Magazines That Make History: Their Origins, Development, and Influence

By Norberto Angeletti and Alberto Oliva

"Magazines that Make History is candy for the eye, food for the brain, and a well of knowledge for anyone with hunger and thirst for the magazine world--a must have, must read."--Samir Husni, Hederman Lecturer and professor of journalism, University of Mississippi

"This is important magazine history, but more than that, it is cultural history. . . . You've loved these magazines, and now you can get inside them and learn about the people who made and make them. You will not be able to put this book down."--Don Ranly, School of Journalism, University of Missouri

This is a book of fundamental importance to all who are passionate about journalism, for those who choose to make it a profession or study and teach it, as well as for those who are simply interested in knowing something about the origin and evolution of the most influential and successful magazines in the world. Angeletti and Oliva examine and analyze in detail those international publications that have revolutionized the magazine marketplace in the 20th century, some because they created a niche for themselves and others because they created a new style, offered key innovations, or generated a phenomenon that continues to be relevant today in modern journalism.

Over 2,000 specially selected color photographs illustrate the accounts of eight periodicals--Time, Der Spiegel, Life, Paris Match, National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Hola , and People. The authors reveal the opportunities these innovators recognized and on which they capitalized, how each built and shaped a vision into a successful publication, the key personalities instrumental to their innovations and evolution, how they dealt with their competitors, and how each operates today--from editorial philosophy and story meetings to the way the cover is put together. The account of each periodical is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of stories and covers that, today, stand as outstanding examples of the art and craft of magazine journalism. From the March 3, 1923, inaugural issue of Time (with an entirely speculative printing of 9,000 copies) to the September 24, 2001, issue of People that sold over 4 million copies, this book opens up the medium that has done more than perhaps any other to shape our understanding of the events, stories, and personalities of the last hundred years.

Norberto Angeletti is an executive editor at _Clarin_ newspaper. Alberto Oliva is currently editor-in-chief of Ser Padres

You can learn more about the book at the author's web site, http: //www.magazineshistory.com

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813027667
• ISBN13: 9780813027661
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Length: 407 Pages
• Weight: 3.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Influential magazines of 20th century

In these days of TV, movies, DVDs, computer graphics, and ubiquitous advertising, most are unmindful of the role that magazines founded in the earlier and middle years of the 1900s played in bringing about and affecting this visual culture. The two South American authors with extensive experience in international magazines and media focus on eight magazines that had leading roles in bringing about the contemporary visual culture and which to varying degrees continue to influence and reflect it. The eight are Time, Hola!, Life, Paris Match, Reader's Digest, People, Der Spiegel, and National Geographic. Time, for example, founded in the early 1920s, created the mold for news coverage which is followed by other news magazines and TV news programs down to today. Life pioneered photojournalism, and laid the groundwork for the media treatment of celebrity. National Geographic helped to popularize many areas of science, from paleontology to astronomy; and in more recent years, raise environmental and multicultural concerns. By covering eclectic and unpredictable subjects, Reader's Digest and People were instrumental in the ascendancy of popular culture. The foreign magazines from Spain, France, and German had similar influences on their respective cultures, while at the same time, like the U. S. publications, had a part in bringing about the global culture of media, celebrity, and entertainment. The authors Angeletti and Oliva explain the strategies of the founder of each of the magazines which allowed them to become so successful even though the odds were heavily against them. About half of the content is photographs or art work from the magazines over the years. As the text relates the playing out of the strategies in the adaptations to cultural and competitive changes over the years, the extensive visual matter is a record of visual styles in media over the years. Some photos or illustrations are cultural hallmarks. The work is a notable contribution to media studies for bringing together the leading magazines so as to put them alongside the newer media such as TV and computers as a part of the media field that has taken a central, formulative role in today's society.