1. Magazines in the Age of Specialization
Chapter 9
Magazines in the Age of Specialization

2. Online Image Library Go to www.bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture
to access the Media & Culture, 9th Edition Online Image Library.
The library contains all your favorite images from Media & Culture, 9th edition update!

3. 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

4. The First Magazines The Review Other magazines from this time
First political magazine
Appeared in London in 1704
Edited by Daniel Defoe
Printed sporadically until 1713
Other magazines from this time
Tatler
Spectator
Gentleman’s Magazine

5. Magazines in Colonial America
Magazines developed slowly.
Served politicians, the educated, and the merchant classes
Documented early American life
First colonial magazines (1741)
American Magazine
General Magazine and Historical Chronicle
About 100 magazines by 1776

6. U.S. Magazines in the Nineteenth Century
Growth of the magazine industry was slow after the revolution.
High delivery costs
Still, most communities had their own weekly magazine by 1825.
Specialized magazines emerged.
Religious, literary, and professional
First general-interest magazine
Saturday Evening Post

7. National, Women’s, and Illustrated Magazines
Growth of the magazine market
Improved literacy, public education
Better printing, postal technology
Sarah Josepha Hale
First magazine targeting females
Ladies’ Magazine
Merged with Godey’s Lady’s Book
Helped to educate lower- and middle-class women denied higher education

8. The Development of Modern American Magazines
Postal Act of 1879
Lowered postage rates
Increased magazine circulation
Advertising revenues soared.
Advertisers
Used magazines to capture attention and build a national marketplace
Ladies’ Home Journal
First with a circulation of one million

9. Social Reform and the Muckrakers
Rise in circulation coincided with rapid social changes.
Magazines allowed journalists to write in depth about issues.
Muckrackers
Investigative journalists
Raised awareness, leading to the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Meat Inspection Act, and antitrust laws

10. The Rise of General-Interest Magazines
Prominent after WWI through the 1950s
Combined investigative journalism with broad national topics
Photojournalism
Gave magazines a visual advantage over radio

11. The Rise of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)
Prominent general-interest magazines
Saturday Evening Post
Reader’s Digest
Time
Life
Pass-along readership
Total number of people who came into contact with a single copy

12. The Fall of General-Interest Magazines
Began in the late 1950s
Changing consumer tastes, rising postal costs, falling ad revenues, and television
TV Guide
Highlighted interest in specialized magazines
Growing power of checkout lines
Growing power of television

13. The Fall of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)
Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Look fold
Sold issues at a loss to maintain circulation figures
Ad dollars split with television
Increased postal rates
General magazines that survived tended to be women’s magazines.

14. Table 9.1: Top 10 Magazines

15. The Fall of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)
People
Launched in 1974
First successful magazine of its kind in decades
Some charge that People is too specialized to be mass market, with its focus on celebrities, music, and pop culture.

16. Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age
Magazines move online.
Magazine companion Web sites ideal for increasing reach of consumer magazines
Feature original content
Magazines embrace digital content.
Webzines made the Internet a legitimate site for breaking news and discussing culture and politics.

17. The Domination of Specialization
Magazines grouped by two important characteristics
Advertiser type
Consumer
Business or trade
Farm
Target demographics
Gender, age, or ethnic group
Audience interest area (sports, literature, tabloids)

18. The Domination of Specialization (cont.)
Magazines are also broken down by target audience.
Men and women
Sports, entertainment, and leisure
Age-group specific
Elite magazines aimed at cultural minorities
Minorities
Supermarket tabloids

19. Magazine Departments and Duties
Editorial
Publisher, editor-in-chief, managing editors, and subeditors
Subeditors oversee photography, illustrations, reporting and writing, copyediting, layout, and print and multimedia design
Production and technology
Maintains computer and printing hardware

20. Magazine Departments and Duties (cont.)
Advertising and sales
Secures clients, arranges promotions, and places ads
Rate cards indicate ad sizes/prices
Circulation and distribution
Monitors single-copy and subscription sales
Subscriptions may be paid, evergreen, controlled, or digital

21. Major Magazine Chains Time, Inc. Rodale Meredith Corporation
Largest magazine chain in United States
Advance Publications (Condé Nast)
Force in upscale magazines
Rodale
Publishes health and wellness titles
Meredith Corporation
Specializes in women’s, home-related magazines

22. Major Magazine Chains (cont.)
Hearst Corporation
Publishes Cosmopolitan, Elle, O
Many American magazines have carved out global market niches.
Many major publishers operate custom publishing divisions.
Produce magalogs

23. Figure 9.1: Revenue Growth of Top Magazine Companies, 2008-2010

24. Alternative Voices Alternative magazines
Have historically defined themselves through politics
What constitutes an alternative magazine has broadened over time.
“Zines” are self-published magazines.
Some have achieved mainstream success.
National Review and Mother Jones

25. Magazines in a Democratic Society
Magazines have played a central role in transforming the United States from a producer society to a consumer society.
Diminished national voice today
Contemporary magazines help us think about ourselves as participants in a democracy.

26. Magazines in a Democratic Society (cont.)
We are often viewed as consumers first and citizens second.
Magazines are growing increasingly dependent on advertising.
Readers are just viewers and purchasers of material goods.
Good magazines maintain our connection to words in an increasingly digital culture.