"For those of us who long ago experienced the magazine love-bite and have been battling the prejudice and scant attention shown this beautiful medium ever since, here at last is the book to set the record straight." - Nicholas Brett, Deputy Managing Director, BBC Magazines "At a time when magazines are undergoing active redefinition, this book represents a welcome intervention. It engages with a host of pressing issues in a manner alert to professional priorities while, at the same time, encouraging new ways of thinking about the challenges shaping this fast-moving field. Holmes and Nice are trustworthy guides, taking the reader on what proves to be a fascinating journey." - Stuart Allan, Professor of Journalism, Bournemouth University Magazines are the most successful media format ever to have existed: so begins Magazine Journalism as it traces how magazines arose from their earliest beginnings in 1665 to become the ubiquitous format we know today. This book combats the assumptions among media academics as well as journalists that magazines somehow don′t count, and presents a compelling assessment of the development and innovation at the heart of magazine publishing. In magazines we find some of the key debates in journalism, from the genesis of ′marketing to the reader′ to feminist history, subcultures and tabloidization. Embedding these questions in a thoroughly historical framework, Holmes and Nice argue for an understanding of magazine journalism as essential in the media landscape. Moving beyond the semiotic and textual analysis so favoured by critics of the past, the authors complete the story with an exploration of the production and consumption of magazines. Drawing on interviews with more than 30 magazine journalists across the industry, what emerges is a story of resilience, innovation and a unique ability to embrace new markets and readerships. Magazine Journalism takes the reader to the heart of key questions in the past, present and future of journalism and is essential reading for students across journalism and the creative industries.

"For those of us who long ago experienced the magazine love-bite and have been battling the prejudice and scant attention shown this beautiful medium ever since, here at last is the book to set the record straight." - Nicholas Brett, Deputy Managing Director, BBC Magazines "At a time when magazines are undergoing active redefinition, this book represents a welcome intervention. It engages with a host of pressing issues in a manner alert to professional priorities while, at the same time, encouraging new ways of thinking about the challenges shaping this fast-moving field. Holmes and Nice are trustworthy guides, taking the reader on what proves to be a fascinating journey." - Stuart Allan, Professor of Journalism, Bournemouth University Magazines are the most successful media format ever to have existed: so begins Magazine Journalism as it traces how magazines arose from their earliest beginnings in 1665 to become the ubiquitous format we know today. This book combats the assumptions among media academics as well as journalists that magazines somehow don′t count, and presents a compelling assessment of the development and innovation at the heart of magazine publishing. In magazines we find some of the key debates in journalism, from the genesis of ′marketing to the reader′ to feminist history, subcultures and tabloidization. Embedding these questions in a thoroughly historical framework, Holmes and Nice argue for an understanding of magazine journalism as essential in the media landscape. Moving beyond the semiotic and textual analysis so favoured by critics of the past, the authors complete the story with an exploration of the production and consumption of magazines. Drawing on interviews with more than 30 magazine journalists across the industry, what emerges is a story of resilience, innovation and a unique ability to embrace new markets and readerships. Magazine Journalism takes the reader to the heart of key questions in the past, present and future of journalism and is essential reading for students across journalism and the creative industries.

In this entertaining anthology, editors, writers, art directors, and publishers from such magazines as Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Elle, and Harper's draw on their varied, colorful experiences to explore a range of issues concerning their profession. Combining anecdotes with expert analysis, these leading industry insiders speak on writing and editing articles, developing great talent, effectively incorporating art and design, and the critical relationship between advertising dollars and content. They emphasize the importance of fact checking and copyediting; share insight into managing the interests (and potential conflicts) of various departments; explain how to parlay an entry-level position into a masthead title; and weigh the increasing influence of business interests on editorial decisions. In addition to providing a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of successful and influential magazines, these contributors address the future of magazines in a digital environment and the ongoing importance of magazine journalism. Full of intimate reflections and surprising revelations, The Art of Making Magazines is both a how-to and a how-to-be guide for editors, journalists, students, and anyone hoping for a rare peek between the lines of their favorite magazines. The chapters are based on talks delivered as part of the George Delacorte Lecture Series at the Columbia School of Journalism. Essays include: "Talking About Writing for Magazines (Which One Shouldn't Do)" by John Gregory Dunne; "Magazine Editing Then and Now" by Ruth Reichl; "How to Become the Editor in Chief of Your Favorite Women's Magazine" by Roberta Myers; "Editing a Thought-Leader Magazine" by Michael Kelly; "Fact-Checking at The New Yorker" by Peter Canby; "A Magazine Needs Copyeditors Because...." by Barbara Walraff; "How to Talk to the Art Director" by Chris Dixon; "Three Weddings and a Funeral" by Tina Brown; "The Simpler the Idea, the Better" by Peter W. Kaplan; "The Publisher's Role: Crusading Defender of the First Amendment or Advertising Salesman?" by John R. MacArthur; "Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines" by Robert Gottlieb; and "The Reader Is King" by Felix Dennis

This year's selections have been chosen from among the finalists of the National Magazine Awards. Includes articles from "The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine," and "Esquire."

Our annual anthology of finalists and winners of the National Magazine Awards 2014 includes Max Chafkin's oral history of Apple from Fast Company, Joshua Davis's intimate portrait of tech pioneer John McAfee's personal and public breakdown from Wired; Kyle Dickman's haunting investigation into the preventable death of nineteen firemen battling an Arizona wildfire; and Ariel Levy's emotional account of extreme travel to a remote land—while pregnant—from The New Yorker. Other essays include Wright Thompson's bittersweet profile of Michael Jordan's fifty-something second act (ESPN the Magazine); Jean M. Twenge's revealing look at fertility myths and baby politics (The Atlantic); Janet Reitman's controversial study of the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Rolling Stone); Luke Mogelson's harrowing experience accompanying asylum seekers on a potentially deadly sea voyage to Australia (New York Times Magazine); Lisa Miller's poignant report from Newtown, Connecticut, as the town tries to cope with the aftermath of one of the nation's worst mass shootings (New York); Emily Nussbaum's critiques of gender and politics on television (The New Yorker); and Witold Rybczynski's poetic engagement with modern architecture (Architect). The collection concludes with the award-winning poem "Elegies" by Kathleen Ossip (Poetry) and "The Embassy of Cambodia," a short story by Zadie Smith (The New Yorker).

In a time of reckoning, this year’s National Magazine Awards finalists and winners focus on abuse of power in many forms. Ronan Farrow’s Pulitzer Prize–winning revelation of Harvey Weinstein’s depredations (New Yorker), along with Rebecca Traister’s charged commentary for New York and Laurie Penny’s incisive Longreads columns, speak to the urgency of the #MeToo moment. Ginger Thompson’s reporting on the botched U.S. operation that triggered a cartel massacre in Mexico (National Geographic/ProPublica) and Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal’s New York Times Magazine investigation of the civilian casualties of drone strikes in Iraq amplify the voices of those harmed by U.S. actions abroad. And Alex Tizon’s “My Family’s Slave” (Atlantic) is a powerful attempt to come to terms with the cruelty that was in plain sight in his own upbringing. Responding to the overt racism of the Trump era, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “My President Was Black” (Atlantic) looks back at the meaning of Obama. Howard Bryant (ESPN the Magazine) and Bim Adewunmi (Buzzfeed) offer incisive columns on the intersections of pop culture, sports, race, and politics. In addition, David Wallace-Wells reveals the coming disaster of our climate-change-ravaged future (New York); Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham’s ESPN the Magazine reporting exposes the seamy sides of the NFL; Nina Martin and Renee Montagne investigate America’s shameful record on maternal mortality (NPR/ProPublica); Ian Frazier asks “What Ever Happened to the Russian Revolution?” (Smithsonian); and Alex Mar considers “Love in the Time of Robots” (Wired with Epic Magazine). The collection concludes with Kristen Roupenian’s viral hit short story “Cat Person” (New Yorker).

The Best American Magazine Writing 2021 presents outstanding journalism and commentary that reckon with urgent topics, including COVID-19 and entrenched racial inequality. In “The Plague Year,” Lawrence Wright details how responses to the pandemic went astray (New Yorker). Lizzie Presser reports on “The Black American Amputation Epidemic” (ProPublica). In powerful essays, the novelist Jesmyn Ward processes her grief over her husband’s death against the backdrop of the pandemic and antiracist uprisings (Vanity Fair), and the poet Elizabeth Alexander considers “The Trayvon Generation” (New Yorker). Aymann Ismail delves into how “The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd” dealt with the repercussions of the fatal call (Slate). Mitchell S. Jackson scrutinizes the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and how running fails Black America (Runner’s World). The anthology features remarkable reporting, such as explorations of the cases of children who disappeared into the depths of the U.S. immigration system for years (Reveal) and Oakland’s efforts to rethink its approach to gun violence (Mother Jones). It includes selections from a Public Books special issue that investigate what 2020’s overlapping crises reveal about the future of cities. Excerpts from Marie Claire’s guide to online privacy examine topics from algorithmic bias to cyberstalking to employees’ rights. Aisha Sabatini Sloan’s perceptive Paris Review columns explore her family history in Detroit and the toll of a brutal past and present. Sam Anderson reflects on a unique pop figure in “The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic” (New York Times Magazine). The collection concludes with Susan Choi’s striking short story “The Whale Mother” (Harper’s Magazine).