Connecting through Mediated Appearance
Magazines do not only influence physical space in everyday life.They often cross borders to influence the imaginary space of visual media.For example,they are frequently referenced in the imagery of motion pictures.In the blockbuster film,A Beautiful Mind,such magazines as Life and Newsweek figure squarely in the plot-albeit as part of the main character's delusions of reality.
More typically,magazines make guest appearances for their iconic quality-as markers of time,character and contextualization.In the film,Pollock,for example,a copy of an actual issue of Life magazine featuring artist Jackson Pollock forms a central organizational motif for the entire film.In the Truman Show,mock covers of Life and Newsweek are employed to chronicle the mythical life history of the main character,Jim Carrey's Truman.In the film,The Last Emperor,an early Twentieth Century Saturday Evening Post with George Washington on the cover.
In addition to their function as period or thematic reference points,magazines also serve as symbols of validation.In the film Quiz Show,for example,the appearance of game show contestant Charles Van Doren on the cover of Time magazine is given considerable attention,and proclaims that the main character has“arrived”on the public scene.And the fashion industry spoof,Zoolander,prominently and comically featured magazines in roles as arbiters and promoters of style and as social and investigative reporters.
Connecting through Concept
In addition to the feature of magazines in other media,the magazine format crosses borders by actually helping to shape the development and evolution of other media forms.In a 1973,Roland E.Wolseley prophesized the power of“the concept of the magazine.”The magazine scholar noted that the media world was rapidly changing,and he predicted that for the long range:the magazine,as all readers until now have known it-that is,as an object made of paper and ink-will disappear except as a possession of historians,museum curators and sentimentalists who collected it from its paper days.(p.121)
He added,though,that the magazine would survive as a concept,although Wolseley(1973)predicted:
It will be expressed or represented in a different way than now.Concept means the formula of bringing together a wide variety of materials,of either general or special interest.The magazine concept is one of having either something for everyone or of providing many different kinds of content on a particular subject for those especially concerned about that topic.(p.121)
Three decades later,the paper and ink variety of magazines still do exist-and in large numbers.However,it is also indisputable that the magazine concept-that appropriation of a formula of presentation and connection-has had a major impact that has helped to greatly transform thinking about borders in the mediated world.
For example,magazines have influenced trends in newspapers.Moen(1995,p.67)points to the impact of magazines on the use of graphics in newspapers,noting in the middle of the Twentieth century,Nelson Poynter,then publisher of the St.Peters burg Times,“asked why his newspaper wasn't printing maps and other information graphics like Time magazine.”According to Moen(1995),That question brought information graphics to daily journalism on a regular basis.Today,papers large and small are creating graphics daily.Since the early 1980s,newspapers have increased the use of graphs and maps dramatically,thanks to the influence of Time magazine,computers that automate part of the process,the example of USA Today and a growing understanding of the role of graphics in communicating information.(p.67)
Magazines have been a considerable influence on the development of newsletters,as well.Bivins(1999,p.121)points out,“Increasingly,newsletters are adopting magazine-type layout techniques in place of the historically more common newspaper approach.”And Hunt and Grunig(1994)discuss the evolution of a hybrid type of publication,the“maganews”or“magapaper.”
With its magazine layout(at least on the first few pages)and generous use of white space,it presents engaging modern graphics.Usually printed in black and white offset on newsprint or quality white stock,it blurs the line between both of its typographical antecedents by mixing newspaper column presentation with the more open magazine layout(p.246).Magazines have also been the inspiration for other hybrids,such as“minimags”in organizations(Hunt&Grunig,p.246).And,of course,there is the whole phenomenon of personal magazines,or simply“zines”-many of them highly individualized and idiosyncratic statements produced with the assistance of desktop publishing capabilities.
Connecting through Imitation
Another hybrid area of influence is in“custom”publishing,where marketers develop and sponsor magazines that resemble typical consumer publications but in essence serve as promotional literature to reach target audiences(Rottenberger Murtha,1993,p.62)-“to bond with customers and build their brands.”The practice is not without controversy,as one source points out(Rottenberger Murtha,2003,p.64):“While marketers tout the virtues of custom publications,critics say they're manipulative devices that further blur the line between journalism and advertising.”Also,the strong influence of magazines can be seen in the proliferation of catalogues that share the mass mails with magazines.With these direct marketing vehicles,the resemblance may go beyond purposeful similarities in layout and design to outright imitation.For example,an issue of the catalogue for mail-order giant,Land's End,features Mad Magazine's mascot,goofy grinning Alfred E.Neuman on its cover(March 2002).
