What magazines do you read and why? How much time do you spending reading magazines?

Have you ever thought of starting your own magazine? What interest group would be served by your magazine? Are there already magazines being published about this topic? Why would yours be different?

What magazines do friends of yours read? What magazines do other people in your family read?

What about a magazine is different from a newspaper?

Characteristics of magazines

• devoted to a particular topic, category of information or demographic group

• contains specialized, expert information

• contains information that goes beyond the daily news and news events associated with a topic

• different format and design – why is this important? What does the format and design tell you about who reads the public and how they read it?

• easy to handle

• periodic, regular publication

Journalistically, magazines are different from other media because

• no daily deadlines

• deal with interesting topics

• articles and pictures get better space and display

• more creative and personal writing style

• more impact and influence 

Magazines have pioneered different kinds of journalism

-- photojournalism

In the first three decades of the 20th century, newspaper devoted less and less space to illustrations, particularly photographs. But photography itself became more popular and equipment, and techniques improved. In 1936 Time, Inc. brought out Life magazine and instituted the Golden Age of Photojournalism, which lasted for about 40 years.
Photograpahy's golden age. One of the extras on this site is a short essay about the golden age of photojournalism. That age was spawned by magazines, particularly Life magazine, which began publishing in 1936. You can find more about this topic at the Library of Congress' American Memory web site, particularly in a collection from the 1930s and 1940s. It's worth noting that many of the great photographers of this era were women such as Dorthea Lange, who took the often seen photograph of a migrant mother in the 1930s (right). (With a little digging on the web, you can probably find the story of how this photo was taken.)

-- investigative journalism

The era around 1900 was known as the time of the “muckrakers.” A number of national magazines supported investigations into various ills of society – the rise of big corporations, the way in which low-wage workers were treated, the way food is processed, the types of medicines that were being marketed to the public. These investigations led to a number of important reforms in government. The Food and Drug Administration, for one, was the result of these reforms.

-- personality profile

Magazines have been able to go behind the events of the day to look at the people who were involved with the news. Famous people have always been of interest to us, and that is particularly the case today. Witness the huge circulations of magazines such as People and Us.

-- travel writing

Magazines of the 19th century took people to exciting and exotic places – locations they would never travel to themselves. And some of the best writers of the day were the top travel writers of the time. Mark Twain gained international fame through his writings about the places he visited.
Mark Twain and travel writing (short article)

-- newsmagazine narrative

Long narrative pieces that take a reader through a story from beginning to end are the forte of magazines – as opposed to the “most important information first” style of writing that you find in most newspapers.

-- news illustrations

Magazines were the first to display photographs and photographically-based illustrations. Today’s magazines display graphic illustrations that require many man-hours to produce.

Magazines need the following the start and survive:

• Idea

A magazine should have an identifiable purpose – one that can be stated succinctly. Often that purpose will revolve around a specific subject or topic. Sometimes it will revolve around a demographic group or even a geographic area. The purpose or idea of a magazine should be clear.

• Audience

If the idea for a magazine is any good, there will be a specific and identifiable audience for that magazine. This is a group of people – maybe geographically or demographically diverse, or maybe not – that share an interest in this idea or topic.  Their interest should be more than passing; it should be an interest to which the audience is devoted in terms of time or money – or both.

• Advertisers

Individuals and businesses that would like to sell products and services to this audience should also exist. A magazine should make selling certain products more efficient. A business may have a product or service that is appropriate for a group of people but not for everyone. A magazine that has potential customers for a product is very attractive to an advertiser.

Types of magazines

Consumer

Trade, business, professional

Sponsored or association

‘Zines

Magazines – how they operate

-- dynamic field

Magazine industry is dynamic and extremely competitive. One estimate is that between 50 and 75 magazines are begun each month; each is seeking to meld an idea with an audience and with advertisers (or sponsorship).
Mr. Magazine. One of the most interesting and up-to-date people keeping up with the magazine world is Samir Husni -- or, as he has tagged himself, Mr. Magazine. Husni is especially interested in monitoring magazine startups. These are new magazines that appear on the scene. Take a look at his web site and look at some of the latest magazines that are just begun. This chapter says that any magazine needs a clear editorial idea, an well-defined audience, and a set of advertisers that wants to sell products to that audience. Select one of the magazines that has just started and see if you can identify each of these three elements for that magazine. You can also go to this part of his web site to see the number of new startups this year. The graph compares it on a month-by-month basis to the startups of last year.

-- small staffs

Most magazines do not keep large editorial staffs. They have editors and designers and some writers (sometimes called contributing editors), but much of the content of magazines is produced by freelancers.

-- freelancing

Independent writers who take magazine writing assignments from editors. The graphic at the right shows how freelancing works.

-- circulation methods

Mostly mail; some news stand sales.

-- long lead times, planning

Most magazines are monthly, and issues are planned several months in advance. This scheduling means that magazine editors have to try to anticipate what will be of interest to their readers or what may be happening in the future. Sometimes this is simple (we know, for instance, that Christmas always occurs at the end of December or that the Super Bowl is at the end of January – if that is relevant).

-- cover designs

Covers are extremely important in the magazine world; much thought, planning and work – and expense – goes into a cover.

-- deadlines

An all-important fact of life in the magazine world.

-- advertising

Advertisers still like magazines very much; magazines are tangible, much more so than the web, and advertisers like to be associated with a good magazine – one that has excellent editorial content and good design.

-- influence of magazines

Magazines continue to have great influence and impact. Magazines cultivate their reputations over long periods of time, and those reputations become useful to the specialized audiences to which magazines appeal.

-- impact of the web?

Questions?