Overview

Print magazines were the original niche medium, creating communities long before the internet allowed audiences to find specialized content and interact with like-minded readers. Consumer magazines provided information, inspiration, empathy and advocacy for readers with specific goals and concerns. The targeted advertising business model of magazines was an early precursor of contemporary algorithms and metrics behind social media marketing. The cultural niches 20th century consumer magazines created and covered were powerful social influences on a wide variety of readers, from farmers to feminists, and covered everything from big ideas to political ideologies. With missions to serve specific readers and editors who were champions of their interests, even the most practical magazines were cultural influences well beyond their pages. This book is a curated collection of case studies that collectively shed light on the cultural niches that American consumer magazines of the 20th century covered and created. The chapters examine how cultural niches were cultivated, how they changed over time, and how they influenced broader cultural conversations. This sweeping view of 20th-century American magazines illuminates how this particular media form created, cultivated, and served specific communities, laying the groundwork for contemporary media forms to continue that role today.

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9781538138106

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Reviews

The core -- and thoroughly convincing -- tenet of this scholarly anthology can be simply stated: that rumors of the demise of the American magazine industry in the 21th century are greatly exaggerated. Calling on the best contemporary magazine researchers, Bloyd-Peshkin and Whitaker have assembled a wealth of insightful case studies that document not only the role of magazines in our nation's cultural past, but also suggest a likely path forward for the medium in the future.--David Abrahamson, Northwestern University Curating Culture tells the story of how American print magazines created communities and brought together diverse groups of people who shared common interests and passions. It explains how some of the nation's best-known magazines influenced and interacted with American culture in the 20th century. Before the internet, print magazines played a singular role in creating relationships among readers who shared diverse interests. In this book, leading magazine scholars and historians have contributed chapters about magazines that focused on such topics as folk music, regional lifestyles, politics and current events, farming and rural life, homemaking, gay rights, vegetarianism, and men's and women's issues. These essays created the enduring legacy of 20th century print magazines as places where people found community.--David E. Sumner, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Ball State University, author, The Magazine Century

Curating Culture tells the story of how American print magazines created communities and brought together diverse groups of people who shared common interests and passions. It explains how some of the nation's best-known magazines influenced and interacted with American culture in the 20th century. Before the internet, print magazines played a singular role in creating relationships among readers who shared diverse interests. In this book, leading magazine scholars and historians have contributed chapters about magazines that focused on such topics as folk music, regional lifestyles, politics and current events, farming and rural life, homemaking, gay rights, vegetarianism, and men's and women's issues. These essays created the enduring legacy of 20th century print magazines as places where people found community.--David E. Sumner, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Ball State University, author, The Magazine Century

Curating Culture tells the story of how American print magazines created communities and brought together diverse groups of people who shared common interests and passions. It explains how some of the nation's best-known magazines influenced and interacted with American culture in the 20th century. Before the internet, print magazines played a singular role in creating relationships among readers who shared diverse interests. In this book, leading magazine scholars and historians have contributed chapters about magazines that focused on such topics as folk music, regional lifestyles, politics and current events, farming and rural life, homemaking, gay rights, vegetarianism, and men's and women's issues. These essays created the enduring legacy of 20th century print magazines as places where people found community. The core -- and thoroughly convincing -- tenet of this scholarly anthology can be simply stated: that rumors of the demise of the American magazine industry in the 21th century are greatly exaggerated. Calling on the best contemporary magazine researchers, Bloyd-Peshkin and Whitaker have assembled a wealth of insightful case studies that document not only the role of magazines in our nation's cultural past, but also suggest a likely path forward for the medium in the future.

Author Information

Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin is associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where she is coordinator of the program’s magazine concentration. She is the former head of the Magazine Media Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Bloyd-Peshkin spent 13 years as a consumer magazine editor, including as senior editor of Vegetarian Times magazine and editor of Chicago Parent magazine. Charles Whitaker is dean and professor at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. He previously served as the Helen Gurley Brown Professor and associate dean of journalism for the school. He currently serves on the board of directors for both the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Center for Public Integrity.

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