TCH News

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Student Citations

Magazines have been a media pillar for centuries. They have played a vital role in shaping national culture due to a strategy of mass appeal. Since the advent of television, the magazine industry has had to undergo vast changes to remain competitive. The trend has been to appeal to a more specialized audience. With approximately 12,000 magazines circulating in the U.S. the effectiveness of demassification is undeniable. Some critics argue that demassification serves only the advertisers, who get a more efficient audience to sell their products to. There are definite advantages, and drawbacks, to each format. This begs the question, which audience should modern magazines strive for?

The first successful magazines were built around broad based appeal. During the 19th century, magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post helped create national audiences. This not only encouraged a national bond, but gave merchants a powerful tool for peddling their wares to nationwide audiences. The formula was Shakespearean. Provide something for everyone. For very little cost, readers had access to a wide spectrum of news articles, short story fiction, and advertisements for the latest products. Then came television. Magazines such as Life and Look simply could not compete with this powerful new medium. To remain viable, magazines were forced to reinvent themselves.

The solution was to refocus on smaller target audiences. Magazines became increasingly geared towards specialized audiences. One size fits all formats gave way to publications dedicated entirely to a specific interest. Today, one can find many publications geared towards pleasing their particular palette. This can be a boon for not only the consumer, but the writers and staff as well. Readers can now purchase material that is entirely dedicated to their interests. They no longer need to purchase material that is of no concern because it comes prepackaged with the material they want. During the era of mass audience magazines, writers were called on to handle a wide range of topics. Inevitably, much of the time they were working on assignments because it was their job, not their passion. With specialized magazines, writers and staff have more opportunity to concentrate on topics they are passionate about and, in many cases, have some degree of expertise in. Advertisers benefit by having more efficient media to reach their target audience.

For all its advantages, demassification is not without shortcomings or naysayers. A magazine that relies on a narrow band of advertising finds itself under greater pressure to please those advertisers with favorable coverage. There are many magazines that do little more than serve as cheerleaders for their meal ticket. Some critics also claim that demassified magazines are betraying their traditional role in society, which is to enrich the culture. Dennis Holder summed up the complaint, saying "The readers see themselves as members of small, elite groups and they want to be told that they are terribly neat people for being in these groups. Advertisers want to reinforce the so-called positive self-image because joggers who feel good about themselves tend to buy those ridiculous suits."(Vivian 94)

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