magazines in the age of specialization chapter 9
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Magazines in the Age of Specialization
Chapter 9
![Page 2: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Magazine Specialization
Like radio, magazines specialized to survive television.
– Ex. TV Guide. Also an early example of media convergence
Developed market niches to cope– Appealed to advertisers who wanted specific audiences
Defined by gender, age, race, class, or social and cultural interests
More than 22,000 commercial, alternative, and noncommercial publications and newsletters are published in the U.S. today.
![Page 3: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Early History of Magazines
Defoe’s Review, 1704– For elites– Political commentary– Looked like a newspaper
Gentleman’s Magazine, 1731– Samuel Johnson– Alexander Pope
![Page 4: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Colonial Magazines
No middle class– Often unaffordable
No widespread literacy Served political, commercial, and cultural
concerns Ben Franklin, in Philadelphia
– General Magazine Ruthlessly suppressed competition Used privileged position as postmaster
By 1776 about 100 magazines in colonies
![Page 5: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Saturday Evening Post
Longest-running magazine in U.S. history Started by Alexander and Coate, 1821 First major magazine to appeal directly to
women First important general-interest magazine
aimed at national audience
![Page 6: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
The National Magazine
Better, cheaper technology Fed growing literacy and education Better distribution and transportation Most aimed at women
– Sara Josepha Hale: Ladies’ Magazine– Godey’s Lady Book
E. L. Godkin’s Nation, 1865– Oldest continuously published magazine
![Page 7: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Modern American Magazines
Postal Act of 1879 lowered postage rates.– Equal footing with newspapers delivered by mail
By late 1800s, advertising revenues soared.– Captured customers’ attention and built national
marketplace
The magazine became an instrument of emerging American nationalism.
– Readers no longer maintained only local or regional identities.
![Page 8: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Muckrakers
Teddy Roosevelt coins term in 1906. Early form of investigative reporting Journalists discouraged with newspapers sought
out magazines where they could write in depth about broader issues.
Not without personal risk to reporter Famous American muckrakers:
– Ida Tarbell takes on Standard Oil– Lincoln Steffens takes on city hall– Upton Sinclair takes on meatpacking industry
![Page 9: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
General-Interest Magazines
Popular after WWI from 1920s to 1950s Combined investigative journalism with broad
national topics Rise of photojournalism plays a prominent
role in general-interest magazines.
![Page 10: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
The General-Interest “Bigs”
Saturday Evening Post– 300+ cover illustrations by Norman Rockwell
Reader’s Digest– Applicability, lasting interest, constructiveness
Time– Interpretive journalism using reporter search teams– Increasingly conservative as became more successful
Life– Oversized pictorial weekly– Pass-along readership of more than 17 million
![Page 11: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Modern Challenges to Photojournalism
“Original film has qualities that make it easy to determine whether it has been tampered
with. Digital images, by contrast, can be easily altered.”
—Christopher R. Harris
![Page 12: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Decline of General-Interest Magazines
Advertising money shifts to TV.– TV Guide is born.
Paper costs rise in early 1970s– Life– Look– Saturday Evening Post– …all fail
But many women’s magazines survive. People, 1974, is first successful mass market
magazine in decades.
![Page 13: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Fragmentation of the Industry
In 2006, the Magazine Publishers of America trade organization listed more than forty special categories of consumer magazines.
![Page 14: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Magazine Classifications
Leisure, sports, and music– E.g., Playboy, Soap Opera Digest, Sports Illustrated,
Rolling Stone Travel and geography
– E.g., Smithsonian, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic
Age-group specific– E.g., Highlights for Children, Teen People, AARP The
Magazine Elite magazines and cultural minorities
– E.g., The New Yorker, the New Republic, Ebony, Imagen
![Page 15: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Web Magazines
By 2006, the three most popular Internet magazines were Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Sports Illustrated, with entrepreneur.com scoring “6 million unique visitors” in February 2006.
![Page 16: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Tabloids
National Enquirer is founded in 1926 by Hearst.
News Corp. launches Star in 1974. In early 1990s tabloid circulation numbers
start to decrease.
“I love talking to witches and Satanists and vampire hunters, and people who have been kidnapped by UFOs — it sure beats covering zoning board meetings.”
—Cliff Linedecker
![Page 17: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Magazine Structure
Production– Machines and paper– Layout and design
Editorial– Content, writing quality, publication focus, and mission
Advertising and sales– Manage the income stream from ads
Circulation and distribution– Either “paid” or “controlled”
![Page 18: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Chains
Hearst Condé Nast Advance Publications Time, Inc. PRIMEDIA Hachette Filipacchi Rodale Meredith
![Page 19: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Media Giant
![Page 20: Magazines in the Age of Specialization Chapter 9](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022072010/56649daa5503460f94a98b9d/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Contemporary Magazines
Fewer than 90 U.S. magazines sell to more than 1 million readers.
The other nearly 19,000 U.S. magazines struggle to find a niche.