''Woman's Day'' is an Australian

women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *'' Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *''All ...

published by

Are Media Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010s ...

. It is Australia's highest selling weekly magazine.

History and profile

On August 16, 1948 Australian women got a new voice when (The Australian)

Woman's Day ''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was fir ...

rolled off the presses - promising a progressive mix of celebrity stories, fashion trends, creative cooking, Sage advice, fabulous fiction, medical tips and current events. The first cover was artwork featuring a child offering up a pink hyacinth snipped from her mother's favourite pot plant, sending a playful message to readers to "come and join the fun". Originally printed and published by Joseph Swanson Wilkinson of Toorak, Victoria for Cologravure Publications (The Herald & Weekly Times Limited). Subsequently the magazine became part of

ACP Magazines Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010 ...

, which in turn was owned by

Nine Entertainment Co Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brandi ...

which owns Australian

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. Because of this, ''Woman's Day'' often featured many stories either based on or in partnership with a Nine Network program, such as ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

''. The magazine became part of Bauer Media Group in 2012, after Nine Entertainment Co got into financial difficulties. It is published weekly by Bauer Media Pty Ltd and is headquartered in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Aimed at women aged 25 to 54, it continued to feature news but more recently gossip and interviews about Australian and international celebrities, as well as some

lifestyle Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bu ...

and

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s. Sales figures, readership and advertising revenue have fallen significantly in recent years, down from 405,000 weekly sales in 2010 to 330,000 in March 2014. Readership fell another 14.6% in the year ended 2014. In early April 2020, Bauer Media Australia announced that it would be closing ''Woman's Day'' as well as several Australian and New Zealand brands including ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' and ''

New Zealand Woman's Weekly The ''New Zealand Woman's Weekly'' is a weekly New Zealand women's magazine published by Are Media. , it had a circulation of 82,040, third by paid sales after ''TV Guide'' and ''New Zealand Woman's Day''. History On 8 December 1932, journalis ...

'' in response to the economic downturn caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in Australia and New Zealand. On 17 June 2020, Australian investment company

Mercury Capital Mercury Capital is an Australian investment firm that owns a range of healthcare and media companies. Assets *Blue Star Group, acquired January 2013 *International Volunteer HQ, 80% shareholding acquired in November 2017 *Are Media, acquired i ...

acquired ''Woman's Day'' as part of its purchase of Bauer Media's Australian and New Zealand assets. On 17 July, Mercury Capital announced that it would be publishing ''Woman's Day'' and several other Australian and New Zealand titles. In late September 2020, Mercury Capital rebranded Bauer Media as

, which took over publication of ''Woman's Day''.

Controversies

In 2007, the magazine settled out of court with New Zealand television presenter

Charlotte Dawson Charlotte Dawson (8 April 1966 – 22 February 2014) was a New Zealand–Australian television personality. She was known in New Zealand for her roles as host of '' Getaway'', and in Australia as a host on ''The Contender Australia'' and as a ju ...

, who had sued the magazine over its coverage of her divorce. The magazine underwent significant layoffs in 2008. In November 2013, ''Woman's Day'' came under fire from its readers after a story featuring

Kate Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

, the

Duchess of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

, took issue with her appearance by comparing a photo of her before having her baby and after with the headline 'What's happened to Kate?' Criticism suggested that women who have just had a baby often look tired, and she was not wearing makeup in the second image like she was in the first. In 2014, television presenter

Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. In 2018 ...

began legal precedings against the magazine after it claimed he and his wife were in a rehab facility in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

for

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

addiction. Denyer claimed they had visited a rehab facility, but it was not for drug issues, and reaffirmed they did not have a drug addiction. The magazine backed the story saying Denyer's friends were their sources for the story. ''Woman's Day'' was criticised on the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's '' Media Watch'', in which it was described as "garbage journalism" for the use of sensationalist headlines and content.ABC ''Media Watch'' 7/7/14

References

External links

Woman's Day
{{Are Media 1953 establishments in Australia ACP magazine titles Are Media Weekly magazines published in Australia Women's magazines published in Australia Celebrity magazines Magazines established in 1953 Magazines published in Sydney