Those Glossy Pages--Response to Lecture #5 J1

In my last post, I discussed a lecture on newspapers. Now, let's talk about magazines.

In 1741, Benjamin Franklin introduced the first magazine, which he aptly named "General Magazine." Not as flashy as "Poor Richard's Almanac" but it got the job done. A general magazine has something for everyone, which we don't see very much these days. General magazines would feature recipes, news (but not breaking news), opinion pieces, political cartoons, kid cartoons, even a book published chapter by chapter called a serial. Charles Dickens published his novels as serials. By 1821, the Saturday Evening Post was the most popular general magazine in America. 

Magazines were a national media outlet. They weren't local publications, were read by a national audience, and created what was known as a "national identity." You could talk to your neighbor about the same article because you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hadn't read it. Like newspapers, they are portable but unlike newspapers, they were made to last. Besides a national audience, they provided places for businesses to advertise. A person at home could now operate a mail-order business through magazine advertising. Magazines were also cheaper than books, spreading literacy. 

The Postal Act of 1879 was passed by Congress, supporting the magazine industry in a way known as subsidizing. Magazines now cost one cent to ship per pound. Magazines became even cheaper. 

As for content, magazines had the ability to run a series of articles in investigative journalism. Newspapers only covered breaking news; series of articles were something exclusive to magazines at that time. Magazines also ran personality profiles. They'd interview an individual, then talk to family, friends, and even enemies. After, the magazine would present a personality profile. Magazines such as National Geographic brought photojournalism popularity. 

Needless to say, magazines are a great part of culture. Many of our famous American novelists started off serializing their works in a magazine. Where would we be without them?