Even writing stuff for online is tricky right now as things may be changing.

When I lived in California I went into a Restoration Hardware in August and it was decorated with christmas trees , snow , the lot.They were shooting a magazine spread for Christmas.

I'm currently writing an article for a trade publication that will reach readers in late June. Deadline is late next week. It's really tricky to know how to write it, given that so much is changing so quickly.

Looking at the leaked plan (which I'm obviously not working from!) much of what I've written so far risks being outdated by the time we go to print.

I can either do a really dull, generic piece with no information, or an informative piece based on what I have to work with at the time. I have to leave it in the hands of my editor and be ready to edit on the fly.

The Christmas thing i definitely recognise: trees in full leaf outside Xmas decorated homes!
I think at least an acknowledgement in the editors intro would make them look less in a weird bubble.

If I read these, I’d want escapism.