1. Magazines: The age of Specialization
*History *Industry *Controversies

2. A Brief History of Magazines
The First Magazines
Appeared in 17th century France,
Magazine derives from “magasin” - French term for storehouse
The first two magazines in America,
Six months later both magazines had failed
By 1776, a hundred magazines had started and failed.

3. Magazines The first magazine to achieve a mass audience was
The Saturday Evening Post.

4. Magazines 1800’s led to idea of specialized magazines
Ladies Magazine - special interest magazine
Began publishing in 1828, under Sarah Josepha Hale
Expanded/Focused on Women’s Interests, issues & rights

5. Magazines 1900’s - Magazines crusaded for McClure’s Magazine
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.

6. Magazines 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.

7. Magazine Products Consumer Magazines
Primary genre of magazines available today
News Magazines
Women’s Magazines
Men’s Magazines
Hobby Magazines

8. Magazines Mass Circulation Magazines General Interest
Saturday Evening post
Reader’s Digest,
Life

9. First News Magazines 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?)

10. Magazines Adapting to New Media
Magazines adapted to competition from new media.
Use it to extend reach
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.

11. Magazines Adapting to New Media
Companion sites expands reach tremendously
Wired magazine
Print 853,000
Online 19,000,000

12. The age of domination Specialized magazines
Target audiences help magazines maintain readers
Men’s & Women’s Magazines
Sports, Entertainment and Leisure
Age based magazines
Elite Magazines
Minority-Targeted Magazines
Supermarket Tabloids (Magazine type)
Let’s try and identify 1 or 2 from each category

13. Online Magazine Publishing
Zines
Small, inexpensive publications - specific, usually obscure, topic.
Today Zines exist only on the Web.
Webzines are magazines that appear exclusively online
Salon
Slate

14. Understanding Today’s Magazine Publishing Industry
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

15. Media Literacy 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

16. Media Literacy Airbrushing
The powers of digital technology have ignited a debate about the portrayal of women