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Magazines and Photojournalism's Golden Age (short article)

Mark Twain and travel writing (short article)

Magazines are an important part of the profession of journalism. They have a long and distinguished history, and they continue to make significant contributions to the news of the day.

Magazines have contributed or pioneered a number of important aspects to American journalism, including

• investigative reporting
• photojournalism
• the personality profile
• narrative journalistic writing (in the newsmagazine style)


Notes

John H. Johnson. The nation lost one of its media pioneers on Monday, Aug. 8, 2005, with the death of John H. Johnson. He was the Chicago entrepaneur and publisher who recognized that blacks aspired to be better off and have more -- and that they were gaining the ability to pay for it. His magazines, including Negro Digest, Ebony and Jet, gave voice to a rising black middle class that emerged from World War II. It was a time when blacks were often degraded or more commonly ignored by white owned and operated media. But Johnson saw the rise of of black artists, athletes and actors as indicative of what all blacks aspired to -- making life better for themselves and their children. Johnson's death has been overshadowed by that of ABC news anchor Peter Jennings, which is too bad. Johnson's effect on the mass media of the 20th century, and on American society itself, has been profound.
More (Posted Aug. 10, 2005)

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 startup. 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.

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.)

State of magazine journalism. The Project for Excellence in Journalism has produced an extensive report on the state of the news media in 2004. The section on magazines begins this way:

Magazines often are harbingers of change. When large social, economic or technological shifts begin to reshape the culture, magazines frequently are the first media to move, and the structure of the industry is one reason. Unlike newspapers, most magazines are not so tied to a specific geographic area, but are instead centered on interests or niches. Writers are looking for trends. Publishers can more quickly than in other media add and subtract titles aimed at specific audience segments or interests. Advertisers, in turn, can take their dollars to hot titles of the moment aimed at particular demographics. (More)

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