Magazines have evolved from early colonial publications that compiled material from other sources to the specialized magazines of today that target niche audiences and can influence social trends. Throughout history magazines have adapted to new technologies like better printing presses and digital/mobile formats while continuing to derive most revenue from advertising. The production process for magazines involves planning content, assigning articles, assembling draft layouts, and coordinating web and print publication schedules.

1. Magazines
Chapter 6

2. History
• In Colonial times the word magazine meant depository, or
warehouse
• This is what early magazines were -- a depository of material
cobbled from other sources: books, novels, pamphlets and
newspapers
• Benjamin Franklin originally had the idea, Andrew Bradford
beat him to publishing the first magazine -- both of their
magazines folded early on due to financial issues
• All of the early magazines were aimed at a specialized
audience --- exactly what modern magazines do

3. After the Revolution
• Most magazines of the time
were very politically oriented,
and aimed at an elite
audience
• The Niles Weekly Register
was the first newsmagazine

4. Penny Press era
• During this era, magazines became targeted
toward the everyday, average reader
• In the 1840s, the rise of women's magazines
show women's growing social and economic
importance

5. The Magazine Boom
• By the 1900s magazines
were booming, due in part to
better printing technology
and the Postal Act of 1879,
which gave magazines
special postal rates
• Muckrakers:
writers/publications that
exposed corrupt practices in
big business

6. Between the wars
Three major types of magazines:
1.The digest: people could read it in a hurry
2.The newsmagazine: narrative style, group
journalism
3.The pictorial magazine: featured photo
essays, celebrity images, pictures of current
events

7. Postwar period
• Trend toward specialization:
Field & Stream, Golf Digest,
Playboy
• The urban renewal of the
1960s brought about "city"
magazines (New York
magazine)
• 1950s saw the rise of the
black press with Ebony, Jet
and Tan

8. Contemporary
magazines
• Major decline in advertising
dollars, many print magazines
have folded (yet keep an online
presence)
• Facing marketing problems:
national do not call list makes it
difficult to get subscribers,
supermarkets limit shelf space for
magazines, big magazine sale
pushes by Publishers
Clearinghouse are in legal trouble
• Weak economy means fewer ad
dollars to go around, cable and
Internet efficiently reach the same
specialized audiences

9. Magazines in the
digital age
• Digital versions online, or for
mobile platforms
• User-generated content
• Social media

10. Defining features of
magazines
• Of all print media, they have the most
specialized audiences
• In tune with social, demographic, economic
trends (new magazines emerge resulting from
popular trends)
• Can influence social trends (Vogue, Playboy)

11. Organization of the
magazine industry
• General consumer magazine: can be acquired by
anyone, readers can buy the products and
services advertised in them
• Business publications: aka trade publications,
aimed at a specific business, industry or
profession
• Custom magazines: published by corporations
that try to keep existing customers satisfied, while
attracting new clients (Hilton's Grand Times)

12. Organization of the
magazine industry
• Literary reviews and academic journals:
published by nonprofit organizations and
universities, foundations or professional
organizations. Do not use advertising revenue.
• Newsletters: extremely specialized, small
circulations, high subscription prices
• Public relations magazines: published by a
sponsoring company, intended for one of their
publics

13. Functional Categories
• Production function: encompasses all the elements
necessary to put out a magazine
• Distribution function: handles the job of getting the
magazine to the reader.
• Two types of circulation: paid circulation, controlled
circulation
• Retail function: retailers agree to keep the magazines
on the shelf for a determined period of time

14. Circulation
• Paid circulation: periodicals that use paid
circulation qualify for lower postal rates,
provides revenue source for publishers,
also have the added expense of collecting
payments and keeping records. Most
consumer mags are paid circulation.
• Controlled circulation: publications using it
can reach all the personnel in a given field,
avoid costs associated with promoting
subscriptions, however they gain no
revenue from subscription or single copy
sales. Example: SkyMall

15. Producing the
magazine
• Circulation: responsible for keeping readers
satisfied and attracting new readers
• Advertising & Sales: selling space to advertisers
• Production: oversees the actual printing and
binding of the magazine
• Editorial: plans topics for upcoming issues, helps
out with various public relations activities.
Includes artwork and layout departments.

16. The production
process
• Preliminary planning: idea generation for upcoming issues
• Converting ideas to articles: setting deadlines, assigning
lengths and writers
• Putting together the dummy
• Schedules for publication are in place
• All pagination for web and print are done digitally
• Web articles may undergo a secondary editing process:
lengthening, adding multimedia elements

17. Economics
• Four basic sources of magazine revenue:
subscriptions, single copy sales, advertising,
ancillary services (e-commerce, custom
publishing, database assistance)
• Advertising generates the largest amount of
revenue
• More difficult for new magazines to get shelf
space in major retailers - decline in single-copy
sales

18. Feedback
• Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) provides reports for
magazines (pink sheet, every June and December)
• Rate base: the number of buyers guaranteed by the magazine,
also the number the magazine uses to compute advertising rates
• Primary audience: subscribers or single copy buyers
• Pass along audience: people who pick up a copy of a magazine
at a doctor's office, gym, hair salon
• Mediamark Research Inc.: provides data on total audience for
magazines

19. Magazine audiences
• About 11% of mags are single copy buys,
89% subscription
• 85% of adults interact with a magazine at
least once a month, most read more
• Typical reader is more educated and more
affluent than non readers