Chapter Review

COMMON THREADS

One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is the commercial nature of mass media. The magazine industry is an unusual example of this. Big media corporations control some of the most popular magazines, and commercialism runs deep in many consumer magazines. At the same time, magazines are one of the most democratic mass media. How can that be?

There are more than twenty thousand magazine titles in the United States. But the largest and most profitable magazines are typically owned by some of the biggest media corporations. Advance Publications, for example, counts GQ, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue among its holdings. Even niche magazines that seem small are often controlled by chains. Supermarket tabloids like Star and the National Enquirer are owned by Florida-based American Media, which also publishes Shape, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, and Flex.

High-revenue magazines, especially those focusing on fashion, fitness, and lifestyle, can also shamelessly break down the firewall between the editorial and business departments. “Fluff” story copy serves as a promotional background for cosmetic, clothing, and gadget advertisements. Many titles in the new generation of online and tablet magazines further break down that firewall—with a single click on a story or image, readers are linked to an e-commerce site where they can purchase the item they clicked on. Digital retouching makes every model and celebrity thinner or more muscular, and always blemish-free. This altered view of their “perfection” becomes our ever-hopeful aspiration, spurring us to purchase the advertised products.

Yet the huge number of magazine titles—more than the number of radio stations, TV stations, cable networks, or yearly Hollywood releases—means that magazines span a huge range of activities and thought. Each magazine sustains a community—although some may think of readers more as consumers, others view them as citizens—and several hundred new launches each year bring new voices to the marketplace and search for their own community to serve.

So there is the glitzy, commercial world of the big magazine industry, with Time’s Person of the Year, the latest Cosmo girl, and the band on the cover of Rolling Stone. But many smaller magazines—like the Georgia Review, Edutopia, and E–The Environmental Magazine —account for the majority of magazine titles and the broad, democratic spectrum of communities that are their readers.

KEY TERMS

The definitions for the terms listed below can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. The page numbers listed with the terms indicate where the term is highlighted in the chapter.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

The Early History of Magazines

  1. Question

    Why did magazines develop later than newspapers in the American colonies?
    Why did magazines develop later than newspapers in the American colonies?

  2. Question

    Why did most of the earliest magazines have so much trouble staying financially solvent?
    Why did most of the earliest magazines have so much trouble staying financially solvent?

  3. Question

    How did magazines become national in scope?
    How did magazines become national in scope?

The Development of Modern American Magazines

  1. Question

    How did magazines position women in the new consumer economy at the turn of the twentieth century?
    How did magazines position women in the new consumer economy at the turn of the twentieth century?

  2. Question

    What role did magazines play in social reform at the turn of the twentieth century?
    What role did magazines play in social reform at the turn of the twentieth century?

  3. Question

    When and why did general-interest magazines become so popular?
    When and why did general-interest magazines become so popular?

  4. Question

    Why did some of the major general-interest magazines fail in the twentieth century?
    Why did some of the major general-interest magazines fail in the twentieth century?

  5. Question

    What are the advantages of magazines’ movement to digital formats?
    What are the advantages of magazines’ movement to digital formats?

The Domination of Specialization

  1. Question

    What triggered the move toward magazine specialization?
    What triggered the move toward magazine specialization?

  2. Question

    What are the differences between regional and demographic editions?
    What are the differences between regional and demographic editions?

  3. Question

    What are the most useful ways to categorize the magazine industry? Why?
    What are the most useful ways to categorize the magazine industry? Why?

The Organization and Economics of Magazines

  1. Question

    What are the four main departments at a typical consumer magazine?
    What are the four main departments at a typical consumer magazine?

  2. Question

    How do digital editions of magazines change the format of magazine advertising?
    How do digital editions of magazines change the format of magazine advertising?

  3. Question

    What are some of the models for digital distribution of magazines?
    What are some of the models for digital distribution of magazines?

  4. Question

    What are the major magazine chains, and what is their impact on the mass media industry in general?
    What are the major magazine chains, and what is their impact on the mass media industry in general?

Magazines in a Democratic Society

  1. Question

    How do magazines serve a democratic society?
    How do magazines serve a democratic society?

  2. Question

    How does advertising affect what gets published in the editorial side of magazines?
    How does advertising affect what gets published in the editorial side of magazines?

QUESTIONING THE MEDIA

  1. Question

    What role did magazines play in America’s political and social shift from being colonies of Great Britain to becoming an independent nation?
    What role did magazines play in America’s political and social shift from being colonies of Great Britain to becoming an independent nation?

  2. Question

    Why is the muckraking spirit—so important in popular magazines at the turn of the twentieth century—generally missing from magazines today?
    Why is the muckraking spirit—so important in popular magazines at the turn of the twentieth century—generally missing from magazines today?

  3. Question

    If you were the marketing director of your favorite magazine, how would you increase circulation through the use of digital editions?
    If you were the marketing director of your favorite magazine, how would you increase circulation through the use of digital editions?

  4. Question

    Think of stories, ideas, and images (illustrations and photos) that do not appear in mainstream magazines. Why do you think this is so? (Use the Internet, LexisNexis, or the library to compare your list with Project Censored, an annual list of the year’s most underreported stories.)
    Think of stories, ideas, and images (illustrations and photos) that do not appear in mainstream magazines. Why do you think this is so? (Use the Internet, LexisNexis, or the library to compare your list with Project Censored, an annual list of the year’s most underreported stories.)

  5. Question

    Discuss whether your favorite magazines define you primarily as a consumer or as a citizen. Do you think magazines have a responsibility to educate their readers as both? What can they do to promote responsible citizenship?
    Discuss whether your favorite magazines define you primarily as a consumer or as a citizen. Do you think magazines have a responsibility to educate their readers as both? What can they do to promote responsible citizenship?

  6. Question

    Do you think touchscreen tablet editions will become the dominant format for magazines? Why or why not?
    Do you think touchscreen tablet editions will become the dominant format for magazines? Why or why not?

LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE