Magazines: Early History First Magazines in London: 1704 The Review (Defoe) 1709 Tatler, later The Spectator (Addison and Steele) First Magazines in the colonies: 1741 American Magazine (Bradford) General Magazine (Franklin) Failed due to rural population who had no need for the magazine, postal costs and delivery problems.
Economics of Magazines Revenue News Stand Subscription Advertising Circulation Open Closed (0ften subsidized)
The Economics of Magazines Revenue Newstand Subscription Advertising (display and classified Circulation and Distribution Open Circulation Closed Circulation (Often subsidized)
Magazines: 1820-1840 Magazines established as a general interest medium (Saturday Evening Post, 1821; Sarah Godey Hale’s Ladies’ Magazine, 1828) . “The whole tendency of the age is Magazineward. The magazine in the end will be the most influential of all departments of letters.” Edgar Allen Poe
Magazines: 1840-1865 Magazines established a medium for national reporting and comment: Harper’s (1850) Atlantic Monthly (1851) The Nation (1865) . All these magazines continue to publish to this day.
The Modern American Magazine: 1890-1940 1. Postal Act of 1879: lower rates 2. Improved technology: mass production 3. Lower overall cost: more accessible to mass audience 4. Therefore: greater ad revenue Ladies Home Journal (Cyrus Curtis, 1883)
The Muckrakers These “rakers of muck” were at the forefront of the Progressive Reforms: their work was published in magazines such as McClure’s, Cosmopolitan, and Collier’s. Lincoln Steffens: Urban issues Ida Tarbell: Standard Oil Trust Upton Sinclair: Meat Packing Frank Norris: Wheat Trust
Magazines: 1920s-1930s • Major Developments: • News Magazines (Time, Newsweek) • Photo Magazines (Life, Look) • Digests (Reader’s Digest) • Apex of General Interest Magazines (Saturday Evening Post under Cyrus Curtis)
Magazines: 1950s onward • Death of the general interest magazine at the hands of television • Rise of TV Guide • Rebirth of general interest magazines with a celebrity focus (People, 1974) • Specialization by subject: regional editions split runs demographic emphasis • Fragmented marketplace
Magazines: Structure Editorial Production & Technology Advertising & Sales Circulation & Distribution
Magazines: Current Trends • Magazines for cultural minorities • Popularity of supermarket tabloids • Chain ownership (concentration) • Independent ‘zines • Internet magazines (Salon, Slate) • Role of magazines in public discourse: Are they still viable and vital?