Chapter 5:Magazines

A Short History of Magazines

By mid-1700s, magazines were a favorite medium of the British elite Two prominent colonial printers—Andrew

Bradford and Benjamin Franklin—tried to duplicate that success in the New World and started the Magazine industry in the US

1825 = 100 magazines 1850 = 600 magazines 1870 = 1,200 magazines

A Short History of Magazines

The Mass Circulation Era In the 1870s, magazines sold for as little

as 10 and 15 cents By 1885 3,300 magazines were publishing

Women’s Magazines: Suffrage (social movement for women’s

rights) & homemaker magazinesPostal Act of 1879:

Allowed for mailing magazines at cheap second-class rates

A Short History of Magazines

The Mass Circulation Era Railroad helped to fuel growth of mass circulation magazinesAble to be distributed nationwide

A Short History of Magazines

The Mass Circulation Era As a result, magazines became

America’s first national mass medium

Between 1900 and 1945, the number of families who subscribed to one or more magazines grew from 200,000 to more than 32 million

A Short History of Magazines

The Era of Specialization Television forced magazines to change:

Magazines could not match the reach of television

Magazines were usually weekly while TV was continuous

Magazines were static while TV was dynamic World War II further urbanized and

industrialized America giving the Public more leisure time and more money to spend

Scope and Structure of the Magazine Industry

In 1950, there were 6,950 magazines and, in 2012, the number of all types of magazines exceeded 20,000 but circulation numbers have dropped for most, if not all, major U.S. magazines in the past few decades

Magazines, like all other kinds of mass media, are dealing with audience fragmentation and completion from digital media channels and sources

Scope and Structure of the Magazine Industry

The Death of the Magazine?According to the Association

of Magazine Media, 91% of people read magazines, an all-time high.

Too many magazines?

Developing Media Literacy Skills

Recognizing the Power of GraphicsGraphics and other artwork provide the background for interpreting stories

The Perfect Lie

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON CHAPTER 5?

CHAPTER 5: MAGAZINES