Trade Magazines

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Variety, a trade magazine covering the entertainment industry, was founded in 1933 and remains a widely read source of news and reviews.

Trade and professional magazines represent one of the most stable segments in the magazine industry. Trade publications—specialty magazines aimed at narrowly defined audiences—supply news, spot trends, share data, and disseminate expert insights relevant to specific manufacturing trades, professional fields, and business sectors. The trade press includes such diverse magazines as Organic Matters for organic farmers, Packaging Machinery Technology for packaging engineers, and Coach and Bus Week. Media industries, too, have relied on trade magazines like Advertising Age and Variety. In addition to narrowly targeted advertising content, trade publications provide an invaluable venue for job notices related to the specific field. The health of the trade press is evident in findings of a media usage study conducted by Readex Research and released in October 2011. According to the study, when professionals were asked which media they used regularly in their work, print trade magazines came in second (tied with e-newsletters) at 74 percent. Only search engines ranked higher.3