Figure 4-1.—Consumer magazines provide potential markets for magazine writers.
alterations to their contents or the changing interests of
the reading public. Family Circle, for example, is not
read exclusively by women, and men are not the only
readers of Gentlemen’s Quarterly.
Special Interest Publications
Special interest publications, as the term implies,
are magazines directed at specific groups of readers with
one or more common interests.
Some magazines attempt to cover all aspects of a
broad subject, while others are concerned only with a
particular element of the general subject. Sports
Illustrated, for example, contains stories on practically
any sport, but Golf Digest carries only stories related to
golf.
Other special interest publications find their
audiences through different demographic segmentations.
There are magazines published primarily for men (Field
and Stream, Playboy, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, etc.),
women (Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Woman’s World, etc.),
boys (Boys’ Life) or girls (Teen).
There are magazines for various age groups. For
example, Senior World is published for senior citizens;
Modem Maturity for men and women 54 or older;
Mademoiselle for college women, ages 18-22; Careers
for boys and girls, ages 15 to 18; Children’s Digest for
boys and girls, ages 8 to 10; Jack and Jill for children,
ages 6 to 8; and Highlights for Children, ages 2 to 12.
There are also magazines aimed at blacks and other
minorities. Ebony, for example, is intended for black
men and women and could be considered a “general
interest publication.” Essence is one of a number of
magazines published with black women in mind, and
Players caters to black male readers.
Some magazines are published for residents of a
specific location, such as Phoenix for citizens of
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