Magazines thrive due to niche audiences

Julie Brooks, 20, looks forward to the one day in the month when her favorite item comes in the mail. InStyle Magazine.

This fashion addict from McDonough, Ga., reads fashion to catch up on the season’s trends and where to shop. Something you can’t find in the local newspaper.

To find out what’s happening the world, one can read the newspaper. But what about the reader who’s learning how to garden or the reader that wants to know the best advice on how to plan a wedding?

Those readers can turn to magazines. Magazines are able to concentrate on a particular subject matter, rather than local happenings of the community. Readers can find their “niche”.

“Reading a magazine is an experience that fulfills personal needs and reflects values of the reader,” according to the 2009 Magazine Publishers of America Handbook.

Although many magazines have closed, in 2008 alone 195 new publications made its way to the press, according to MPA. On the other hand, newspapers continue to close and new ones are not developing, but rather are adapting to new technology developments.

This could be the downfall of print newspaper, but the rise of magazine publications.

“I do not read newspapers in print really anymore,” said Brooks. “Anything I need to know I can go online or can watch CNN to find out what’s happening. I read magazines for fashion because it’s the easiest way to get that certain kind of information.”

Magazines are able to pinpoint a certain interest and focus on it for readers. Within the 195 new publications in 2008, the top subject categories were entertainment/celebrity, apparel/accessories and travel. Subject matters that are most likely not found in the local newspaper on a daily basis. Although many fear print media is heading downhill, readers can rest assured magazines have found their place in the market.

With less readers heading to the newspapers, advertisers have begun to look elsewhere to draw their business. The concentration of subject matters allows advertisers to pinpoint their audience. For example, a business that specializes in cakes can reach their intended audience easier through a bridal magazine.

The steady market of magazines has led businesses to look to this print form to get their word out.

“It makes sense that businesses are going to want to advertise where they can reach the most people,” said Whitney Morrow, 19, a business major from Marietta, Ga. “Say I want to find where to get the best shoes, I’m going to read a fashion magazine.”

According to MPA, the closing of magazines and newspapers are due to advertisements, not readership. But readership and advertisement are closely related.

If readers are not reading newspapers, advertisers are not going to want to spend the money they will probably not get back. In turn, publications are forced to shut down due to the lack of advertisement revenue.

So where do businesses turn? They’ll go to the place where they can attract the most exposure.

According to MPA, 85 percent of adults 18 or older read at least one magazine regularly.

“I think it’s encouraging that people are still reading magazines,” said Caitlin Hughes, 21, a political science major from Dacula, Ga. “It just means that they’re still making money, which is always a good thing.”