A Brief History of Magazines

Arts & EntertainmentBooks & Music

  • Author Craig Elliott
  • Published December 4, 2007
  • Word count 718

Magazines have been around for many years. Of course, they began in a typical fashion, as simply words that were written down to attract customers. The actual history of the magazine can be traced back to the newspaper industry. The newspaper industry wanted to do more in-depth articles and articles that required much more research than the columns that were featured on a daily basis. From time to time, the larger newspapers included a weekly insert section that was smaller and portable. These inserts would include longer stories, in-depth interviews, and of course, photographs. It was in these inserts that the first magazines were born.

When newspapers began, it was simply a way of communicating news. At times, reporters would work around the clock in order to make a piece of news available to the world. Newspapers became immensely popular because, in those days, people looked to the papers for breaking news. Newspapers became a reliable source for current information.

However, because of this trend, some reporters were frustrated by the fact that they did not have time to do in depth stories. Newspaper editors and owners wanted to explore the possibility of putting out an expanded version of their papers, but they didn't want to sacrifice the money that the daily newspapers brought in. Because of this, some of the biggest newspapers had the idea to put inserts in their weekend editions. They would have an insert that would have longer length stories and photos. These stories would be worked on by reporters all week, so they were able to be more detailed. Then, they would be put out once a week by the papers.

Of course, this was an idea that soon took off. The readers loved having these small inserts to be able to take with them and read at their leisure. The newspaper editors soon realized that there would be a market for newspaper-like publications. These publications would hold news as well as other public interest stories, but they wouldn't be put out every day. This would give the staff the chance to write longer and more interesting stories, and to do in-depth research that would allow them to give even more information. These editors soon became the first magazine editors.

After the induction of the magazines, they all started out in the same way. They were basically longer length news papers, giving versions of the news and sometimes some public interest stories. However, as time went on, and people became more interested in the world around them at large, magazines began to realize that they would benefit from being specialized. For instance, as voting numbers grew in the United States, magazines began to come out that dealt only with election news and politics. These soon had a niche, and other magazines started to be published.

Nowadays, magazines can be found on many different topics. In fact, there are hardly any niches left to fill for magazine hopefuls. Schools put out magazines for various reasons, as do companies and businesses. The industry has completely grown and flourished.

There are, of course, still general news magazines that have hit the stands for many weeks, year after year. These are magazines that focus on news stories, but that have longer and more in depth stories than newspapers can provide. These are all important magazines because they create many different opinions and call many issues to light.

The other side of the current magazine industry is known as gossip magazines. These are magazines that focus on the people, and often focus on gossip that relates to celebrities and other people that are well known. These magazines sometimes contain correct information, and sometimes contain information that is not factual. However, they are still magazines and they still have readership.

All in all, magazines work together to fill an important niche. Unlike non-fiction books, that can take months to put out into the market, and unlike newspapers, that need to be put out each day, magazines have a unique time frame. They are put out each week, every two weeks, each month, or in longer increments. This means that they can still put out news that is current and fresh, but that their reporters can take the time that they need to provide their readers will well written stories.

Craig Elliott is a freelance writer who writes about historical topics including Magazine Subscriptions

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