Magazines

On Friday, we discussed magazines. Considering how magazine today are focused specifically on one topic, reanging from sports to celebrity gossip, I would have never guessed that magazines in the past were targeted towards a general audience. In 1741, Benjamin Franklin created the first national magazine called "General Magazine." Later, the Saturday Evening Post was created along with countless others. These maggazines tried to reach a general audience, featured national advertisments and helped establish a national identity. I am not surprised that these magazines were forced to demassify. It would be extremely difficult now-a-days to create a magazine that included something everyone enjoys. Personally, I think that magazines should have targeted a nitch audience from the beginning, because I would rather read an entire magazine dedicated to fashion than read only a half page dedicated to fashion. I feel like people would pay a lot more for today's magazines because they do focus on a particular subject rather than dozens of different topics. Although I am not surprised that magazines were forced to demassify, I am surprised that they didn't target a smaller audience from the start.