A magazine is a
periodical publication
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...
, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of
content
Content or contents may refer to:
Media
* Content (media), information or experience provided to audience or end-users by publishers or media producers
** Content industry, an umbrella term that encompasses companies owning and providing mas ...
. They are generally financed by
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
,
purchase price
Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing proc ...
, prepaid
subscriptions
The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...
, or by a combination of the three.
Definition
In the technical sense a ''
journal
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' has continuous pagination throughout a volume. Thus ''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', which starts each issue anew with page one, is a magazine, but the ''
Journal of Business Communication'', which continues the same sequence of pagination throughout the coterminous year, is a journal. Some professional or
trade publications
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...
are also
peer-reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
, for example the ''
Journal of Accountancy''. Non-peer-reviewed academic or professional publications are generally ''professional magazines''. That a publication calls itself a ''journal'' does not make it a journal in the technical sense; ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' is actually a
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
.
Etymology
The word "magazine" derives from Arabic , the plural of meaning "depot, storehouse" (originally military storehouse); that comes to English via
Middle French
Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which:
* the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...
and Italian .
In its original sense, the word "magazine" referred to a storage space or device.
In the case of written publication, it refers to a collection of
written
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
article
Article often refers to:
* Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness
* Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication
Article may also refer to:
...
s. This explains why magazine publications share the word with
gunpowder magazine
A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications ...
s,
artillery magazines,
firearm magazine
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridge (firear ...
s, and in French and Russian (adopted from French as ),
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...
s such as
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...
s.
Distribution
![German Printmagazines](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/German_Printmagazines.jpg)
Print magazines can be distributed through the
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...
, through sales by
newsstands,
bookstore
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...
s, or other vendors, or through free distribution at selected pick-up locations.
Electronic distribution
Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and othe ...
methods can include
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
,
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...
,
news aggregator
In computing, a news aggregator, also termed a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or simply an aggregator, is client software or a web application that aggregates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs, ...
s, and visibility of a publication's
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...
and
search engine
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
results. The traditional subscription business models for distribution fall into three main categories:
Paid circulation
In this model, the magazine is sold to readers for a price, either on a per-issue basis or by subscription, where an annual fee or monthly price is paid and issues are sent by post to readers. Paid circulation allows for defined readership statistics.
Non-paid circulation
This means that there is no cover price and issues are given away, for example in street dispensers, airline, or included with other products or publications. Because this model involves giving issues away to unspecific populations, the statistics only entail the number of issues distributed, and not who reads them.
Controlled circulation
This is the model used by many trade magazines (industry-based periodicals) distributed only to qualifying readers, often for free and determined by some form of survey. Because of costs (e.g., printing and postage) associated with the medium of print, publishers may not distribute free copies to everyone who requests one (unqualified leads); instead, they operate under controlled circulation, deciding who may receive free subscriptions based on each person's qualification as a member of the trade (and likelihood of buying, for example, likelihood of having corporate purchasing authority, as determined from job title). This allows a high level of certainty that advertisements will be received by the advertiser's target audience, and it avoids wasted printing and distribution expenses. This latter model was widely used before the rise of the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
and is still employed by some titles. For example, in the United Kingdom, a number of computer-industry magazines use this model, including ''
Computer Weekly
''Computer Weekly'' is a digital magazine and website for IT professionals in the United Kingdom. It was formerly published as a weekly print magazine by Reed Business Information for over 45 years. Topics covered within the magazine include outs ...
'' and ''
Computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
'', and in finance, ''
Waters Magazine''. For the global media industry, an example would be ''
VideoAge International
''VideoAge International'' is a TV trade magazine based in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles, California and Milan, Italy.
Known simply as ''VideoAge'', it is published by TV Trade Media, Inc. Its subtitle is "The Business Journal of Fil ...
.''
History
The earliest example of magazines was ''
Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen'', a literary and philosophy magazine, which was launched in 1663 in Germany.
''
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...
'', first published in 1731 in London was the first general-interest magazine.
Edward Cave, who edited ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine", on the analogy of a military storehouse, the quote being: "a monthly collection, to treasure up as in a magazine". Founded by
Herbert Ingram
Herbert Ingram (27 May 1811 – 8 September 1860) was a British journalist and politician. He is considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of ''The Illustrated London News'', the first illustrated magazine. He was a ...
in 1842, ''
The Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'' was the first
illustrated
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
weekly news magazine.
Britain
The oldest consumer magazine still in print is ''
The Scots Magazine
''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
'', which was first published in 1739, though multiple changes in ownership and gaps in publication totalling over 90 years weaken that claim. ''
Lloyd's List
''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...
'' was founded in Edward Lloyd's England coffee shop in 1734; and though its online platform is still updated daily it has not been published as a magazine since 2013 after 274 years.
France
![GazettedeFrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/GazettedeFrance.jpg)
Under the ancient regime, the most prominent magazines were ''
Mercure de France
The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.
The gazette was published ...
'', ''
Journal des sçavans
The ''Journal des sçavans'' (later renamed ''Journal des savans'' and then ''Journal des savants,'' lit. ''Journal of the Learned''), established by Denis de Sallo, is the earliest academic journal published in Europe. It is thought to be the ea ...
'', founded in 1665 for scientists, and ''
Gazette de France
''La Gazette'' (), originally ''Gazette de France'', was the first weekly magazine published in France. It was founded by Théophraste Renaudot and published its first edition on 30 May 1631. It progressively became the mouthpiece of one roy ...
'', founded in 1631.
Jean Loret was one of France's first journalists. He disseminated the weekly news of music, dance and Parisian society from 1650 until 1665 in verse, in what he called a ''gazette burlesque'', assembled in three volumes of ''La Muse historique'' (1650, 1660, 1665). The French press lagged a generation behind the British, for they catered to the needs of the aristocracy, while the newer British counterparts were oriented toward the middle and working classes.
Periodicals were censored by the central government in Paris. They were not totally quiescent politically—often they criticized Church abuses and bureaucratic ineptitude. They supported the monarchy and they played at most a small role in stimulating the revolution. During the Revolution, new periodicals played central roles as propaganda organs for various factions.
Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat (; born Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the '' sans-culottes'', a radica ...
(1743–1793) was the most prominent editor. His ''
L'Ami du peuple'' advocated vigorously for the rights of the lower classes against the enemies of the people Marat hated; it closed when he was assassinated. After 1800 Napoleon reimposed strict censorship.
Magazines flourished after Napoleon left in 1815. Most were based in Paris and most emphasized literature, poetry and stories. They served religious, cultural and political communities. In times of political crisis they expressed and helped shape the views of their readership and thereby were major elements in the changing political culture. For example, there were eight Catholic periodicals in 1830 in Paris. None were officially owned or sponsored by the Church and they reflected a range of opinion among educated Catholics about current issues, such as the 1830 July Revolution that overthrew the Bourbon monarchy. Several were strong supporters of the Bourbon kings, but all eight ultimately urged support for the new government, putting their appeals in terms of preserving civil order. They often discussed the relationship between church and state. Generally, they urged priests to focus on spiritual matters and not engage in politics. Historian M. Patricia Dougherty says this process created a distance between the Church and the new monarch and enabled Catholics to develop a new understanding of church-state relationships and the source of political authority.
Turkey
General
The ''Moniteur Ottoman'' was a gazette written in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and first published in 1831 on the order of
Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
. It was the first
official gazette
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, edited by Alexandre Blacque at the expense of the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The name ...
. Its name perhaps referred to the French newspaper ''
Le Moniteur Universel
was a French newspaper founded in Paris on November 24, 1789 under the title by Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, and which ceased publication on December 31, 1868. It was the main French newspaper during the French Revolution and was for a long tim ...
''. It was issued weekly. ''
Takvim-i vekayi
''Takvim-i Vekayi'' ( ota, تقویم وقایع, meaning "Calendar of Events") was the first fully Turkish language newspaper. It was launched in 1831 by Sultan Mahmud II, taking over from the '' Moniteur ottoman'' as the Official Gazette of the ...
'' was published a few months later, intended as a translation of the ''Moniteur'' into
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
. After having been edited by former Consul for Denmark "''M. Franceschi''", and later on by "''Hassuna de Ghiez''", it was lastly edited by Lucien Rouet. However, facing the hostility of embassies, it was closed in the 1840s.
Satire
Satirical magazines of Turkey have a long tradition. One of the earliest satirical magazines was ''
Diyojen
''Diyojen'' (“Diogenes“) was the first Ottoman satirical magazine of the Ottoman Empire. The first issue was published in Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code ...
'' which was launched in 1869. There are around 20 satirical magazines; the leading ones are ''
Penguen
''Penguen'' ( en, Penguin) was a satirical magazine published in Turkey and distributed also to Northern Cyprus.
History and profile
''Penguen'' was founded in 2002 by Metin Üstündağ, Selçuk Erdem, Erdil Yaşaroğlu and Bahadır Barute ...
'' (70,000 weekly circulation), ''LeMan'' (50,000) and ''Uykusuz''. Historical examples include
Oğuz Aral
Oğuz Aral (1936 – 26 July 2004) was a Turkish political cartoonist and comics artist, known for his satirical style. He was also active as a theatre designer, playwright, ceramist and animator, establishing the first Turkish animation studio. ...
's magazine ''
Gırgır
''Gırgır'' (meaning ''Fun'' in English) was a Turkish weekly humor magazine published from 1972 to 1993 in Turkey.
History and profile
''Gırgır'' was founded by the brothers Oğuz Aral (1936-2004) and Tekin Aral (1941-1999). After having sta ...
'' (which reached a circulation of 500,000 in the 1970s) and ''
Marko Paşa
''Marko Paşa'' (literally ''Marco Pasha'') was a weekly political satire magazine which was in circulation between 1946 and 1950. The magazine was based in Istanbul, Turkey, and subtitled, ''Political Satire Periodical for the People''. It is o ...
'' (launched 1946). Others include ''L-Manyak'' and ''Lombak''.
United States
Colonial America
Publishing was a very expensive industry in colonial times. Paper and printer's ink were taxed imported goods and their quality was inconsistent.
Interstate tariffs and a poor road system hindered distribution, even on a regional scale. Many magazines were launched, most failing within a few editions, but publishers kept trying.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
is said to have envisioned one of the first magazines of the American colonies in 1741, the ''General Magazine and Historical Chronicle''. The ''Pennsylvania Magazine'', edited by
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
, ran only for a short time but was a very influential publication during the
Revolutionary War. The final issue containing the text of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
was published in 1776.
Late 19th century
![Harper's January](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Harper%27s_January.png)
In the mid-19th century, monthly magazines gained popularity. They were general interest to begin, containing some news, vignettes, poems, history, political events, and social discussion. Unlike newspapers, they were more of a monthly record of current events along with entertaining stories, poems, and pictures. The first periodicals to branch out from news were
''Harper's'' and ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', which focused on fostering the arts.
[Biagi, Shirley. Media Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media, 2013 Update. Cengage Publishing, 2013. Textbook.] Both ''Harper's'' and ''The Atlantic'' persist to this day, with Harper's being a cultural magazine and The Atlantic focusing mainly on world events. Early publications of Harper's even held famous works such as early publications of
''Moby Dick'' or famous events such as the laying of the world's first
transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
; however, the majority of early content was trickle down from British events.
The development of the magazines stimulated an increase in literary criticism and political debate, moving towards more opinionated pieces from the objective newspapers.
The increased time between prints and the greater amount of space to write provided a forum for public arguments by scholars and critical observers.
The early periodical predecessors to magazines started to evolve to modern definition in the late 1800s.
Works slowly became more specialized and the general discussion or cultural periodicals were forced to adapt to a consumer market which yearned for more localization of issues and events.
Progressive Era: 1890s–1920s
![LIFEMagazine10Jul1924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/LIFEMagazine10Jul1924.jpg)
Mass circulation magazines became much more common after 1900, some with circulations in the hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Some passed the million-mark in the 1920s. It was an age of
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit informati ...
. Because of the rapid expansion of national advertising, the cover price fell sharply to about 10 cents. One cause was the heavy coverage of corruption in politics, local government and big business, especially by ''Muckrakers.'' They were journalists who wrote for popular magazines to expose social and political sins and shortcomings. They relied on their own
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...
reporting; muckrakers often worked to expose social ills and corporate and
political corruption. Muckraking magazines–notably ''
McClure's
''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...
''–took on corporate monopolies and crooked
political machines while raising public awareness of chronic urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, and
social issues like
child labor
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
.
The journalists who specialized in exposing waste, corruption, and scandal operated at the state and local level, like
Ray Stannard Baker
Ray Stannard Baker (April 17, 1870 – July 12, 1946) (also known by his pen name David Grayson) was an American journalist, historian, biographer, and author.
Biography
Baker was born in Lansing, Michigan. After graduating from the Michigan ...
,
George Creel
George Edward Creel (December 1, 1876 – October 2, 1953) was an American investigative journalist and writer, a politician and government official. He served as the head of the United States Committee on Public Information, a propaganda organ ...
, and
Brand Whitlock. Others like
Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...
exposed political corruption in many large cities;
Ida Tarbell
Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857January 6, 1944) was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pione ...
went after
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
's
Standard Oil Company.
Samuel Hopkins Adams
Samuel Hopkins Adams (January 26, 1871 – November 16, 1958) was an American writer who was an investigative journalist and muckraker.
Background
Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York. Adams was a muckraker, known for exposing public-health inju ...
in 1905 showed the fraud involved in many patent medicines,
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...
's 1906 novel ''
The Jungle
''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers we ...
'' gave a horrid portrayal of how meat was packed, and, also in 1906,
David Graham Phillips
David Graham Phillips (October 31, 1867 – January 24, 1911) was an American novelist and journalist of the muckraker tradition.
Early life
Phillips was born in Madison, Indiana. After graduating from high school, Phillips entered Asbury ...
unleashed a blistering indictment of the U.S. Senate. Roosevelt gave these journalists their nickname when he complained that they were not being helpful by raking up all the muck.
1930s–1990s
21st century
According to the Research Department of
Statista
Statista is an online platform specialized in market and consumer data, which offers statistics & reports, market insights, cosumer insights and company insights in German, English, Spanish and French. In addition to publicly available thi ...
, closures of magazines outnumbered launches in North America during 2009. Although both figures declined during 2010–2015, launches outnumbered closures in each of those years, sometimes by a 3:1 ratio. Focusing more narrowly, MediaFinder.com found that 93 new magazines launched during the first six months of 2014 while only 30 closed in that time frame. The category which produced the most new publications was "Regional interest", of which six new magazines were launched, including ''12th & Broad'' and ''Craft Beer & Brewing''. However, two magazines had to change their print schedules. Johnson Publishing's ''Jet'' stopped printing regular issues making the transition to digital format, however still print an annual print edition. ''Ladies' Home Journal'' stopped their monthly schedule and home delivery for subscribers to become a quarterly newsstand-only special interest publication.
![NMA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/NMA.0031686%2C_Fashion_Photo_by_Gunnar_Lundh_1941.jpg)
According to statistics from the end of 2013, subscription levels for 22 of the top 25 magazines declined from 2012 to 2013, with just ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', ''
Glamour'' and ''
ESPN The Magazine
''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...
'' gaining numbers.
Women's magazines
The "seven sisters" of American women's magazines are ''
Ladies' Home Journal'', ''
Good Housekeeping
''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...
'', ''
McCall's
''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...
'', ''
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 f ...
'', ''
Redbook'', ''
Family Circle
''Family Circle'' was an American magazine that covered such topics as homemaking, recipes, and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a group of sev ...
'' and ''
Better Homes and Gardens''. Some magazines like ''
Godey's Lady's Book
''Godey's Lady's Book'', alternatively known as ''Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book'', was an American women's magazine that was published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1878. It was the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civil ...
'' and ''
Harper's Bazaar'' were intended exclusively for a female audience, emphasizing the traditional gender roles of the 19th century. ''Harper's Bazaar'' was the first to focus exclusively on
couture fashion, fashion accessories and textiles. The inclusion of
didactic content about housekeeping may have increased the appeal of the magazine for a broader audience of women and men concerned about the frivolity of a fashion magazine.
[
]
Types
Targeting women
Fashion
In the 1920s, new magazines appealed to young German women with a sensuous image and advertisements for the appropriate clothes and accessories they would want to purchase. The glossy pages of '' Die Dame'' and ''Das Blatt der Hausfrau'' displayed the "Neue Frauen", "New Girl" – what Americans called the flapper. This ideal young woman was chic, financially independent, and an eager consumer of the latest fashions. Magazines kept her up to date on fashion, arts, sports, and modern technology such as automobiles and telephones.
Parenting
The first women's magazine targeted toward wives and mothers was published in 1852. Through the use of advice columns, advertisements
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
, and various publications related to parenting
Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for ...
, women's magazines have influenced views of mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
hood and child-rearing. Mass-marketed women's magazines have shaped and transformed cultural values related to parenting practices. As such, magazines targeting women and parenthood have exerted power and influence over ideas about motherhood and child-rearing.
Religion
Religious groups have used magazines for spreading and communicating religious doctrine for over 100 years. ''The Friend'' was founded in Philadelphia in 1827 at the time of a major Quaker schism; it has been continually published and was renamed ''Friends Journal
''Friends Journal'' is a monthly Quaker magazine that combines first-person narrative, reportage, poetry, and news. ''Friends Journal'' began publishing in 1827 and 1844 with the founding of ''The Friend'' (Orthodox, 1827—1955) and ''The Friend ...
'' when the rival Quaker groups formally reconciled in the mid-1950s.
Several Catholic magazines launched at the turn of the 20th century that still remain in circulation including; ''St. Anthony Messenger
''St. Anthony Messenger'' is a national Roman Catholic family magazine published by the Franciscan Friars (O.F.M.) of St. John the Baptist Province, Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States, with the explicit ecclesiastical approval of the Archb ...
'' founded in 1893 and published by the Franciscan Friars
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
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, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
(OFM) of St. John the Baptist Province, Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
, Los Angeles–based ''Tidings'', founded in 1895 (renamed ''Angelus
The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ o ...
'' in 2016), and published jointly by The Tidings Corporation and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...
, and ''Maryknoll'', founded in 1907 by the Foreign Mission Society of America which brings news about the organization's charitable and missionary work in over 100 countries. There are over 100 Catholic magazines published in the United States, and thousands globally which range in scope from inspirational messages to specific religious orders, faithful family life, to global issues facing the worldwide Church.
Jehovah's Witnesses' primary magazine, ''The Watchtower
''The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom'' is an illustrated religious magazine, published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Jehovah's Witnesses distribute ''The Watchtower—Public Edition'', along with its compa ...
'', was started by Charles Taze Russell
Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement. He was an ...
in July 1879 under the title ''Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence''. The public edition of the magazine is one of the most widely distributed magazines in the world, with an average printing of approximately 36 million per issue.
Celebrity, human interest, and gossip
Magazines publishing stories and photos of high-profile individuals and celebrities have long been a popular format in the United States. In 2019, ''People Magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the lar ...
'' ranked second behind ESPN Magazine in total reach with a reported reach of 98.51 million.
Professional
Professional magazines, also called trade magazines
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...
, or business-to-business magazines are targeted to readers employed in particular industries. These magazines typically cover industry trends and news of interest to professionals in the industry. Subscriptions often come with membership in a professional association
A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...
. Professional magazines may derive revenue from advertisement placements or advertorials
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.
In printed publications, ...
by companies selling products and services to a specific professional audience. Examples include ''Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'' and ''Automotive News
''Automotive News'' is a weekly newspaper written for the automotive industry, predominantly individuals corresponding with automobile manufacturers and automotive suppliers. Based in Detroit and owned by Crain Communications Inc, ''Automotive ...
''.
Cover
Being on the cover of certain magazines is considered an honor or distinction. Examples include ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', ''Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' and ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
''. See, for example:
* Lists of covers of ''Time'' magazine
* Lists of people on the United States cover of ''Rolling Stone''
* List of ''Vogue'' (US) cover models
* List of ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue cover models
See also cover art.
The magazine cover indicator
The Magazine cover indicator is a somewhat irreverent economic indicator, though sometimes taken seriously by technical analysts, which says that the cover story on the major business magazines, particularly ''BusinessWeek'', ''Forbes'' and ''For ...
is a not-too-serious economic indicator that is sometimes taken seriously by technical analysts.
See also
* History of journalism
The history of journalism spans the growth of technology and trade, marked by the advent of specialized techniques for gathering and disseminating information on a regular basis that has caused, as one history of journalism surmises, the steady i ...
* Automobile magazine
''Automobile'' was an American automobile magazine published by the Motor Trend Group. A group of former employees of ''Car and Driver'' led by David E. Davis founded ''Automobile'' in 1986 with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, u ...
s
* Boating magazine
A boating magazine is a publication whose main topic is boating, new boat reviews, boat motors and watersports. They can be aimed at different water sports enthusiasts including: cruisers, fishers, power boaters, skiers, sailors, racers, regional b ...
s
* British boys' magazines
Magazines intended for boys fall into one of three classifications. These are comics which tell the story by means of strip cartoons; story papers which have several short stories; and pulp magazines which have a single, but complete, novella ...
* Business magazines
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
Having a business name does not separat ...
* Computer magazine
Computer magazines are about computers and related subjects, such as networking and the Internet. Most computer magazines offer (or offered) advice, some offer programming tutorials, reviews of the latest technologies, and advertisements.
His ...
s
* Customer magazine
A customer magazine is a magazine produced by a business as a means of communicating to its customers. It is a branch of custom media, a product that broadly shares the look and feel of a newsstand or consumer magazine but is paid for in part ...
s
* Fantasy fiction magazine
A fantasy fiction magazine, or fantasy magazine, is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about such characters as Santa Claus. Also not included are ...
s
* Fashion journalism
Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about fashion events, trends and have to cultivate and maintain a relationship with stylists and designers. A fashion journ ...
* Horror fiction magazine
A horror fiction magazine is a magazine that publishes primarily horror fiction with the main purpose of frightening the reader. Horror magazines can be in print, on the internet, or both.
Major horror magazines
Defunct magazines
*''The Arkham ...
s
* Humor magazines
* Inflight magazine
An inflight magazine (or in-flight magazine) is a free magazine distributed via the seats of an airplane, by an airline company, or in an airport lounge.
Overview
Many airline companies, or a few key content creating companies, produce in-flig ...
s
* Lifestyle magazine
Lifestyle journalism is the field of journalism that provides news and opinion, often in an entertaining tone, regarding goods and services used by consumers in their everyday life. Lifestyle journalism covers travel, fashion, fitness, leisure, fo ...
* Literary magazines
* Luxury magazine A luxury magazine is a printed or online magazine marketed to the ultra-affluent that feature high-value products like sports cars, jewelry, mechanical watches, real estate, yachts, private jets and exotic vacations. Nationally, magazines such as R ...
s
* Music magazines
* News magazines
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or ne ...
* Online magazine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...
s
* Pornographic magazine
Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex or top-shelf magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is ...
s
* Pulp magazines
* Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet.
Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nove ...
s
* Scientific journals
* Shelter magazine A shelter magazine is a periodical publication with an editorial focus on interior design, architecture, home furnishings, and often gardening.
The term is most often used in the U.S. magazine publishing trade. The earliest example of this "chiefly ...
s (home design and decorating)
* Sports magazine
A sports magazine is usually a weekly, biweekly or monthly, magazine featuring articles or segments on sports. Some may be published a specific number of times per year. A wide range of sports are covered by these magazines which include genera ...
s
* Sunday magazine
A Sunday magazine is a publication inserted into a Sunday newspaper. It also has been known as a Sunday supplement, Sunday newspaper magazine or Sunday magazine section. Traditionally, the articles in these magazines cover a wide range of subject ...
s
* Teen magazine
Teen magazines are magazines aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts.
The teen magazine industry ...
s
* Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...
s
* Video magazines
* Zines
Lists
* List of 18th-century British periodicals
* List of 19th-century British periodicals
* List of amateur radio magazines
* List of architecture magazines
* List of art magazines
* List of avant-garde magazines
* List of computer magazines
* List of environmental periodicals
* List of fashion magazines
* List of food and drink magazines
* List of gadget magazines
* List of health and fitness magazines
* List of horticultural magazines
* List of lesbian periodicals
* List of LGBT periodicals
* List of literary magazines
* List of magazines by circulation
* :Lists of magazines by country, Lists of magazines by country
* List of manga magazines
* List of manga magazines published outside of Japan
* List of men's magazines
* List of music magazines
* List of online magazine archives
* List of political magazines
* List of pornographic magazines
* List of railroad-related periodicals
* List of satirical magazines
* List of science magazines
* List of travel magazines
* List of teen magazines
* List of video game magazines
* List of wildlife magazines
* List of women's magazines
Categories
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References
Further reading
* Angeletti, Norberto, and Alberto Oliva. ''Magazines That Make History: Their Origins, Development, and Influence'' (2004), covers ''Time'', ''Der Spiegel'', ''Life'', ''Paris Match'', ''National Geographic'', ''Reader's Digest'', ''¡Hola!'', and ''People''
* Brooker, Peter, and Andrew Thacker, eds. ''The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines: Volume I: Britain and Ireland 1880–1955'' (2009)
* Buxton, William J., and Catherine McKercher. "Newspapers, magazines and journalism in Canada: Towards a critical historiography." ''Acadiensis'' (1988) 28#1 pp. 103–12
in JSTOR
also online
* Cox, Howard and Simon Mowatt. ''Revolutions from Grub Street: A History of Magazine Publishing in Britain'' (2015
excerpt
* Würgler, Andreas
''National and Transnational News Distribution 1400–1800''
European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History (2010) retrieved: 17 December 2012.
United States
* Baughman, James L. ''Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media'' (2001
excerpt and text search
* Brinkley, Alan. ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century'', Alfred A. Knopf (2010) 531 pp.
*
Book review by Janet Maslin, ''The New York Times'', 19 April 2010
* Damon-Moore, Helen. ''Magazines for the Millions: Gender and Commerce in the Ladies' Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post, 1880–1910'' (1994
online
* Elson, Robert T. ''Time Inc: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1923–1941'' (1968); vol. 2: ''The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History, 1941–1960'' (1973), official corporate history
* Endres, Kathleen L. and Therese L. Lueck, eds. ''Women's Periodicals in the United States: Consumer Magazines'' (1995
online
* Haveman, Heather A. ''Magazines and the Making of America: Modernization, Community, and Print Culture, 1741–1860'' (Princeton UP, 2015)
* Johnson, Ronald Maberry and Abby Arthur Johnson. ''Propaganda and Aesthetics: The Literary Politics of Afro-American Magazines in the Twentieth Century'' (1979
online
* Mott, Frank Luther. ''A History of American Magazines'' (five volumes, 1930–1968), detailed coverage of all major magazines, 1741 to 1930 by a leading scholar.
* Nourie, Alan and Barbara Nourie. ''American Mass-Market Magazines'' (Greenwood Press, 1990
online
* Rooks, Noliwe M. ''Ladies' Pages: African American Women's Magazines and the Culture That Made Them'' (Rutgers UP, 2004
online
* Summer, David E. ''The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900'' (Peter Lang Publishing; 2010) 242 pages. Examines the rapid growth of magazines throughout the 20th century and analyzes the form's current decline.
* John William Tebbel, Tebbel, John, and Mary Ellen Zuckerman. ''The Magazine in America, 1741–1990'' (1991), popular history
* Wood, James P. ''Magazines in the United States: Their Social and Economic Influence'' (1949
online
* Zuckerman, Mary Ellen. ''A History of Popular Women's Magazines in the United States, 1792–1995'' (Greenwood Press, 1998
online
External links
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{{Authority control
Magazines,
Publications by format
History of mass media, Magazines
Magazine publishing
Newspapers
Promotion and marketing communications
Revenue models