Magazines

Characteristics of early magazines  Magazines filled gap btwn books/ newspapers  Mix of entertainment, culture, and commentary  Middle ground – many books and newspapers reached political and philosophical extremes prior to 20 th c.  Appealed to specific groups – advertising/ content geared to certain demographics (farmers, women, professionals)

1 st publications classified as magazines  “The Tatler”  “The Spectator”  Both published in England early 18 th c.

1 st U.S. magazines  Philadelphia 1741  Published by Benjamin Franklin and his rival, Andrew Bradford

Early magazines  “The Port Folio” 1815  “The North American Review” 1815  “The Saturday Evening Post” 1821

“Godey’s Lady’s Book”  1830  1 st magazine to cater specifically to women  1 st medium to identify an audience of its own

Other 19 th c. magazines  “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine”  “Atlantic Monthly”  “Gleason’s Pictorial”  “Harper’s Weekly”

“The Nation”  Est. at the close of the Civil War in 1865  Became preeminent as a journal of opinion

The Golden Age  Transcontinental RR opened channels of distribution  1879 Postal Act classified magazines within 2 nd class, cheaper distribution rate  Pulp paper made from cheaper wood  Improvements in printing presses  Invention of linotype (automatic typesetting) machine  Photographic reproduction techniques

# of magazines increases significantly  Industry “giants”: “Harper’s” “Scribner’s Monthly” “The Century”

Frank A. Munsey  Achieved vast circulation increases by imitating techniques used by penny newspapers in the 1830’s (shifting expenses to advertisers)  Reduced annual subscription price of “Munsey’s Magazine” from $3 to $1, and dropped price of single issue from $.25 to $.10

Other magazines followed Munsey’s lead  “Ladies’ Home Journal”, “McCall’s”, “Cosmopolitan”, “Collier’s:  Shifted expenses to advertisers  Joined competition for national advertisers

Characteristics of modern magazines  Low cost  Large circulation  Support from advertisers  Service to diverse audiences

Magazines’ impact on culture  Instrument of social reform Became known as“people’s champions” by investigating and exposing corruption and injustices in political, social, and business arenas Criticized by some for focusing on negative elements of society

Muckrakers -- journalists who attacked and sought changes from oil companies, meat- packing firms, medicine manufacturers, city govt.’s, labor organizations, U.S. Senate -- changes in business community were sparked; led to social reform

End of muckraking era  Brought on by U.S. entrance in WWI Magazines joined newspapers in promoting war effort with propaganda U.S. concern with war abroad eclipsed domestic problems

1930’s to 1950’s  Magazines became more attractive to audiences Improvements in production processes Bolder graphics Higher quality paper Emphasis on photojournalism

Magazine “giants”  “Reader’s Digest”  “Time”  “The New Yorker”  “The American Mercury”  “The Saturday Review of Literature”

Prominent business magazines  “Fortune”  “Business Week”  Founded in 1929  Both survived Great Depression and flourished

Magazine characteristics made famous during this period  Cover girl Color photos of suggestive models Competitive edge – bait for both male and female readers (men wanted them, women wanted to be them) “Life” “Look” “Esquire” – 1 st of the “slick” mens’s magazines

Television’s impact on magazines  1956, magazines began to go under due to lack of advertisers Costs of TV advertising comparable to magazine advertising; TV audience much larger TV offered dynamic ad presentations  Action, sound, and color (by 1960’s)

Subscription war  Early 1950’s to 1960’s  Added to economic strain from advertising losses  Magazines made an effort to reduce circulation in order to save money

Regional editions  “The Wall Street Journal” Began publishing in 4 regions as well as nationally Editorial content identical but advertising varied by region Advertisers able to reach particular regions at lower cost

Success of regional editions  Regional editions proved to be highly successful for specifically oriented journals “Time”, “Newsweek”)  Regional editions permitted advertisers and manufacturers to reach customers whose interest in news/ world affairs indicated high education level/ affluence (valuable to advertisers)  Product differentiation ingenious dvlpmt in advertising – could be done in magazines but not on TV

Most significant change in magazine industry  Due to competition from TV  Shift from national magazines of general interest (“Life”, “Look”) to more specialized publications  Most magazines today appeal to specific audiences in specific locales

The editorial task  From a production standpoint, magazines fall in between books and newspapers  Each issue prepared 4-6 months in advance of publication  Some articles written by staff, others contracted – balance of 2 techniques w/ edge toward staff writing b/c it is more reliable and cheaper

The editorial task, cont’d  Magazine editors try to maintain a consistent tone – a proven format of material that will appeal to the magazine’s specific readership

Gatekeeping function  Editor decides what gets printed  Dictated by rigid requirements of specific audience

Types of magazines  Entertainment/ escape “Cosmopolitan” “Esquire”  News/ information “Time” “Newsweek” “U.S. News and World Report”  Advocacy/ opinion Underground press Organizational/ corporate press Watchdog publications (i.e. “The Progressive”)

Top money makers  “Reader’s Digest”  “National Geographic”  “Time”  “People”