Magazines as a Powerful Way To Look at the History of Our Society - Essay Example

Magazines offer us a powerful way to look at the history of our society. No other medium better reflects the genuine concerns and interests of ordinary people than magazines Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction Magazines are written materials which are distributed through print or electronic media across a particular geographical area or around the globe and are generally published at regular intervals. The content of the magazine generally varies with the area in which the magazine is focused. The magazines are either purchased at on a day to day basis or are subscribed for a particular period of time within which at regular intervals the people would have an access to the magazines. The source of funds for most of the organisations is the advertisement by the various brands that would pay a definite price for the space on the media. The content of the magazine in generally controlled by the editor or the editorial board that is associated with the magazine. Thus the views of the people who are associated with the editorial board of the magazine get reflected in the content. There might also be guest writers who would provide their opinion about a particular issue or topic. This means that the magazine acts as a reflection of the ideas and the thoughts that are prevailing in the minds of the people who comprise of the higher strata of the society like the authors, politicians, economists, political practitioners as well as leaders of the countries where the magazines are being circulated. Discussion One of the most popular American Weekly that had been in circulation since the 1930 is the Time Magazine. The Magazine used to be published from the New York City and contained mainly the news of the political and the social events that used to take place in the country and around the world. The magazine was published in English. The popularity of the company spread to different parts of the world and there were different editions that were published from Europe, Africa and Middle East. One of the distinguishing features of the magazine was that there was specific issues and topics which were focused on a particular year and hence most of the articles published in that year revolved around that particular topic. For example, in the year 1989 the magazine started its planet of the year issue and was mainly focused on the various ecological imbalances and the environmental issues of the earth (Mott, 1938, pp. 78-89). The aim of the Time Magazine on its initial days was to make the readers aware about the magazine within a very short period of time. The element of fun was also incorporated in the magazine so that it could be distinguished from the conventional newspapers. The TIME Magazine was criticised as being one of the magazines that focused too much on the elite and the celebrities and thereby ignored the main elements of news. The following figure depicts the cover page of the Times Magazine published in the year 1945 May. This was the time when Adolf Hitler had just died the Magazine analysed the different aspects of the career of this leader of Germany and the level of his acceptability among his countrymen and the various aspects of his career. Thus the most widely discussed topic at that time got prominence in the content of the Time Magazine. The magazine at that time made use of the basic colours as the material for publishing. This magazine was one of the most widely read magazine of the world and was most popular across all the segments of the society. The magazines at those times often acted as a form of the reflection of the opinion of common people of the society and therefore the reasons for the start of the protests and uprisings in the country. In those times a number of countries and the regions had banned the circulation of the magazines in the countries. The different sections of the magazines generally consisted of discussions revolving a variety of discussions on topics that would include regional issues, industrial issues, financial, business related or the development in the technological knowhow in the countries. However the opinions of the writers had a political colour and therefore it had an influence in the way the readers would perceive the government (Wilner, 2006, pp. 139-164). The Economist on the other hand is modern day magazine that is based in London. The company started it operations since the 1843 but is still one of the leading magazines of the world and is one of the most widely read international affairs magazine. Despite the name, the magazine not only concentrated on the economic aspects but also the political, social, environmental and cultural aspects that influence the economy. The magazine aims at enlightening of the population and thereby incorporating an intelligent way of circulating awareness about the society. Initially the magazine started with the print version but with time and with the advent of the increase in the use if internet the magazine started being circulated through the electronic media as well. The economist has a circulation of 1574803 in the print version and has over 100 thousand paid subscribers (Prendergast and Colvin, 1986, pp. 7-12). The Economist is considered to be one of the most liberal in its views and is said to practise economic liberalism. Thus the editorial team of the magazine supports the globalisation perspectives of free trade or the immigration of the people from one country to other as well as liberalism from the point of view of gender diversity and sexual orientation (Edwards, 1993, pp. 39-78). However, the target market for the magazine is mainly the educated readers as well as the group of people who would be able to exert their influence on the top executives of the private organisations or the officials of the government who are involved in the policy making. The figure below depicts the cover page of the economist published on the June 14 2012. The cover speaks about the concerns that the present day world faces, which is about global warming and the allied issues of environmental as well as energy depletion that is taking place in the world (Tungate, 2004, pp. 194–206). The cover story of the magazine though focused on this particular issue which is affected most of the people of the society at the present day as well as the future generations, the other parts of the magazine is focused on the other recent issues that the different countries of the world had been facing in the recent times (Clurman, R, 1992, pp. 63-69). This includes the fiscal cliff that the United States is witnessing, the policies of bailouts in Spain and the reasons for their failures, the political situation of Egypt and well as China’s economic scenario at present. The magazine spends considerable amount of funds for advertisement as well as itself acts as a platform for advertising. The company has entrusted the job of circulation with the largest advertising agency of London. The concept of feel-good advertising was introduced by the magazine and it tries to have an impact on the minds of the people in a different way altogether. Thus the readers would have a feeling of elitism while reading the magazine. As part of the publicity of the magazine the organisation also engages into innovation awards that encourage any kind of creative ideas (Mott, 1938, pp. 32-35). The magazine also undergoes censorship in some of the countries where the local regulatory organisations find that the content of the magazine may affect the sentiment of the society in any may or may lead to discontent among the readers (Kobler, 1968, pp. 115-119). Thus not only the magazine can be called the mirror of the society it may also be considered as one of the major platforms through which the society might be affected and the society would find a voice due to the publication of certain contents in the magazine. Conclusion Therefore it is clear that most of the magazines find it useful to adopt the strategy of incorporating those topics in the content which would be of the present day issue so that the attention of the present day public can be drawn towards the magazines. If a series of magazines for a long time period is considered the readers would be able to have an insight into the various transitions that the world and the society at large went through due to the changes in the economic, legal, social, political as well as environmental changes. The future magazines are mostly relying on the electronic media mainly. The present day reader also has an access to a very large base of news and information and hence they are relying less on these specific magazines for their need of information. They can also be selective in the choice of the magazines that they read and their content. However, the writings even on the electronic media would reflect the present scenario of the society. The inclination of the people towards the electronic media proves the fact that the society is at large more dependent on the internet for their source of information and there is a paradigm shift in the perception of the society. References Edwards, R.D., 1993. The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843–1993. London: Hamish Hamilton. Tungate, M., 2004. "The Economist": Media Monoliths. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Wilner, I., 2006. The Man Time Forgot: A Tale of Genius, Betrayal, and the Creation of Time Magazine. New York: HarperCollins. Mott, F.L., 1938. A History of American Magazines, 1850-1865. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Clurman, R, 1992. To the End of Time: The Seduction and Conquest of a Media Empire. New York: Simon and Schuster. Kobler, J., 1968. Luce: His Time, Life and Fortune. New York: Double Day and Co. Prendergast, C. and Colvin, G., 1986. The World of Time Inc.: The intimate History of a Changing Enterprise- 1960-1980. New York: Arthenaeum. Read More