International Journal of Magazine Studies
La revista científica International Journal of Magazine Studies (IJMS) es una plataforma para el intercambio de conocimiento de vanguardia, fomentando una comprensión profunda de la naturaleza evolutiva y la importancia de los formatos de revista en la sociedad contemporánea. La IJMS es una revista de acceso abierto y con sistema doble ciego de revisión por pares.
Social Justice in College Media: How Campus Magazines Report, Reflect, and Respond to Police Killing of Breonna Taylor
Campus magazines by nature avoid event and breaking-news content, digging deeper to present social and cultural impacts. However, the killing of a Black woman in her own home–awakened by a flawed no-knock warrant–changed “culture” and “lifestyle” for student editors. Based upon a prior study, this study aimed to examine how student media–as a Community of Practice–would respond, report, and reflect on the social impacts of the police killing of Breonna Taylor. Editions from three nationwide contests were sampled 2019–2022, focusing on three variables: Cover, Table of Contents, and Editor’s Note. Guided by Problematic Integration Theory and informed by semiotic analysis, the authors identified 15 themes from the dataset. Comparative analyses show demonstrations, responses, and profiles dominate coverage post-shutdown. Results confirm that “identity” persists in a Community of Practice even when “practice” demands operational scrutiny.
Derechos de autor 2024 International Journal of Magazine Studies
Paper and Screen: An Analysis of the Multiplatform Journalism of Elle Brasil Magazine
This study examines the dynamics between multiplatform and print formats within the context of media convergence by comparing two distinct versions of the same journalistic brand: the printed Elle Brasil and the digital Elle View. The research adopts a qualitative approach, combining documentary and bibliographic analysis with a comparative case study, supported by a semi-structured interview with the magazine’s editor-in-chief. Two pairs of editions published in 2022 were analyzed, focusing on four axes: text, section, theme, and convergence. Elle View was also assessed using criteria specific to digital-native magazines–hypertextuality, interactivity, and multimodality. The findings show that while both formats share the same team and editorial line, they serve different purposes: the print edition takes on an analytical and collectible character, targeting the luxury market, whereas the digital version emphasizes current topics, accessible language, and ephemeral consumption. The study reveals that these differences reflect strategic positioning rather than just format variation, and highlights the untapped potential of digital features. Although limited in scope, the study remains relevant and opens new avenues for research on multiplatform journalism.
Derechos de autor 2025 International Journal of Magazine Studies
Cosmopolitanism in print: The Atlantic vs. The Economist
This essay offers an interpretation of the ideal readers of The Atlantic and The Economist magazines as representatives of two kinds of cosmopolitanism: vernacular and Western, respectively. This claim is grounded several sources of evidence: their editorial missions, their content, and their ‘media kits’, commercial documents where the editors promote the publication to potential advertisers. The Economist’s ideal reader is a Western cosmopolitan, often encouraged to hold the torch of liberalism as a civilizatory universal creed. The Atlantic’s implied reader is a vernacular cosmopolitan, concerned with continuing the so-called American experiment by re-creating a national identity marked by diversity. These two understandings of cosmopolitanism have been present in the publications from the outset: The Economist was born to fight protectionism, The Atlantic to end slavery.
Much More than Paper: The Magazine as a Universal Communication Platform
Platform Politics: Commonwealth Magazine and the Mediatization of ESG in Taiwan
This study explores how CommonWealth Magazine has adapted to platformization and data integration through evolving partnerships with corporate stakeholders. Drawing on insider access and interviews with journalists, data strategists, and CSR professionals, the analysis highlights three key dynamics: (1) the central role of data visualization in editorial coordination and stakeholder communication; (2) the incorporation of partner-generated CSR data into the magazine’s visualization systems; and (3) the ambivalent place of AI, which offers new content curation tools but raises concerns about audience displacement and copyright. While CommonWealth Magazine maintains a critical editorial stance, its engagement with CSR and ESG primarily serves to distinguish itself within an increasingly saturated financial media landscape. This case study shows that the platformization of legacy media extends well beyond content digitization or visualization as a communicative device. Rather, it involves the integration of external data infrastructures and the formation of long-term, system-level partnerships with corporate and governmental actors—initiatives that raise complex legal, financial, and reputational questions. As corporate subscribers take on greater strategic significance, CommonWealth Magazine exemplifies how legacy media institutions in non-Western contexts are redefining journalistic roles while navigating tensions between credibility, infrastructure, and the uncertain terrain of the platform economy.
The Specialized TV Editorial Market in Brazil: A Study on Fan Culture in Intervalo Magazine
This article analyses all 52 editions of the section "Entreviste seu Ídolo" from Intervalo magazine; based on the survey and analysis of issues published between 1968 and 1969, we discuss questions related to the fans profile chosen to participate in the section, the segment of activity of the idols and the context of the questions answered by the interviewees. In Brazil, despite being a minority, fan culture studies in communication are expanding and covering different areas such as identities, politics, and consumption. In this context, the article starts from a sample that has still not been explored in fan culture studies in the country. The magazine was a project of Editora Abril, published between the years 1963 and 1972; in turn, upon observing this strategic movement of the broadcasters and the consequent interest of its readers, it created several sections that established dialogues and built different relationships with its audience (Magnolo, 2023).
The Decline of Music Magazines in Greece
Greek music magazines have witnessed a sharp decline over the years. This study posits that this decline cannot be attributed solely to the advent of the internet but is the culmination of various factors. The challenges faced by Greek music magazines resonate with those faced by the broader Greek newspaper industry, suggesting an interlinked adversity within the media landscape. A primary concern has been the saturation of the market; Greece had an unsustainable number of titles for its relatively small market. The country's financial crisis, in tandem with the rise of the internet, led to a significant drop in advertising revenues that traditionally supported these publications. Our findings indicate that from 1946 to 2022, there were 73 distinct music magazine and fanzine titles in Greece. Yet, as of now, only four remain in circulation. This paper delves into the historical significance of music magazines, elucidating their pivotal role in disseminating music culture in Greece, with particular attention directed towards elucidating the factors contributing to their contemporary decline
Magazines Currently: A Matter of Virtualisation
Magazines are increasingly online and virtual and produce less material due to the different ongoing trends within the Portuguese magazine industry. Combining contributions from Organisational Communication Studies and the concept of virtual organisations with Magazine Studies, it is possible to inquire: how does the virtualisation of media organisations interfere with magazine production, circulation, and diffusion? The answer primarily refers to an increase of magazine virtualisation. Then, it points to a diversity of magazine trends: availability of press in digital editions, emergence of digital-native magazines, intensification of transmedia dynamics along with the development of digital technologies, or availability of websites of press-editions-based publications. Taking from international contexts and specificities of the national one, magazines, their virtualisation, and more wide-ranging magazine phenomena are under discussion in this essay, as well as challenges referring to current and future times.
The Story of Finland, as Told by Two Weeklies: The Long Narratives of Suomen Kuvalehti and Apu
Over 100 years, two magazines have reported about Finland to Finns. However, their focus and working tools have been different. One has tried to catch the gaze of the educated few, while the other has focussed on the whole family. During various social turns, one has better caught the public gaze and the other has been less successful – but during the following decade, the roles have changed. The eternal problem for both is the question of topicality.
Les pratiques de streaming des magazines spécialisés en jeu vidéo - De l'information au divertissement ?
Les magazines de jeux vidéo, souvent centrés sur l’image (Mansuy, 2019), étaient-ils destinés à une transition audiovisuelle? Malgré l'émergence de plateformes comme Twitch et YouTube Live proposant du “jeu par procuration” (Barnabé, 2017), les journalistes de la presse écrite ont initialement résisté à apparaître à l'écran, évitant toute association avec les influenceurs. Quels éléments ont motivé ce secteur prudent, historiquement méfiant à l'égard d'Internet (Breem & Krywicki, 2020), à embrasser Twitch et à adopter un “régime de l’émission” (Dagiral & Parasie, 2010)? Cette transition implique-t-elle un passage du rôle de journaliste (information) à celui d'animateur (divertissement)? Quel rôle jouent les magazines imprimés et leurs enquêtes dans les flux vidéo? Nous allons analyser les pratiques de streaming de six médias français spécialisés en jeux vidéo. Des entretiens avec des journalistes issus de ces médias complémenteront notre étude. Nous cherchons à comprendre si ces canaux servent d'extensions de divertissement ou de véritables sources d'information spécialisée. Les magazines de jeux vidéo, souvent centrés sur l’image (Mansuy, 2019), étaient-ils destinés à une transition audiovisuelle? Malgré l'émergence de plateformes comme Twitch et YouTube Live proposant du “jeu par procuration” (Barnabé, 2017), les journalistes de la presse écrite ont initialement résisté à apparaître à l'écran, évitant toute association avec les influenceurs. Quels éléments ont motivé ce secteur prudent, historiquement méfiant à l'égard d'Internet (Breem & Krywicki, 2020), à embrasser Twitch et à adopter un “régime de l’émission” (Dagiral & Parasie, 2010)? Cette transition implique-t-elle un passage du rôle de journaliste (information) à celui d'animateur (divertissement)? Quel rôle jouent les magazines imprimés et leurs enquêtes dans les flux vidéo? Nous allons analyser les pratiques de streaming de six médias français spécialisés en jeux vidéo. Des entretiens avec des journalistes issus de ces médias complémenteront notre étude. Nous cherchons à comprendre si ces canaux servent d'extensions de divertissement ou de véritables sources d'information spécialisée.
The Emergence of Magazine Membership Models
This article undertakes a comparative analysis of three special interest magazines, Women's Running, Vegan Food and Country Walking, to determine how each title has developed and implemented a membership model. It explores if and how the model has impacted revenue and the audiences while looking for reoccurring themes and examining services. Semi-structured interviews were deemed to be the most appropriate methods by which to conduct this qualitative investigation. Thus, interviews were undertaken with editors and publishers to explore how membership has been established and ascertain the potential impact on revenue and audience engagement. Furthermore, the study reviews key literature themes around servitisation, including work by Viljakainen and Toivonen (2014) and Fließ and Hagenhoff’s (2016) study of membership to establish if the magazines have achieved financial stability and a deeper engagement with their audience.
The Digital Feminist Magazines, a Reformulation of Women's Press From South to North: The Cases AzMina and Madmoizelle
The aim of this article is to analyse how engaged media appropriate the format of so-called women's magazines to propose new models for feminist digital publications. I look at feminist media activism as a space made up of the interstice between other social worlds, such as journalism, digital activism and political activism. To understand the strategies for reformulating the magazine format from print to digital and from a perspective of reflection on gender issues, I compare, in a transnational approach, the digital magazines AzMina (from Brazil) and Madmoizelle (from France) using theories on gender studies and feminism as bibliographical support and the methodology of in-depth interviews with actresses and actors who participate to different degrees in the composition of the social world - content producers and support teams - to develop an analysis of the ways in which individuals are inserted into the context of these magazines. The results indicate that the interviewees rely on forms of writing and news gathering based on the reporting model both to write their content and to consume it. There is an inspiration in the pattern of so-called women's magazines for those who write the texts - and follow these writing patterns - and for those who read them - and create expectations of finding similarities with this writing pattern in the digital feminist media.
Magazines' Transition to Digital: The Case of Georgia
The goal of this paper is to show the results of a study into how Georgian magazines adapted to a digital transition, the kind of innovations they used and the kind of challenges they faced. For this purpose, we use the qualitative approach - the semi-structured interview method. The study was conducted among editors and journalists (n=12) of the magazines from 1 March 2023 till 15 December 2023. In the digital age, magazines in Georgia have faced a number of challenges: it is not easy to retain readers for the print edition, and the tendency of readers to decline is gradually becoming more apparent.
The Future of Magazines: A Few Speculations About the Media’s Evolution
This article examines ways in which technological change has transformed the creative editorial and design processes, the form and extent of magazine content and the industry’s underlying business models. The question of whether the evolution of delivery platforms has allowed magazines to create new and more robust relationships with their readers and an enriched sense of community is explored.
The Inspiring Role of Magazine Studies: The Interconnected Journalism Example