This research thesis investigates the adaptation of countercultural arts magazines to the digital age.

Countercultural magazines generally give a voice to lesser known and less established artists. To understand the background and context of such publications, the literature review establishes the
status of countercultural magazines and explains how they have been affected by the digital age.The works of visual theorists and critics are studied to understand how the media transmitted art to
consumers and how it compares with the online context. Zine making and independent publishing are also studied, to provide a perspective on grassroots types of publishing and to understand their values. The impact that digitisation and social media has had on media consumption will then be discussed, along with the impact of algorithms, to understand how the media has changed since
its arrival. Using social network analysis, opportunities for networking online amongst grassroots movements is also discussed. The research seeks to understand the effects that social media has had on artists, countercultural publishing and cultural consumption, in order to offer some insight on the challenges and opportunities for countercultural publications to adapt to an online context. The research uses constructivism to study archives and uses interpretivist and phenomenological research methods to engage with artists, cultural journalists, artists, and zine makers, to understand how cultural media operates in the current context. It explores how artists, writers, and editors themselves adapt to the digital age by conducting workshops which discuss the challenges
posed by the internet and how this affects them. Workshops enabled exploration of archival arts publications, to find learning from elements that could be beneficial to artists, journalists,
or countercultural publications if purposed for today. The historical material is compared with modern material to find how the internet has affected cultural media, while finding how it can most effectively adapt to it. Workshops involve input from artists, cultural journalists and zine makers from across Ireland and the UK.

The research finds that there are persistent issues relating to power structures between more mainstream culture and counterculture. Social media plays a large part in this, as the internet now
makes shorter, less considered, shareable work more viable due to the existence of algorithms. This has been to the detriment of some forms of art and writing. The research also identifies that
online spaces cater for many mediums on their platforms and can reproduce other mediums in a manner which was not possible before which means that there is now a greater range of
reproducibility possible. Grassroots and countercultural movements can use it to their advantage and create a more democratic forum than anything which existed before. Social media can also
be used to the benefit of these movements. However, the research also finds that importance is still placed on physical objects and spaces, and that online spaces create an ephemerality with
regards to payment. The research seeks to understand what importance online spaces hold, and whether there are ways in which publications can counter prevailing trends, use more considered
methods to display work online, and allow works to be fully appreciated in the same manner as the physical. The internet presents a large opportunity for countercultural movements and
publications to network and reach areas that may not have been possible before, and therefore use the platforms provided by digital platforms to their advantage.