Week 8 Topic 2 Magazines

1. What THREE magazines, either in print or online, have you read over the years? Write about your interest in these publications, and what they say about you and your interests? What, in particular, do you like or look for in these magazines? Cite some examples.

Although I have not read any magazines in years, in the past I have read general interest magazines which include the following:

Blackbelt Magazine
This print magazine is about Martial Arts and I read nearly every issue from 1977 to 1993 as a subscriber so I got issues in the mail every month (which I loved). I had an interest in research of what other instructors were practicing and this is a tell of why I read them- to explore and document good ideas and training methods. In 1993 however the UFC came out and so the magazine changed it's focus on more "fighting" rather than training for self-defense and self-development. Not being a fan of people willingly beating each other into submission, I stopped reading it. I did like the ads and as far as I can remember, since I no longer have any of these, were about selling products related to martial arts training such as videos, books, apparel, associations, and industry materials.

Mother Earth News
Although I was never a subscriber of this print magazine, I would occasionally buy one at the grocery store. My interest was included anything about self-reliant living, homesteading, and gardening. In particular, I was looking of examples and how-to guides on subjects such as living off the grid, building, and storing foods or canning.

National Geographic

I have never subscribed to this print magazine nor ever bought one however, after finding a stack of them years ago (and I think there were between 20-30) I read them all. I had no specific thing I was looking for or no particular interest but I could not see them going to waste and so I read them. 

2. Consider the advertising in these publications. What products and services are featured in these magazines? List some of them. Finally, what do these publications say about you as a consumer?

To the best of my recollection (as I have not read any magazines in several years) the advertising seemed to appeal to things specific to the subject title in all of them. Some ads targeted younger buyer on hot items such as apparel and some targeted middle aged adults such as Mother Earth News ads which were about products such as how-to build instructions and so forth. National Geographic had ads that were selling items such as low wattage light bulbs and the like as well as travel agency ads. 
The last question, these publications really say that I am a consumer of information more than anything else. I would say the educational aspect or content is why I really bought or read the magazines.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Media Project Blog 2 / Topic 1 / Advertising and Public Relations

Topic 2: Fake News

Topic 2: WIKILEAKS