Magazines: The 1 st of the Specialized Media *History*Industry *Controversies

 The First Magazines  Appeared in Germany in 1663,  The first two magazines in America, ▪ Six months later both magazines had failed  By 1776, a hundred magazines had started and failed.

 Ladies’ Magazine - special interest magazine ▪ ▪ Began publishing in 1828, under Sarah Josepha Hale ▪ Expanded/Focused on Women’s Interests, issues & rights

 The first magazine to achieve a mass audience was ▪ The Saturday Evening Post.

 1900’s - Magazines crusaded for ▪ social reform through investigative & watchdog journalism ▪ Magazines were effective in providing in-depth investigations.  McClure’s Magazine ▪ Attacked the monopolistic practices of Standard Oil ▪ Exposed municipal corruption in several cities.

 Muckraking – Investigative Journalism – ▪ Articles led to child labor laws ▪ Workers compensation ▪ First congressional investigations.  Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 ▪ Passed because of the influence of muckraking reporting.

 Consumer Magazines  Primary genre of magazines available today ▪ News Magazines ▪ Women’s Magazines ▪ Men’s Magazines ▪ Hobby Magazines

 Mass Circulation Magazines  Cultural magazines ▪ The New Yorker, ▪ Pulps such as True Confessions.  Reader’s Digest, ▪ Featured brief versions of articles

 The first news magazine was Time, ▪ Originated the terms “photojournalism,” and “photo essay.”  Golden age of photojournalism began in 1930s ▪ Lasted until general-interest magazines declined in the 1960’s (What led to this decline?)

 Adapting to New Media  Magazines adapted to competition from new media.  Playboy  Magazines publish content on the Internet ▪ Cheaper - no paper, ink, or presses, ▪ No over runs, under runs or postal rates. ▪ Interactivity with readers is appealing to advertisers.

 Comic books ▪ Little advertising, smaller revenue ▪ Have been an important part of American culture. ▪ Any comic book readers in here? Which ones?  Zines ▪ Small, inexpensive publications - specific, usually obscure, topic.  Most Zines exist only on the Web. ▪ blogs are an online version of what Zines use to be.

 The Reader ▪ About 90% of US adults read 12 issues a month on average, ▪ More education/income means more magazines people read.  Pass-along circulation, ▪ More people than the original buyer/subscriber read them

 Magazines help define standards of beauty/looks ▪ What are some of these standards are?  As magazines continue to promote these standards ▪ Women & Men can become unhappy with their bodies  Ideas about looks, appearance, beauty, etc. ▪ Are shaped by images portrayed in magazines

 Airbrushing  The powers of digital technology have ignited a debate about the portrayal of women