The Bright New-Media Future for Magazines

By David Abrahamson
Northwestern University


FROM: Abrahamson, David. "The Bright New-Media Future for Magazines." 
In Magazine Matter, The Newsletter of the AEJMC Magazine Division,
Summer 1996: 1.


Most journalism historians agree that, since its emergence in the late 
19th Century, the modern magazine form has progressed through a number 
of major eras: its consolidation as a advertising-based commercial 
enterprise in the first two decades of the current century, the 
proliferation of mass-market periodicals between the 1920 and 1960, and 
the rise of the special-interest magazine starting in the late 1950s and 
continuing to the present. Now, in just the last few years, it has 
become increasingly evident that yet another new era for the American 
magazine industry has begun.

The exact name of this brave new magazine world has yet to be agreed 
upon. "Magazines as New Media" has been suggested, but there are other 
candidates as well. The trend, however, is clear, which was why the 
suggestion by Samir Husni, our division head, in the last issue of 
MAGAZINE MATTER -- that we rename ourselves the "AEJMC Magazine 
Division: Print and Electronic Media" -- makes so much sense.

Three important points, and two subsequent consequences, lie at the 
heart of this new era for magazines. The first is that it appears that 
the race to determine the winning technology upon which most new forms 
of information distribution will be based is now largely over. From all 
indications, the prize has been awarded to the Internet-based, web-site 
technology. Even though there is likely to be a place for proprietary 
online databases, interactive discs and CD-ROMs, the success achieved by 
the World Wide Web in just the last year suggests that it will be the 
dominant electronic publishing technology for some time to come.

The second point concerns the pivotal role that magazine companies are 
playing the defining the purposes, scope, operating practices and 
prospects of the new Web-based means of distribution. Upon reflection, 
however, this should come as no surprise, for it has long been the 
unique function of magazines, rather than newspapers or the broadcast 
media, to bring high-value interpretive information to specifically 
defined yet national audiences.

The third point, and one which can perhaps bear special underscoring, is 
that, no matter how promising the new-media possibilities might appear 
to be, in many cases the "original" print version of most magazines will 
remain the crucial core product for the foreseeable future. Regardless 
of the success magazine publishers might enjoy online, their print 
products, with their loyal following of both readers and advertisers, 
will almost certainly remain the defining brand vehicles.

Which leads us, as magazine journalism educators, to two possible 
consequences of this emerging new era. The first is that we owe it to 
our students to embrace the possibilities of this new Web-driven 
technology. For many of our graduates, positions based on the emerging 
electronic forms will be where they will find the best jobs and the most 
competitive pay, so preparing them with the necessary technological 
skills will be a critical component in insuring their professional 
success. 

And yet, at the same time -- and this is the second consequence -- as 
magazine educators it is essential that we never lose sight of the 
traditional verities: the primacy of reporting diligence and factual 
accuracy; the importance of context, along with an instinct for subtext 
and back-story; an appreciation of the fundamental significance of 
interpretation and analysis. If one believes, as I'm sure most of us do, 
that a devotion to craft is the basis of all art, then it is concerns 
such as these which make magazine journalism what it is. 

And so, as the brave new world of magazines as new media materializes 
before our eyes, it is clear that we must both continue to teach the 
time-proven crafts of reporting, writing and editing which define 
magazine journalism, as well as the new skills and sensibilities 
demanded and made possible by the emerging technologies.


Copyright 1996 David Abrahamson. All rights reserved.