THE FUTURE OF NEWSMAGAZINES

Abstract

More than 80 years ago, Time magazine was launched in the United States, heralding the birth of a new journalistic genre. Since then, countless newsmagazines have appeared around the world. What are the elements that contribute towards the success of this journalistic genre today? And what are the perspectives for the future of newsmagazines? This study analyses 26 issues of six newsmagazines—Time (four copies), Newsweek (four), L'Express (five), Le Nouvel Observateur (five), Sábado (four) and Visão (four) during January 2009. The focus of the study is on the covers (cover lines, images, design) and the subjects that each magazine chooses for the front page. The objective is to cross-reference the data gathered using content analysis with the results of a previous study of newsmagazines in 1999. Comparing the reality of 10 years ago with newsmagazines today facilitates understanding of the differences between this genre and others, as well as the ways in which newsmagazines are adapting to the advances of digital journalism. It will also assist in understanding whether it is really possible to talk about a “newsmagazine genre”, based on the differences and similarities found within the selected corpus.

Keywords:

• comparative studies
• content analysis
• cover
• dispositif of communication
• newsmagazine

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to the Media and Journalism Research Centre (CIMJ) which financed participation in the “Future of Journalism Conference 2009” at the School of Journalism, Cardiff University, UK. Thanks also to the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture and New Technologies (CICANT) at Universidade Lusófona for its support in translating the paper and reviewing the final article for publication. To Patrícia Prijatel and Sammye Johnson, for their quick response, valuable bibliographical suggestions and advice and, finally, to David Sumner, for sharing the bibliography of his book The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900, to be published in 2010.

Notes

1. Foucault's concept of “dispositif” is sometimes translated into English as “device”, although the more commonly accepted term appears to be “apparatus”. Nevertheless, to preserve the identity and richness of the concept designed by the French philosopher in the mid-1970s, all references in the text mention “dispositif”, following the recommendations of Kessler (2006).

2. The two editions of this book are included in the reference list because the concept of “cover line” as defined by the authors (short title, similar to the teaser in advertising) appears in a Glossary that is not in the second edition.