Quick Clicks

Looking for Magazines | Newsmagazines | Computers & the Internet | Enterntainment | Alternative | Established Alternative | Political | General Interest | Magazine Publishers | Events and Chat areas | Try it out!

Transforming presence

As an industry, magazine publishing -- like advertising and public relations -- has played a central role in transforming the United States from a producer to a consumer society. Since the 1950's, though, magazines have not been the powerful national voice they once were, uniting separate communities around important issues such as abolition and suffrage. Today, with so many specialized magazines appealing to ever narrowing groups of consumers, magazines play a much diminished role in creating a sense of national identity. Besides, of the eight hundred or so new magazines that start up each year, fewer than a hundred will survive longer than a year.

Fragmenting and connecting

However, magazines have a unique quality: they offer us more analysis and insight into society than other media outlets. In the midst of today's swirl of images, magazines and their advertisements certainly contribute to the commotion. But good magazines also maintain our connection to words, sustaining their vital role in an increasingly electronic and digital culture. In fact, it turns out that the magazine is very well suited to be "published" electronically on the Web. Many print magazines have Web sites that contain most, if not all, major articles from the print version, as well as a few Web-only extras. A major issue for publishers on the Web turns out to be how to pay for their Web publishing efforts. Internet users are impatient with low content on Web sites, and they refuse to pay subscription fees. Because of the low overhead, the Web has also become a mecca for individuals who can publish a magazine (known as an e-zine) either of writing by themselves and their friends, or of solicited writing. Will the Web take over from print as the means of future distribution of magazines?

Looking for Magazines

The following Web sites have a listing of hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of titles of magazines available on the Web. While most magazines make some or most of their articles available on the Web, you should note that they may not be republished in their entirety.

• Electronic Newsstand 2,000 on-line magazines
• Magazine Rack Includes lots of magazines from around the world.
• Electronic Journal WWW. Virtual Library
• American Journalism Review NewsLink
• Monster Magazine List These are all ezines, and do not have a print counterpart, so you're guaranteed to get the full content.
• Slate Magazine has a regular feature "Other Magazines" that outlines the contents and lead stories of major magazines such as The New Republic, New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, and the Weekly Standard.

Newsmagazines

Fortune | Life | The Nation | Time | US. News & World Report | The National Enquirer

Computers & the Internet

Entertainment

Alternative