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Magazine Classifications

Which best describes your magazine reading habits

  • I subscribe to one or more periodicals and read them religiously

    Votes: 25 53.2%

  • I subscribe, but oddly never seem to find the time to actually read them

    Votes: 8 17.0%

  • I pretty much read magazines only in some waiting room

    Votes: 7 14.9%

  • I don't know how to read and someone else is answering this for me

    Votes: 4 8.5%

  • other (explain below)

    Votes: 3 6.4%
  • Total voters
    47
  • Poll closed .
Maister

Maister

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I read somewhere (probably in a magazine) that the average American reads about 270 magazine articles a year. That means we read on average about an article a day, four to five days each week. For some reason this number intuitively seems a little high to me (I probably read much more than that, but we're talking averages here). In any case, I don't think anyone doubts that there are hordes of different magazines out there and it seems like not a day goes by you don't have some kind of promotional tie-in where some company is trying to get you to 'save big money off the cover price' of some magazine or other either through junk mail or telemarketers (it was a WHOLE lot worse back before the no-call list law passed. I certainly averaged 270 phone solicitations/year before getting on the list).

I classify magazines into three very broad categories:
1. General interest - most news magazines (Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report) would fall under this category, most 'women's' magazines (Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Better Homes, etc) qualify, Consumer Reports, Psychology Today (and other pop psychology mags), National Geographic, Omni, Popular Mechanics, TheOnion, etc. are all examples of this genre. Magazines in this category tend to have articles, that while often dealing with various special areas of interest, usually are written with the general layperson in mind and have a more or less broad appeal (speaking of 'broad' appeal I wonder if Playboy would qualify?)

2. Special interest – here, typically are magazines for the special hobbyist or afficianado. This category includes titles like 'model railroad collector', 'ham radio magazine', American Rifleman, bride magazines, various wine magazines, 'Zymurgy', 'Dungeons and Dragons', "Game Spy'or any number of Star Trek publications (all fan mags fall into this category). It's somewhat mind boggling just how many of these types of magazines are out there and just how narrowly focused they can be (e.g. 'Steam Engine Repair Quarterly' anyone)

3. Professional/scholarly publications – includes delightful reads like our beloved 'Planning', or real page turners like the 'Journal for Ukranian Concrete Industries Monthly', the 'New England Journal of Medicine'. Most of these publications require considerable yawn stifling if the reader is not somehow involved in the profession.

What strange or unusually narrow focused magazines have you encountered? Also do you subscribe to any magazines or do you tend to read them while waiting at doctor/dentist offices, or while getting the oil changed?
 
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I get the monthly publications for the Michigan Association of Planning and APA, which I read most of. I also get the quarterly journal of the Skeptic Society, called, appropriately, Skeptic. I probably read 90% of the words in this, not including the ads.
 
Maister said:
I classify magazines into three very broad categories:
1. General interest -
2. Special interest –
3. Professional/scholarly publications –

What strange or unusually narrow focused magazines have you encountered?
Click to expand...

Has anybody looked at the categories listed at: http://newslink.org/mag.html
very detailed.

Weird NJ: http://www.weirdnj.com/misc/main.asp :-D

Who from Florida ;) :-D :r: responded to the poll question -
I don't know how to read and someone else is answering this for me ?
 
As far as narrowly focused magazine - Shoot - which is a magazine for enthusiasts of cowboy shooting competitions, which cannot be more than a few thousand people nationally.

I subscribe to Toastmasters, Esquire and Smithsonian, and read them each month. I picked up magazines from the exchange table at the public library too.

I also check out my wife's Mira, which is a Spanish language magazine that is sort of like People. I don't read it. I just look at the pictures of the Latinas.
 
Maister, I think you omitted one category: regional magazines. Depending on the publication, some of these are targeted to visitors/travelers, some to residents of a particular area, and some are aimed at a combination of the two. For example: Adirondack Life or Hudson Valley. Out west, you've got your Sunset publications that focus on Arizona or parts of California.

I subscribe to a mix of special interest and regional magazines, plus National Geographic Traveler, and usually read all of them cover to cover. I'll read general interest magazines while sitting in a doctor's waiting room or something, but that's about it. The fact that I subscribe to virtually every magazine I like makes it a problem when I am stuck at an airport and want to get something new to read... I don't like to spend money on magazines like People or Newsweek because I probably won't read more than a few articles in each of them. And don't get me started about women's magazines, which seem to recycle their story ideas over and over.
 
Mud Princess said:
And don't get me started about women's magazines, which seem to recycle their story ideas over and over.
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Oh go ahead and 'get started'. I've heard women's magazines described as "one half
filled with recipes guaranteed to make you fat and the other half devoted to diets you need to go on afterwards":r:
 
I subscribe to Southern Living and Frommer's Budget Travel. My mom treats me to Reader's Digest; oddly, the Feb issue arrived a day after Art Buchwald died, and the book bonus was Art Buchwald's "Too Soon to Say Goodbye" about his illness and hospice experience...

My son gets the free LEGO magazine.

Other than the above, I just read magazines in doctors' waiting rooms.
 
I buy magazines when I feel like sitting around and reading mind numbing stuff or looking at pictures...yes I read Cosmo, Glamour, Lucky, etc. I also read Planning Mag when I feel like trying to look busy in the office...I read newspapers much more than magazines. I don't subscribe to any mags...oh wait, yes I do..Highlights for my boys..I do subscribe to that one!
 
We have Guitar Player (husband's, though I read some of the articles too), Frommer's Budget Travel and National Geographic. Plus freebies that come with memberships (some CAA/AAA travel mag, the CIP planning mag, and the APA planning mag).
 
I get, and sometimes read, Planning simply because I have to be a member of APA because of my AICP.

I subscribe to and read Archeology and American Heritage. Both are well written, informative yet fun, and have interesting observations and updates.

I used to get Readers Digest, because my Grandpa gave me a subscription for my birthday every year. After he died, I didn't renew.

Previous memberships meant I also received Preservation (National Trust) and Toastmaster (Toastmasters International). But I've stepped back from both organizations. I liked Preservation magazine, but I'm not going to continue my membership just for the mag.
 
The Economist is my die-hard read that I subscribe to....I read the usual Time/US News/etc when I come across them. I do read a fair number of the Middle East Report quarterlies and I subscribe to Saudi Aramco World which is a great publication that explores cultural and historical aspects of the Middle East.
 
The first step...

I am a magazine addict. I get a number of journals related to my stamp collecting and planning. Plus, I have subscriptions (mostly gifts at my request) to Canadian Living, Real Simple, Today's Parent and Canadian House and Home. My husband gets Sea Kayaker.

On top of that, his parents get National Geographic and we get those after they are finished. My parents get the New Yorker, MacLeans and a few others which we read when we go to visit them.

And, as if that weren't enough, there is a store nearby sells out of date magazines (you know how they say "Display until...) for $2 a piece. We only get there once every couple of months but....
 
I love magazines. As a family, we subscribe to a few:
Dwell - me
Readymade - both
Utne Reader - wife
Mothering - wife
DirtRag - me


Why each? Dwell, just cause. I love homes, modern ones specifically. I like the approach they have. Thier idea of affordable is kinda out of whack, but I'll give them that one. They often have something planning related as well.

Readymade is mostly for the wife, but I love reading it too. She's a total DIYer, always looking for little projects to do, and these are right up our alley. Even though we live in a rural community, we like urban styles that Readymade provides.

Utne Reader. Just a lefty general interest.

Mothering, well, I DO have kids, so...

DirtRag is really my only special interest read for my cycling passion. I read all of it in one sitting usually, and refer back to them frequently. I have back issues through Issue 35 (they're currently at Issue 111 I think).

Occaisionally, we pick up subs to National Geographic Adventure or Outside, but they only last a year or two before we/I get sick of them and cancel out.
 
I have the local glossy Chicago Magazine that is about everything Chicago and quite good. I usually read the entire magazine each month.

We used to get Cook's Illustrated, but gave up on it because we really don't use it as much as we had wanted.

I am thinking about getting Dwell. :)
 
Magazines are my thing. A lot of times I don't feel like sitting down and reading a lengthy book, so magazine articles are a good alternative.

We get:
Planning
JAPA
Journal of the American Health Information Management Association
Rolling Stone
Car & Driver
Motortrend
Reader's Digest
Texas Monthly
Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, or whatever its called
National Geographic
The Economist
Redbook
Glamour
Cosmo (she's about to terminate that one)
Ladies Home Journal
Cooking for Two
Some other cooking one that I can never remember the name of
 
ZG left off her list the Bon Appétit subscription that should start soon.


Me? Southern Living (a gift), Planning, Florida Planning, SI Swimsuit Addition (for the exotic travel articles ;) ) and anything else that looks interesting when I'm in Publix.
 
I had a hard time trying to read these words you guys have type in here... and you want me reading magazines? I still haven't finished my 2nd grade reading book! :D

Damn.. I'm the only one who went for the comedy option it seems.
 
mendelman said:
I am thinking about getting Dwell. :)
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Yuppie ;-)



Event planning, entertaining, decorating etc... are all things that Mrs. biscuit enjoys and does for her job so we have stacks and stacks of magazines that too me just seem to be glued together collections of high end advertisements. But what do I know?

Magazines I get are Urban Land, Pittsburgh Magazine, and South Carolina Wildlife. I also have a gift subscription to Entertainment Weekly, which is the standard reading material while in the "office."
 
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used to get a variety (Money, kiplingers, business week, family,& way too many others.) Its down to Smithsonian, Highlights, Nat'l Geo Kids, RangerRick.

I aso read in the magazine aisles at big box stores, Arch Digest, Yoga Journal, People, and any house mags.

Use to love to dwell on Dwell, the company dropped his subscription though:-{
 
We just picked up the Guitar Player spin-off "School of Rock", which teaches kids about the roots of rock. Haven't had the time to read yet though... has Hendrix on the cover, so at least that's promising.
 
Maister said:
3. Professional/scholarly publications – includes delightful reads like our beloved 'Planning', or real page turners like the 'Journal for Ukranian Concrete Industries Monthly', the 'New England Journal of Medicine'. Most of these publications require considerable yawn stifling if the reader is not somehow involved in the profession.
Click to expand...

I think there's a huge difference between magazines like Planning, Governing, urban Land and the like, which cater to working professionals in a field, and the dry academic/research journals whose audience is primarily those in research and academia.

There's also a strange subspecies which can't be easily categorized; specialty publications about a niche topic which have a professed political bias. For planning and the built environment, there's City Journal (conservative) and The Next American City (slightly liberal); not really intended for consumption by planners or academics, but rather the think tank and pundit crowd.

Let's not forget very pricey newsletters, for niches within a niche. Zoning Digest and PAS Memo are a couple of examples and even then, they're cheap compared to those in the business sector. How about a subscription to Satellite Radio Weekly or Retail Site Selection News (no, I don't know if they really exist) for a couple thousand bucks a year?

Mud Princess said:
Maister, I think you omitted one category: regional magazines.
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Which poor planners certainly aren't the target market for. Around here, monthly editions of local mags have themes like "Top Ten Country Clubs", "Top Ten Private Schools", and the like. The monthly local Jewish magazine in Cleveland is way over the top, featuring $200,000 kitchen remodels and the like. Even Buffalo Spree, the monthly in that blue collar city, makes the place out to be like a playground of the rich.
 
Has anyone noticed how hard it is to STOP subscribing to some magazines? I didn't renew Governing a while back- even though its free, I didn't want to waste the paper - and I still get it. At home, National Geographic nagged me for two years until they finally lured me back with a 1/2 price offer. I guess its all about circulation and ads for most mags.

What I get:

New Yorker
National Geographic
Various planning, development and government rags (APA, ULI, Mass. Municipal, etc.)
The Week -a gift subscription I don't keep up with.
Daily paper

Actually, just keeping up with the New Yorker is hard enough with a kid.
 
No subscriptions here. I do read three dailies and browse about a half-dozen other newspapers on the internets on a regular basis.

A few years ago, I must have inadvertently checked a box with my amex bill and I started getting these over-the-top mags, like Architectural Digest and W. It was an annoying experience getting those stopped.
 
we get:
Real Simple
The Atlantic Monthly
Cook's Illustrated

occasionally subscribe to when there's an offer or someone is doing a fundraiser:
National Geographic
Living
 
We have a rule in our house: no more magazine subscriptions.

We subsribe to the Newyorker, but I only find time to read the cartoons.
 
Not counting work-related (usually read cover to cover):
Newsweek
Consumer Reports
National Geographic
KY Historical Society

Semi-work:
Preservation
Old House Journal

The wife gets Ladies Home Journal. She will get to it when she has time. I skim it, stack the most recent 18 copies upstairs, then the next 3 years goes in the basement. I am (usually) comfortable tossing the ones more than 4 1/2 years old.
 
Dan said:
Let's not forget very pricey newsletters, for niches within a niche.
Click to expand...
Masswich said:
I guess its all about circulation and ads for most mags
Click to expand...
I'm amazed in general at the sheer numbers of publications out there - there are literally tens of thousands of 'em. I guess it should come as no surprise that publishing is a big business. Most publishers are of course in the business of making money and to do so are actually in the business of selling advertisements. All those fascinating articles (from one perspective) are little more than fillers designed to attract readers to peruse the ads – the more ads you can run the lower the issue cost and the larger the readership/circulation. In the case of those pricey niche newsletters the cost of publication/distribution is borne primarily through subscription costs (hence, the pricey-ness) and the ads are secondary.

I guess it's a tricky business gauging: 1. what a projected readership/circulation will be and 2. What will a target reader be willing to pay for an issue? Get too small of a niche and you'll never recover your costs. Dilute the content too much in an effort to increase readership and lose your 'core' readers - a perfectly acceptable problem from many publisher's standpoint as long as they're selling magazines.

I've long suspected publishers have overlooked certain demographics and could make a lot more money if they were to target their audiences differently. See, the trend has been to keep looking for more and more fringe groups with specialized interests to market magazines to – sure, they're covering the all the corvette collectors, civil war history buffs, macramé enthusiasts, and soap opera fanatics adequately but aren't there a lot more lifestyle markets they've missed? …..just think of the countless smelly people you encounter whenever you're at the bus station – why not a magazine targeting them? "Unkempt Slob Quarterly" featuring articles like 'Large mustard stains on shirts: can washing be avoided or should you put another t-shirt on top?" "Cheap whiskey – better at masking body odors than you might think" or "Flatulence: less noticable in the front or the back of the bus?" or on the flip side of the coin think how often you run into elitist snobs, why not a magazine which caters specifically to them? I imagine you'd feature articles like "Looking down one's nose at the less educated or affluent: take our quiz to see how you measure up" or "Ban the banal: try using these 20 little known words to help make others feel inadequate". I'm surprised no one has come out with "Redneck Monthly" yet – I wonder what articles they might feature (Skoal would probably be willing to pay for several full page ads….?) Just thought of another one - think how many NIMBY's you run into. Surely one could publish the NIMBY Times and fill it with lots of interesting and informative articles like: "When is the best time to say 'think of the Children: before or after making the same point as the previous speaker" or "Are you WWII vet? Read these helpful tips to find ways to mention your vet status while comparing Board's actions to Nazi Germany"
 
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Love mags Mine are:
1. Roadracing World
2. Bike
3. Motorcyclist
4. Landsape Archtitecture
5.Dwell
6. Architectural Record
7. Scientific America
8. Landsapce Architect and Specifier News
9. Utne Reader
10. Aperture
11. Moter Jones
12. US News and World Report
13.Art News
 
Can not afford to subscribe to JAPA out of my own pocket.
Dept does not have the budget either.

Go to the library at least one a month to read.
 
Fat Cat

I suscribe to the usual professional magazines, Public Management, Public Personnel Management, Planning, Practicing Planner etc, but also suscribe to regional ones depending on the area that I am in, currently Crains.:)
The others include Psychology, Demographics (when ever they decide to print it), Consumers Reports, Bottom Line, ICMA newsletter(not really a magazines but do read them) etc:)
I prefer to get them on line when I can - Governing is a good example.
As for newspapers, the Wall Street Journal every day, and the local papers as well as the regional papers.:)
 
I get so many here at the office I can't even begin to list them...

One at home, a free 'script to Maxim... which disappears as soon as one of my teenage sons lays eyes on it.
 
This Bear subscribes to the following.....

In The Home
Reason
National Geographic
Consumer's Reports
Playboy
Lake Superior
Rolling Stone
Model Railroader

In The Office
There are quite a few magazines that are specifically for distribution center operators, manufacturers who use material handling equipment, plastic products manufacturers and distributors, and marketing. These magazines are all free, provided you answer a number of questions about your business and your position in that business. I subscribe to a number of them.

APICS Magazine
Back around the turn of the century, I co-wrote an article about my distribution center and it was the cover story for APICS Magazine. This magazine is sent to about 75,000 APICS members. The group is a professional Operations Management Association.

Of course, I receive this magazine, too.
_____

Since this Bear is not a planner, no "planner geek" zines reach me. Ahhh, but the power of the internet and Mr. Google sure helps me understand just WTF you people are talking about. ;)

Bear
 
For posterity?

who saves their old mags, do you throw them all out or recycle or give away any after a year? ;)

I still have a few Rolling stones, the John lennon and Oko covers, I think a madonna one and the expose on AIDS too. THats it. Not even newspaper headlines do I save.
 
I've subscribed to Marie Claire for about 8 years now. I always thought it was different than most women's mags, featured "real women" and social causes. But, now I'm getting bored with it and I don't think I'll renew. I'd like to pick a new one to get, probably something about home-making. I get a ton of baby mags (Parenting, American Baby, etc) even though I never subscribed to them. My husband gets 4 different 4-wheeler mags, which he just disclosed to me last night, when he told me thinks he won't renew three of them. I thought he was only getting one, cause they all look alike.

Of course, as a teen I subscribed to YM and Seventeen. And as a little tike my grandma always got me a subscription to National Geographic Explorer as a christmas present each year. I plan to get that one for my daughter when she's older.

Really, I'm surprised magazines aren't on the verge of obscurity, with the internet. I read far more articles online that I do in an actual printed periodical.
 
Gotta Speakup said:
We have a rule in our house: no more magazine subscriptions.
Click to expand...


Last year we pared our list down to one subscription a piece.

I get Runner's World which I read 95% of (and I'm including ads in that).

Mr. DT gets Money, which I read about 70% (not including ads)

I would never, ever ever PAY for People, US weekly or the like. But I devour them at the chiro's.
 
For Me:

Subscriptions:
Planning (of course)
Wired

Occasionally I pick up:
Dwell
SI

Reads only in Dr. Office:
Newsweek
Time
*Highlights* ;-)

For Her:

Subscriptions:
In Style
Real Simple

Occasionally she picks up:
People
US
 
the only time I read magazines for pleasure is when I am flying or at the dr's office.

I will ocasionaly pick up dirt rag.

I try to read my 2 planning "journals" but rarely read them cover to cover.
 
Newsweek (for Mrs. Bubba)
Southern Living (again, for Mrs. Bubba)
Entertainment Weekly (I actually will read this one cover to cover every week...guilty pleasure, plus it clues me in on some indie movies I might otherwise miss)
Sports Illustrated (gift subscription from my father - seems pointless to me in the age of the internet and 8 channels of ESPN, but he's stuck in his ways)
Atlanta Magazine (90% glossy ads, 9% crap I don't care about, 1% restaurant reviews)

plus various quarterlies and "trade mags" I get at the office...
 
Mags Redux

The only change from my post # 34 on this thread....no longer subscribe to Consumers Reports. I was a subscriber for many years, somehow forgot to re-up and the zines stopped coming.....and I didn't miss them. Probably because I am not much of a consumer, as I age (less than gracefully). :-c

This Bear is somewhat anal about tracking subscriptions. Not sure how the hexx I miss-fired on the CR sub. I have a list in my files that shows the day I paid for each year's subscription. For instance, I know that I paid for another year of Model Railroading on 12-5-81. I even track what I paid, so I can squirm as I see zine prices creep up.

For a short while I had subscriptions to Alaska, Penthouse, and Railroad Model Craftsman.

Bear
 
National Geographic
Planning (just for the pictures)
Texas Highways
Bass Player
Fine Homebuilding
American Woodturner
 
Currently I subscribe to:
Planning (as part of APA membership)
American Rifleman (as part of NRA membership)
Rising Tide (as part of my RNC membership)
ESPN magazine (someone must have got me this as a gift; still don't know who)

I used to get:
Spin, but it got too liberal and too indie/hipster/emo
National Geographic, but the gift subscription from my grandma expired, and the articles began to focus on other things more than geography, so not worth paying for
Reader's Digest, but the gift subscription from my other grandma expired. It was a great magazine though and my favorite bathroom reading material.

In waiting areas (doctor, dentist, haircut, car repair, etc.), I like to read Time, US News, The Economist, Fortune, and the like. I'll also read SI, Car & Driver, or Motor Trend, if none of those are available.
 
I am going to bump this thread, because that is what I do.

Over the weekend, I received this month's issue of a woodworking magazine that I subscribe to. My wife noticed it and asked why I don't get This Old House anymore, to which I explained they don't publish it anymore. She indicated that she enjoyed it because of the photos showing design ideas. It got me thinking about subscribing to Architectural Digest since I think it would be something that I too would enjoy. I went through facebook and found a great deal on both print and digital version, and it made me wonder if they too are going to do away with their print option at some point.

But to continue this thread, especially given the age of it and changes in technology and reading habits, what print magazine publications or news papers do you still get? How often do you read the articles in print vs online?
 
I only read articles online, since I love the tactile feel.

As for books, I mostly read physical copies, but I do have a Kindle tucked in my bag for traveling.

Newspapers:
Wall $treet Journal
Fernley Reporter
New York Times (Sunday only; I read it in sections throughout the week)
Comstock Chronicle

Magazines (not including the freebees I get from various associations, like “Planning”):
Wired
Harper’s
Writer's Digest
The Week
The Atlantic
Governing
TV Guide*

* Only because it came when another magazine we were getting, "Reminisce," folded. We don't read the TVG--who needs to in this day of electronic listings and streaming? It expires in a few months and we won't be renewing.

(This is a much shorter list than it once was. In 2005, we got over 40 magazines. Down to just a handful now. I should track down my list from 2007, when this poll came out . . .It was an eclectic mix of everything from “Bird Talk” to “PC Magazine” to “Civil War Times Illustrated” to “People.”)
 
January 2007:

Bubba said:
Newsweek (for Mrs. Bubba)
Southern Living (again, for Mrs. Bubba)
Entertainment Weekly (I actually will read this one cover to cover every week...guilty pleasure, plus it clues me in on some indie movies I might otherwise miss)
Sports Illustrated (gift subscription from my father - seems pointless to me in the age of the internet and 8 channels of ESPN, but he's stuck in his ways)
Atlanta Magazine (90% glossy ads, 9% crap I don't care about, 1% restaurant reviews)

plus various quarterlies and "trade mags" I get at the office...
Click to expand...

March 2026:

People (for Mrs. Bubba)
 
I let my New Yorker sub lapse and use my parents' NYT. Almost everything I consume is new media/digital (substacks, dropsite, Buffalo iPost etc) and the legacy publications are exceedingly irrelevant.

I get Buffalo News, Buffalo Business First and Niagara Gazette through work, and have an analog radio that can pick up Buffalo NPR and the AM news stations coming out of Toronto. It's really nice not being beholden to cable news and the 24h doom cycle.

Here and there, I will buy a paper issue of the New Yorker, Macleans, Jacobin or the Atlantic, if there is a story or feature that interests me. Especially if I am in a train station like the Albany AMTRAK terminal.
 
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