Magazine Journalism

Book excerpt: "For those of us who long ago experienced the magazine love-bite and have been battling the prejudice and scant attention shown this beautiful medium ever since, here at last is the book to set the record straight." - Nicholas Brett, Deputy Managing Director, BBC Magazines "At a time when magazines are undergoing active redefinition, this book represents a welcome intervention. It engages with a host of pressing issues in a manner alert to professional priorities while, at the same time, encouraging new ways of thinking about the challenges shaping this fast-moving field. Holmes and Nice are trustworthy guides, taking the reader on what proves to be a fascinating journey." - Stuart Allan, Professor of Journalism, Bournemouth University Magazines are the most successful media format ever to have existed: so begins Magazine Journalism as it traces how magazines arose from their earliest beginnings in 1665 to become the ubiquitous format we know today. This book combats the assumptions among media academics as well as journalists that magazines somehow don′t count, and presents a compelling assessment of the development and innovation at the heart of magazine publishing. In magazines we find some of the key debates in journalism, from the genesis of ′marketing to the reader′ to feminist history, subcultures and tabloidization. Embedding these questions in a thoroughly historical framework, Holmes and Nice argue for an understanding of magazine journalism as essential in the media landscape. Moving beyond the semiotic and textual analysis so favoured by critics of the past, the authors complete the story with an exploration of the production and consumption of magazines. Drawing on interviews with more than 30 magazine journalists across the industry, what emerges is a story of resilience, innovation and a unique ability to embrace new markets and readerships. Magazine Journalism takes the reader to the heart of key questions in the past, present and future of journalism and is essential reading for students across journalism and the creative industries.