Magazines in the Age of Specialization

Chapter 9

The Story of Cosmopolitan “The story of how a ’60s

babe named Helen Gurley Brown (you’ve

probably heard of her) transformed an antiquated general-interest mag called Cosmopolitan into the must-read for young, sexy single

chicks is pretty damn amazing.”

-Cosmopolitan magazine

The First Magazines • The first magazines probably developed in

seventeenth-century France as catalogue

extensions of the book-publishing industry.

• The Review o First political magazine

o Appeared in London in 1704

o Edited by Daniel Defoe

o Printed sporadically until 1713

• Other magazines from this time o Tatler

o Spectator

o Gentleman’s Magazine

Magazines in Colonial America

• Magazines developed slowly. o Served politicians, the

educated, and the merchant classes

o Documented early American life

• First colonial magazines (1741) o American Magazine

o General Magazine and Historical Chronicle

• About 100 magazines by 1776

U.S. Magazines in the Nineteenth Century

• Growth of the magazine industry was slow

after the revolution.

o High delivery costs

o Still, most communities had their own weekly

magazine by 1825.

• Specialized magazines emerged.

o Religious, literary, and professional

• First general-interest magazine

o Saturday Evening Post

National, Women’s, and Illustrated Magazines

• Growth of the

magazine market o Improved literacy, public

education

o Better printing, postal

technology

• Sarah Josepha Hale o First magazine targeting

females

o Ladies’ Magazine

• Merged with Godey’s

Lady’s Book

• Helped to educate lower-

and middle-class women

denied higher education

The Development of Modern American Magazines

• Postal Act of 1879 o Lowered postage rates

o Increased magazine circulation

• Advertising revenues soared.

• Advertisers o Used magazines to capture

attention and build a national marketplace

• Ladies’ Home Journal o First with a circulation of one

million

Social Reform and the Muckrakers

• Rise in circulation

coincided with rapid

social changes. o Magazines allowed journalists

to write in depth about issues.

• Muckrackers o Investigative journalists

o Raised awareness, leading to

the Pure Food and Drug Act,

the Meat Inspection Act, and

antitrust laws

Social Reform and the Muckrakers

• Some newspaper reporters became dissatisfied

with conventional journalism and turned to

magazines, where they could write about broader

issues in greater depth.

• President Theodore Roosevelt dubbed these

reporters muckrakers in 1906 because they were

willing to crawl around in society’s muck to uncover

a story.

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines

• General-interest

magazines o Prominent after WWI through

the 1950s

o Combined investigative

journalism with broad national

topics

o Photojournalism

• Gave magazines a visual

advantage over radio

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)

• Prominent general-

interest magazines o Saturday Evening Post

o Reader’s Digest

o Time

o Life

• Pass-along readership o Total number of people who

came into contact with a

single copy

The Fall of General-Interest Magazines

• Began in the late 1950s o Changing consumer tastes,

rising postal costs, falling ad

revenues, and television

• TV Guide o Highlighted interest in

specialized magazines

o Growing power of checkout

lines

o Growing power of television

The Fall of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)

• Saturday Evening Post,

Life, and Look fold o Sold issues at a loss to maintain

circulation figures

o Ad dollars split with television

o Increased postal rates

• General magazines

that survived tended to be women’s magazines.

Table 9.1: Top 10 Magazines

The Fall of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)

• People o Launched in 1974

o First successful magazine of its

kind in decades

o Some charge that People is too

specialized to be mass market,

with its focus on celebrities,

music, and pop culture.

Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age

• Magazines embrace digital content. o Webzines Online-only

magazines such as Salon and Slate pioneered the Webzine format, making the Internet a legitimate source for news as well as discussion of culture and politics.

o

Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age

• Although once viewed

as the death knell of

print magazines, the

industry now embraces

the Internet.

• Magazines move online. o Magazine companion Web

sites ideal for increasing reach of consumer magazines

o Feature original content

The Domination of Specialization

• Magazines grouped by

two important

characteristics o Advertiser type

• Consumer

• Business or trade

• Farm

o Target demographics

• Gender, age, or ethnic

group

• Audience interest area

(sports, literature, tabloids)

The Domination of Specialization (cont.)

• Magazines are also

broken down by target

audience. o Men and women

o Sports, entertainment, and

leisure

o Age-group specific

o Elite magazines aimed at

cultural minorities

o Minorities

o Supermarket tabloids

The Domination of Specialization (cont.)

• With increases in

Hispanic populations,

magazines appealing

to Spanish-speaking

readers have

developed rapidly.

Magazine Departments and Duties

• Editorial o Publisher, editor-in-chief,

managing editors, and subeditors

o Subeditors oversee photography, illustrations, reporting and writing, copyediting, layout, and print and multimedia design

• Production and technology o Maintains computer and

printing hardware

• Advertising and sales o Secures clients, arranges

promotions, and places ads

o Rate cards indicate ad

sizes/prices

• Circulation and

distribution o Monitors single-copy and

subscription sales

o Subscriptions may be paid,

evergreen, controlled, or digital

Major Magazine Chains • Time, Inc.

o Largest magazine chain in United States

• Advance Publications (Condé Nast) o Force in upscale magazines

• Rodale o Publishes health and wellness

titles

• Meredith Corporation o Specializes in women’s, home-

related magazines

Figure 9.1: Revenue Growth of Top

Magazine Companies, 2008-2010

Major Magazine Chains (cont.)

• Hearst Corporation o Publishes Cosmopolitan, Elle, O

• Many American magazines have carved out global market niches.

• Many major publishers operate custom publishing divisions. o Produce magalogs

• a combination of a magazine and a catalogue

Alternative Voices • Alternative magazines

o Have historically defined

themselves through politics

• What constitutes an

alternative magazine has

broadened over time.

o “Zines” are self-published

magazines.

o Some have achieved

mainstream success.

• National Review and

Mother Jones

Magazines in a Democratic Society

• Magazines have played a central role in

transforming the United States from a producer

society to a consumer society. o Diminished national voice today

• Contemporary magazines help us think about

ourselves as participants in a democracy.

Magazines in a Democratic Society (cont.)

• We are often viewed as consumers

first and citizens second. o Magazines are growing increasingly dependent on advertising.

o Readers are just viewers and purchasers of material goods.

• Good magazines maintain our connection to

words in an increasingly digital culture.