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Chapter 9
Magazines in the Age of Specialization
In this chapter, we will:
• Investigate the history of the magazine industry, highlighting the colonial and early American eras, the
arrival of national magazines, and the development of photojournalism
• Focus on the age of muckraking and the rise of general-interest and consumer magazines in the modern
American era
• Look at the decline of mass market magazines, the impact of TV and the Internet, and how magazines
have specialized in order to survive in a fragmented and converged market
• Investigate the organization and economics of magazines and their function in a democracy
Preview Story: Cosmopolitan, launched in 1886, has been an illustrated monthly, a literary magazine, a
muckraking magazine, a literary monthly targeted to women, and a top women’s fashion magazine.
I. The Early History of Magazines
A. The First Magazines.
B. Magazines in Colonial America.
C. U.S. Magazines in the Nineteenth Century.
D. National, Women’s, and Illustrated Magazines.
II. The Development of Modern American Magazines
A. Social Reform and the Muckrakers.
B. The Rise of General-Interest Magazines.
1. Saturday Evening Post.
2. Reader’s Digest.
3. Time.
4. Life.
C. The Fall of General-Interest Magazines.
1. TV Guide Is Born.
2. Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Look Expire.
3. People Puts Life Back into Magazines.
D. Convergence: Magazines Confront the Digital Age.
1. Magazines Move Online.
2. Paperless: Magazines Embrace Digital Content.
III. The Domination of Specialization
A. Men’s and Women’s Magazines.
B. Sports, Entertainment, and Leisure Magazines.
C. Magazines for the Ages.
D. Elite Magazines.
E. Minority-Targeted Magazines.
F. Supermarket Tabloids.
IV. The Organization and Economics of Magazines
A. Magazine Departments and Duties.
1. Editorial and Production.
2. Advertising and Sales.
3. Circulation and Distribution.
B. Major Magazine Chains.
C. Alternative Voices.
V. Magazines in a Democratic Society
Case Study: The Evolution of Photojournalism
Tracking Technology: Paper Still Dominates Magazines in the Digital Age
Media Literacy and the Critical Process: Uncovering American Beauty
Digital Job Outlook: Media Professionals Speak about Jobs in the Magazine Industry
LECTURE IDEAS
Preview Story
• Discuss how Cosmopolitan engaged in convergence in a pre-electronic, pre-digital era by serializing
books by writers like H. G. Wells (The War of the Worlds, 1897). Cosmopolitan was not unique in
this regard. In the nineteenth century, magazines like Atlantic Monthly and Scribner's Monthly printed
work by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry James, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Arthur Conan Doyle,
and George Eliot—before the installments were published as books.
I. The Early History of Magazines
• Discuss the ways in which the look and feel of magazines has changed along with society, from the
early text-only magazines to the inclusion of illustrations, then photographs, and now multimedia
content like slide shows and video.
II. The Development of Modern American Magazines
• We like to talk about Theodore Roosevelt (“TR”) when we discuss muckraking reporters who wrote
for magazines such as McClure’s and the early Cosmo (whose muckraking past is often met with
disbelief from our students). There’s a good TR quote that is worth drawing your students’ attention to:
“Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know
when to stop raking the muck.” This president was himself a reformist and was involved in many
antitrust actions during his presidency (much to the chagrin of big business), but at times he was also at
odds with reporters, whom he felt raked up too much muck and caused his administration problems.
When talking about TR, it’s also helpful to use David Grubin’s TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt,
which aired as part of the PBS/American Experience series on U.S. presidents in the late 1990s
(available for purchase through http://www.shoppbs.org). We especially recommend the section called
“The Bully Pulpit.”
• Discuss how magazines and the Internet have converged in the last twenty years. Compare the
magazine.
• Magazines for touchscreen tablets capitalize on the mass customization trend. Much like customized
Google or Yahoo! home pages, magazines like Flipboard and AOL’s Editions allow readers to pull
content from a variety of sources—such as blogs, friends’ Facebook and Twitter pages, and other
magazine and news sites—and access it through a single, easy-to-use, magazine-like interface with
social sharing capabilities. These “magazines” update with the individual content providers, making it
a hyperindividualized, personal experience and truly reinventing the magazine for the tablet. Yahoo!
and Google are also working on their own social magazine apps. (Google tried to buy Flipboard, but
its offer was refused.)
• According to a June 2010 New York Times article, Issuu is “a Web platform where, for $19 a month,
anyone can upload a PDF and instantly create an online magazine that looks like a print one.” Such
innovations have allowed print magazines to transition online. However, the online interior design
magazine Lonny shows how online magazines can be much more for readers and advertisers. The
magazine’s Web site directly links readers to more information about featured products (including
where to buy them), making it an attractive option for advertisers. As Adam L. Penenberg, a
journalism professor at New York University, stated in the same article, “You’ll know a new
narrative form has emerged when you have to consume a particular story on an iPad to truly
III. The Domination of Specialization
• Discuss the magazine industry’s early niche-marketing strategies once television began to snatch
sponsors. Link these strategies to those of radio.
• In the 1950s, businesses began to realize that teenagers were a potentially lucrative market segment,
with more than $9 billion in disposable income to spend. Rock and roll and movies were targeted at
teens, and magazines began targeting them, too. In the first edition of ‘Teen magazine in June 1957,
the editors announced that their publication was “born into a generation that has finally come to
recognize persons between the ages of 13 and 19 as a distinct cultural group.” By 2015, Seventeen
maintained a circulation of two million.
• Surpassing even teen magazines, the fastest growing age-related magazine is AARP The Magazine.
• AARP’s magazine circulation of more than 22 million is the largest in the nation, dwarfing the
next three combined. The second largest magazine is Better Homes and Gardens (7.6 million
subscribers). The third and fourth most widely circulated are Game Informer Magazine (almost 6.9
million) and AAA Living (almost 5 million). Other magazines with more than three million paid
• So many of the magazine’s subscribers die off every year that it needs to attract new and
younger members just as quickly.
• Explain the various categories and types of magazines. Elaborate on some of the leading American
magazines, and touch on their histories and their impact on the magazine industry and on American
culture.
Magazines that have had an impact:
• Rolling Stone: Fred Woodward became art director of Rolling Stone in 1987 and changed art
design with his eclectic and powerful use of type as a primary design element.
• Elle: Launched in 1985, Elle transformed American fashion photography from the all-American
Condé Nast style to a vibrant, multicultural approach. The magazine’s decision to use models of
different ages, races, and shapes was considered daring.
• Spy: Like Elle, Spy, begun in the mid-1980s, had a huge impact on design and editorial
innovations. Funny charts, “Separated at Birth” photo features (later made into paperback books), and
splashy bits of color are now common in many magazines. Spy’s hallmark snideness and irreverence
also gave the mainstream media permission to be a bit more strident and cutting-edge. The
magazine’s approach was ultimately more appropriate in the 1980s; by the mid-1990s, moods had
shifted, and the magazine folded.
• Wired: Launched in 1993 as a member of the Condé Nast magazine group, Wired calls itself the
“journal of record for the future.” Focusing on people, companies, and ideas within the high-tech
industries, Wired’s splashy design has also taken magazine art direction to daring new levels.
• Texas Monthly: Beginning in 1973, Texas Monthly has set the standard for regional magazines,
with often groundbreaking articles on politics, the environment, industry, and education. The
magazine calls itself (and it is) the “indispensable authority on the Texas scene.”
• Discuss how the changing demographics of the United States are widening the market for minority-
targeted magazines. Evaluate growth niche markets in this area.
IV. The Organization and Economics of Magazines
• Discuss the launching of popular magazines and what it takes for a magazine to succeed.
• One way that many young people break into the magazine business’s editorial side is through the
fact-checking department. Before an article is published, magazine fact checkers carefully go over
it, correcting inaccurate spellings, double-checking dates and figures, tracking down and verifying
every tidbit of data, and affirming that a person quoted meant what he or she said. It is a time-
• Women’s magazines have taken another hit because of the growth of superstores. With many
checkout lanes, not all of which are stocked with magazines, people are moving through the
supermarket more quickly and are no longer lingering as long in front of glossy magazine titles.
Shopping magazines are putting pressure on traditional women’s and men’s magazines to adapt.
For example, the companion Web site to Vogue, Style.com, offers an online store allowing readers
to purchase products featured in the magazines.
• Advertiser pressure to dictate a magazine’s editorial content is mounting. Here are a few examples:
• Fortune magazine did a cover story on Louis Gerstner Jr., the CEO of IBM. The article hailed
him for doing a good job but also called him arrogant, brusque, and obsessed with status. Gerstner
didn’t like the piece, however, and soon thereafter announced that all Lotus advertising would be
pulled from Fortune indefinitely (Lotus is a subsidiary of IBM). The move cost Fortune an
estimated $6 million a year for its editorial audacity.
• Walmart and a number of other supermarkets and big discount chains are reserving the right to
review (and reject) editorial copy and magazine covers before magazines are placed in their stores.
Many of these magazines are obliging by (1) altering their content or (2) sending advance copies
for preapproval, thus allowing only certain issues, and not the magazine title, to be pulled. Because
supermarkets and big discount chains control about half of the single-copy sales of U.S. magazines,
the magazine industry is forced to work within their rules.
V. Magazines in a Democratic Society
• Discuss magazines as important vehicles for democracy: political pamphlets, muckraking
publications, and today’s political interest magazines.
• Discuss the specialization, advertising, and ownership patterns of the magazine industry and what
sort of positive and negative impact these patterns may have on democracy.
MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES
MAGAZINES AND YOU
Ask students how they access magazine content: Do they subscribe and received print copies or electronic
copies? Do they use magazine Web sites? Do they view magazines on Snapchat?
Follow up by discussing whether students share magazine content with others. Highlight differences
in the functions that various print media (books, newspapers, and magazines) have for individuals and for
our culture. Show students the YouTube video “A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV-yaFmQNk) as a opener to a discussion about generational
differences in media use.
MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS
Using a few sample magazines in class, discuss the following issues related to magazine
advertisements:
• Are ads placed in proximity to editorial content of a related topic (e.g., suntan lotion or sunglasses
ads next to an article about beach vacations)?
• How aesthetically similar are the ads and editorial content (e.g., the style of a magazine’s fashion
ads and its photo shoot)?
• Do some ads seem to be at odds with the editorial content (e.g., cigarette ads in a youth-oriented
magazine)?
• Do ad pages outnumber editorial content pages?
• Do ad pages make it hard to find the magazine’s table of contents?
• Do ads add a positive experience to magazine reading?
• Do they seem to influence magazine content?
• Can a magazine’s credibility be damaged by too much adherence to advertiser values?
• Are some magazines purchased largely for the ads?
THE SHELF LIFE OF A MAGAZINE
Pre-Exercise Question: Do we experience magazines more the way we do newspapers (read and
discarded each day) or the way we do books (read and stored on bookshelves)?
Ask your students to consider the way they or other people in their home use magazines. How did the
magazines get there? Which ones (if any) were part of a paid subscription, purchased at a newsstand,
received in the mail for free, or passed along? Are the magazines read by one or many people in the
home? Do the magazines get passed on to others outside the home? How long are the magazines kept?
Are they archived, given away, or thrown out? Are some pages ripped out, hung up, mailed off, or saved
for a specific reason?
IDEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN NEWS MAGAZINES
The purpose of this Critical Process exercise is to appreciate the ideological diversity of weekly
newsmagazines. Work with a partner or in small groups. (This project could also be converted into a
formal argument paper.)
1. Description. Take a recent issue of the mainstream newsweekly Time and review all the articles,
including the various topics covered, the writing style and tone, the level of analysis within the
articles, and the information sources employed. In the same manner, review all the articles in a
recent issue of the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard and the progressive magazine the
Nation, each of which has a fraction of Time’s circulation. (Other political magazines may be
substituted.) To add another dimension to your research, review the ads in each magazine.
2. Analysis. Devise a chart to organize your findings according to (a) the stories covered and (b) the
way the stories are covered. What patterns emerge? How do the publications differ? What do you
notice about the advertisers in each magazine?
3. Interpretation. The Weekly Standard and the Nation represent competing visions of society. To
what extent are their viewpoints also reflected in the mainstream media? Why do you think certain
topics covered in these magazines are included/excluded from mainstream magazines like Time?
4. Evaluation. What value do magazines like the Weekly Standard and the Nation add to the debate on
various social issues? What other mass media (television, radio, etc.) regularly cover the same
issues from their political perspective? Should their views be reflected more in the mainstream
media? What would this public dialogue look like? If people read only mainstream media, what
would they be missing?
5. Engagement. Keep track of what may be missing in the mainstream media sphere by reading
magazines that offer alternatives, and make sure you read articles that you don’t agree with. Try
dipping into the following conservative publications: the National Review, the Weekly Standard,
and the American Conservative. Likewise, sample the stories from the Nation, the Progressive, and
Mother Jones. Begin to question your own ideology. Where do you stand on these important
issues? Finally, impress your friends with your knowledge, and inspire them to start reading more.
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN EDITORIAL CONTENT AND ADS
Pre-Exercise Question: Imagine you’re a magazine editor and have just published a well-researched
article on the potentially dangerous side effects of a new diet drug. The article is one of a series on the
hazards of diet drugs. The advertising executive for the manufacturer of the drug, who buys a significant
amount of advertising in your publication for its many products, calls and says, “Don’t ever run an article
like that again.” What would you do?
This Critical Process exercise looks at the relationship between editorial content and advertisements
in magazines and at how magazines cope with the desire for editorial independence and the drive for
advertising revenue.
1. Description. Select a magazine (or several magazines). Chart the kinds of ads (cigarettes,
automobiles, cosmetics, exercise equipment, etc.) that appear in the magazines. Then note the
editorial content of the magazine(s), including the stories, photographs, and other features.
2. Analysis. How similar are the ads and the editorial content? Are ads placed in proximity to editorial
content on a related topic (e.g., suntan lotion or sunglasses ads next to an article about beach
vacations)? How similar aesthetically are the ads and editorial content (e.g., the style of a
magazine’s photo shoot and its fashion ads)? Is the similarity more common in special-interest
magazines? Are there ads that seem to be at odds with the editorial content (e.g., cigarette ads in a
youth-oriented magazine)? Do ad pages outnumber editorial pages?
3. Interpretation. Do advertisements seem to influence magazine content? Can a magazine’s
credibility be compromised by too much adherence to advertiser values? Explain.
4. Evaluation. Can there be a desirable balance between advertisements and editorial content? Would
magazines be better without advertisements?
5. Engagement. Send letters to the editors of magazines that seem to ignore or soft-pedal topics that
might offend advertisers. Or join the efforts of a nonprofit organization like the Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids, which monitors tobacco advertising in youth-oriented magazines.
Option: The Pre-Exercise Question could also be addressed by a discussion exercise in which a
magazine’s editorial policy is developed to handle these kinds of situations.
TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MAGAZINE INDUSTRY: A SEMESTER-
LONG CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER
In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become familiar
with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which correspond with the steps in
the Critical Process.
1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the magazine
industry. Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional societies. (Links to
Web sites of some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom Media Sources below.) Take
notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the current year. What issues or
developments in the industry have received a lot of recent attention, discussion, or commentary in
industry sources? (Focus only on information from the current year—and only from trade sources.)
Write a one-page synopsis of the information you found about current topics in the industry. Cite your
sources properly.
2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade sites
and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one or two pages
with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track news about your
topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.
3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How? What
does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our culture or our
society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our lives? Write up your
interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis of the trend, with proper
citations.) You might not have to provide information from your sources for the next four pages
because this section is your interpretation of the trend. (Save any ideas you have about whether the
trend is “good” or “bad” for the Evaluation step of the Critical Process.)
4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad?” For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us? What
do you think might happen in the future?
5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)? Possibilities
include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting people in the industry to
see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going to an industry event if any are held
nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not motivated to take action.)
Note: This exercise works well if each step of the Critical Process is due two weeks after the prior step is
due. Limiting students to only trade sources and only information from the current year helps keep them
on track. Your institution’s librarians should be able to provide students with information on how to
access industry trade sources.
CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE: http://www.macmillanhighered.com/mediaculture11e
The Power of Photojournalism (2010, 8:16 minutes). Part one of a two-part series, this video attempts to
define and explain photojournalism.
Magazine Specialization Today (2009, 3:58 minutes). Magazine editors discuss the original motivations
for magazine specialization and how the market and the Internet are changing the industry. Featuring
Mike Molenda, Ernie Rideout, and Matt York.
Narrowcasting in Magazines (2009, 1:46 minutes). Magazine editors explain the benefits and
consequences of narrowcasting. Featuring Mike Molenda, Ernie Rideout, and Matt York.
Magazines on Screen: 13 Going on 30 (2004, 1:47). This brief clip from the film 13 Going on 30 shows
Jenna, played by Jennifer Garner, making a pitch to revamp the magazine where she works.
VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS
The Devil Wears Prada (2006, 110 minutes). Anne Hathaway stars as the assistant to a demanding editor
(played by Meryl Streep) in the high-pressure atmosphere of a top fashion magazine.
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011, 92 minutes). Documentary about fashion icon and her
work at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
Magazine Industry (1997, 29 minutes). This program examines the evolution of the magazine industry
during the twentieth century (part of the Film, TV, and Media Today ten-part series). Distributed by
Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 800-322-8755; http://www.films.com/.
Margaret Bourke-White (1989, 105 minutes). TV biopic about the life of the path-breaking
photojournalist.
The September Issue (2009, 90 minutes). Behind-the-scenes documentary about Vogue editor-in-chief
Anna Wintour and the making of the Vogue issue for September, 2007.
Theodore Roosevelt (1996, 240 minutes). Part of the Presidents’ Collection by American Experience
documentary producer David Grubin, this film tells the story of TR. The film is particularly useful for
its description of TR on the “bully pulpit” in the age of muckraking magazine journalism. We
recommend the six-minute excerpt titled “The Bully Pulpit.” Distributed by PBS Video, 800-531
-4727; http://www.shoppbs.org.
WEB SITES
Alliance for Audited Media (merger of Audit Bureau of Circulations and Certified Audit of Circulations):
https://auditedmedia.com
American Society of Magazine Editors: http://www.magazine.org/asme
Condé Nast: http://www.condenast.com
Folio: http://www.foliomag.com
Hearst Corporation: http://www.hearst.com
Meredith Publishing Company: http://www.meredith.com
min (Media Industry News): http://www.minonline.com
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media: http://www.magazine.org
Professional Publishers Association: http://www.ppa.co.uk
Salon: http://www.salon.com
Slate: http://www.slate.com
TV Guide Online: http://www.tvguide.com
FURTHER READING
Baughman, James L. Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media. Boston: Twayne, 1987.
Bird, S. Elizabeth. For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids. Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press, 1992.
Brady, Kathleen. Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker. New York: Seaview/Putnam, 1984.
Felsenthal, Carol. Citizen Newhouse: Portrait of a Media Merchant. New York: Seven Stories, 1998.
Kaplan, Justin. Lincoln Steffens: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
Knecht, G. Bruce. “No Offense: Big Retail Chains Get Special Advance Looks at Magazine Contents.”
Wall Street Journal, October 22, 1997, vol. C., no. 80, pp. A1, A15.
Ledbetter, James. Starving to Death on $200 Million: The Short, Absurd Life of the Industry Standard.
New York: Public Affairs, 2003.
Mott, Frank Luther. History of American Magazines. Vol. I, 1741–1850; vol. II, 1850–1865; vol. III,
1865–1885; vol. IV, 1885–1905; vol. V, 1905–1930. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1930–1968.
Regier, Cornelius C. The Era of the Muckrakers. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1932.
Serrin, Judith, and William Serrin, eds. Muckraking! The Journalism That Changed America. New York:
New Press, 2002.
Shapiro, Bruce, ed. Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America. New
York: Nation, 2003.
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: Signet, 1905, 1960.
Steinem, Gloria. “Sex, Lies, and Advertising.” Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader.
Ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1995, pp. 112–120.
Taft, William H. American Magazines for the 1980s. New York: Hastings House, 1982.
Tarbell, Ida. All in the Day’s Work: An Autobiography. New York: Macmillan, 1937.
———. The History of the Standard Oil Company. 2 vols. New York: McClure, 1904.
Tebbel, John. The American Magazine: A Compact History. New York: Hawthorne, 1969.
Tebbel, John, and Mary Ellen Zuckerman. The Magazine in America, 1741–1900. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1991.
Wolseley, Roland E. The Changing Magazine: Trends in Readership and Management. New York:
Hastings House, 1973.
