Magazines in the Age of

Specialization

Chapter 8

Online Image Library

Go to www.bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture/catalog

to access the Media & Culture, 8th Edition

Online Image Library.

The library contains all your favorite images from Media & Culture, 8th edition!

The Story of Cosmopolitan

60s - Helen Gurley Brown

Transformed antiquated general-interest mag

into the must-read for young, sexy single chicks

Magazines in Colonial America

• American colonies, early 1700s—no middle class, no widespread literacy

• Early magazines documented early American life.• Concerns over taxation, state vs. federal power,

etc.

Magazines in Colonial America

• Ben Franklin in Philadelphia• General Magazine

• Ruthlessly suppressed competition• Used privileged position as postmaster

• By 1776 about 100 magazines

in colonies

U.S. Magazines in the Nineteenth Century

• Increases in literacy and public education, combined with better printing and postal technology, created a bigger magazine market.

• The Nation (1865–present): Pioneered the national political magazine format

U.S. Magazines in the Nineteenth Century

“They spring up as fast as mushrooms, in every corner, and like all rapid vegetation, bear the seeds of early decay within them…and then comes a ‘frost,’ a killing frost,’ in the form of bills due and debts upaid…. The average age of periodicals in this country is found to be six months.”

NEW-YORK MIRROR, 1828

National, Women’s, and Illustrated Magazines

• Women’s magazines on the rise• Godey’s Lady Book (1830–1898)

• Helped to educate lower- and middle-class women denied higher education

Illustrated Magazines

The Development of Modern American Magazines

• Postal Act of 1879 lowered postage rates, increased magazine circulation.

• By late 1800s, advertising revenues soared.• Captured customers’ attention and built national marketplace

• Magazine circulation flourished.• Ladies’ Home Journal

• 1903—first magazine to reach a circulation of one million

Social Reform and the Muckrakers

• Teddy Roosevelt coins term in 1906.- willing to crawl through society’s muck to uncover a story.

• Early form of investigative reporting

Social Reform and the Muckrakers

• Journalists sought out magazines where they could write in depth about broader issues.

• Famous American muckrakers:

• Ida Tarbell, “The History of the Standard Oil Company” (oil monopoly)

• Lincoln Steffens, “Shame of the Cities” (urban problems)

• Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (meatpacking industry)

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines

• Popular after WWI from 1920s to 1950s

• Combined investigative journalism with broad national topics

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines

• Rise of photojournalism plays a prominent role in general-interest magazines.

• 1888 – Kodak photography for working & middle classes• Gave magazines a visual advantage over radio

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)

• Saturday Evening Post• 300+ cover illustrations by Norman Rockwell

• Reader’s Digest• Applicability, lasting interest, constructiveness

The Rise of General-Interest Magazines (cont.)

• Time• Interpretive journalism using reporter search teams

• Life• Oversized pictorial weekly• Pass-along readership of more than 17 million

Table 8.1

The Top 10 Magazines

(Ranked by Paid U.S. Circulation and Single-copy Sales,

1972 vs. 2009)

The Fall of General-Interest Magazines

• Nation fascinated with TV• TV Guide is born.

• Postal rates dramatically rise in early 1970s.• Life, Look, and Saturday Evening Post all fold by 1972.

The Fall of General-Interest Magazines

• Notable exception to decline of mass market magazines: People, 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.

Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age

• Magazine companion Web sites ideal for increasing reach of consumer magazines• Feature original content such as blogs, videos, social

networks, other interactive components

• Webzines made the Internet a legitimate site for culture, politics, current events.

Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age

The Domination of Specialization

• Magazines grouped by two important characteristics• Advertiser type

• Consumer • Business or trade• Farm

• Noncommercial category• Includes everything from activist newsletters to scholarly journals• Ad-free magazines like Ms., Cook’s Illustrated also included

The Domination of Specialization (cont.)

• Magazines also broken down by target audience

• Men and women

• Leisure, sports, and music

• Age-group specific

The Domination of Specialization (cont.)

• Magazines also broken down by target audience

•Elite magazines aimed at cultural

minorities

•Minorities

Magazine Departments and Duties

• Editorial• Content, writing quality, publication focus, and mission

• Production• Machines and paper• Layout and design

• Advertising and sales• Manage the income stream from ads

• Circulation and distribution• Either “paid” or “controlled”

Figure 8.1Top Magazine Companies by Total Circulation, 2010

What Time Warner OwnsBooks/Magazines• DC Entertainment– DC Comics– Mad magazine• Time Inc.– Coastal Living– Cooking Light– Entertainment Weekly– Essence– Fortune– Fortune Small Business– Golf– Health– InStyle– Money– People/People en Español– People StyleWatch– Real Simple– Southern Living– Sports Illustrated– This Old House

– Time• IPC Media (75 U.K.magazines)

Television/Cable• HBO– HBO– Cinemax• Turner BroadcastingSystem– Cartoon Network– CNN– HLN– TBS– TCM– TNT– truTV• Warner Bros. TelevisionGroup– The CW Network

– Telepictures Productions– Warner Bros. Television– Warner Bros. Animation– Warner Home Video

Movies• New Line Cinema• Warner Bros. Pictures• Warner Bros. TheatreVentures

Internet• 10best.com•CNN.com/CNNMoney.com• FanNation.com• Life.com (with Getty Images)• myrecipes.com• PeoplePets.com

Major Magazine Chains

• Time, Inc. • Largest magazine chain in U.S.

• Advance Publications• Owns Condé Nast, which controls magazines like Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue

• Rodale• Meredith Corporation

• Specializes in women’s, home-related magazines

• Hearst• Hachette Filipacchi

Alternative Voices• Many alternative magazines define themselves

through politics.• Struggle to serve small but loyal contingent of readers

• Some alternative magazines have achieved mainstream success.• Early 1980s—William F. Buckley’s National Review had

circulation of more than 100,000.

Magazines in a Democratic Society

• Magazines provide essential information about our society and unite groups of people.

• But magazines are growing increasingly dependent on advertising—readers are just viewers and purchasers of material goods.

How can magazines straddle the need to be both commercially and culturally viable?