This use of direct address may even take the form of a call to action,a request to not just share in an adventure of self-identification and awareness,but also to take an active part in planning the adventure.At a location of The New York Sports Club-part of a large chain of exercise facilities-a large sign posted on a wall invited onlookers to get involved in the launch of a new publication.“We're creating a magazine,”the sign declared.“We want it to be about you.”The sign beckoned patrons and employees of the gym to personally participate in the genesis of a new organization-sponsored publication by submitting ideas,articles,and photographs.
Connecting through Personification
As media products,magazines may seem to have a life of their own-a well-formed personality that one can relate to.As some observers note,magazines are in fact dynamic embodiments of living,breathing energy-in essence,the literary reflections of the producers“behind the scenes”with whom readers may interact.Each magazine has a personality,asserts J.T.W.Hubbard(1982):
The personality of a magazine must be firm and distinct.Yet it can also be as quirky and subtle as that of any human being.In an important sense a good magazine is a human being-the conjoint personality of its editors saying,“Yes,we want this article”and“No,not for us.”(p.9)
However,Hubbard notes that the mere fact of having personality will not guarantee success.The magazine-audience interaction requires a sense of empathy and commitment-just as in any person-to-person relationship.If the magazine fails to maintain a vital,concerned relationship with the reader,it will wither.An unhealthy magazine will“drag around the house in a long bathrobe,boring its readers to death”(Hubbard,1982),and ultimately will probably spur its own demise.
Click and Baird(1974)make a similar point about the importance of maintaining the dynamism of the magazine personality:
A magazine is very much like a living organism and should not be over-institutionalized in the editor's thinking.Magazine history suggests that an editorial concept can grow and mature after“birth,”but that as society changes,so must the concept and formula.(p.57)
Within the production framework of the magazine,there is also need for interaction.An essential ingredient in successful magazine publishing is collaboration between editors and writers based on analytic skill,says Westfall(1994,p.xix):“Whenever we,editor and writer can closely examine topic and magazine and together forge and share concrete language,the collaboration works.Whenever one or both of us is unable to deeply analyze audience or writing,communication fails.”
In its ideal sense,the magazine is a link with the macro world of the producer and the micro world of the consumer.In her cultural studies analysis of women's magazines and the social construction of femininity,McRobbie(1996)notes that from her interviews with those who plan and write for magazines:
All the journalists have described themselves as magazine addicts and as having read them avidly as girls,long before they thought of a career in this field...They not only identify with their readers,making decisions and arguing their case by casting themselves as readers,they also see themselves as actively assisting and thereby producing readers as“fashionable young women...”(pp.179-180)
Connecting through Recognition
Much of the interpersonal focus of magazines is on people who are already widely known in a public sense from various contexts.This notion has been reinforced through magazines that are founded or grounded on a preexisting connection with a celebrity-whether that celebrity is Milton Berle or Martha Stewart or Oprah Winfrey.Some see the celebrity magazine primarily as a brand extension-a way for publishers to get more bang out of the already established personality buck(Carr&Manly,2002).However,that is not to suggest that the linkage of the magazine and celebrity is to be dismissed as mere contrivance.A case in point is Rosie,the magazine built around television and film celebrity Rosie O'Donnell.Prominently featuring O'Donnell on its cover and throughout its pages,the publication billed itself as“The magazine with personality.”In the long run,the magazine found that it had more personality than the principals had bargained for.A bitter dispute between publisher Gruner Jahr USA and O'Donnell over editorial control and content was blamed for the demise of the magazine after only twenty issues.Not surprisingly,this personal dispute involving a celebrity also became fodder for a personality oriented news publication,People magazine,which ran a cover story on O'Donnell(Tauber,et al,2002).In the People article,the entertainer declared that any magazine carrying her name and brand“has to be my vision”(Tauber,et al,2002,p.112),and recalled an argument with the chief executive of Rosie's publishing company:“I told him this was not the deal we made.I said,'This is America.You don't own my name”(Tauber,et al.,2002,p.116).
Connecting through Modeling
Sometimes the magazine-to-person connection is expressed in terms of modeling-presenting standards of style,fashion,or behavior.In a memorable ad campaign,Forbes cast itself as“the capitalist tool.”Cosmopolitan describes itself as“fun,fearless,female.”Maxim strives to position itself as the essential compendium of what the informed young man needs to know each month.And American Airlines American Way presented a cover article(March 15,2003)portraying“ultimate road warriors,”actual savvy travelers for whom“air travel is a way of life.”
