Magazine and types of magazines
Magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication containing a wide variety of articles on various subjects. Periodical
A periodical is a regular issue from a press; it could be a magazine or a review.Journal A journal is a professional periodical.
Historical perspective
The term Magazine was first used in 1731 in the title of “Gentleman’s Magazine” which was founded in London; however, magazine in its very early form was available to general public since 1646. In 1691 The Complete Library appeared on the scene which is taken as the first magazine that broke away from book information. The first essay-type periodical was Tattler and the first magazine published from USA was Andrew Bradfords American Magazine.
Magazine Journalism after Independence
Major contribution of periodicals in the history of Pakistan had been in the area of literature.
Quite a huge number of literary journals and magazines of high quality were published in the early years of our independence which resulted into this mindset of the readers that a periodical is a literary journal, which is altogether wrong.
Since independence different magazines and periodicals have been published and are still being published. These magazines and periodicals can be classified into different categories:
Literary Magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature. It usually covers poetry, short stories, essays on different topics, critical reviews of different books, interviews of different poets and authors, letters and a lot of other related stuff. Some famous literary magazines that were published but have now vanished from the scene are: Sawera,
Naqsh, Naya Daur, Naya adab, Urdu adab, etc. After 60s one by one they vanished and digest magazines took their place. Most of the critics blame radio, TV and newspapers for this. Television and radio are providing entertainment and information in the form of dramas, songs (poetry), discussions etc. and therefore people don’t bother to buy and read these magazines. Another reason is the lack of availability of good piece of writings and the cheap entertainment available in the form of digests.
Religious Magazine
Religious magazine is a magazine devoted to some specific religion. It is usually aimed at preaching some particular religion though religious poetry, religious scholars’ articles and interviews, answering people’s different questions and queries regarding that religion, historical incidents, comparative analysis with other religions etc.
In 19th century when journalism was taking its shape in sub-continent the most popular periodicals were religious magazines. Hindus, Muslims and Christian missionaries were publishing their magazines and propagating their religions. Different organizations, sects and people belonging to different religions are publishing their magazines in Pakistan but they are not so popular any more because electronic media particularly private Islamic and other channels are also doing the job in a bit different and to an extent popular way which has ultimately reduced the demand for religious magazines.
Film Magazine
Film magazines provide both information as well as entertainment to the readers. They are considered as the most popular periodicals worldwide. They provide an update to public on the upcoming new local and international movies, interviews and pictures of their favorite starts, some spicy news about the actors and actresses, and a lot of other stuff of public interest. In Pakistan, film magazines have become less popular over the time which is considered as the outcome of over all downfall of Pakistan Film Industry. Till 1970, app.110 films were released per year and now it is 20-25. Similarly, number of cinema houses in the country till 1970 was 850 and now it is about 350. This gradual decline of film industry has disturbed the circulation of film magazine in the country resulting into the lesser number of publications available. Another reason is the coverage of film and entertainment media by newspapers. Newspapers are now providing such an extensive coverage to entertainment
industry particularly films that people don’t really feel like buying film magazines any more.
Sports Magazine
As the name indicates, sports magazine cover sports and sports persons. They provide information to sports fans about the international and national sports events and sports persons and also give pictorial coverage to mega sports events to meet the public demands.
Political Magazine
Magazines providing an insight and update on different political events nationally and internationally, political updates, news, interviews of famous politicians, political parties’ activities and their affairs, political scandals, public opinion regarding the popularity of different parties and politicians are called Political magazines. In 7th and 8th decade of 20th century we had some really popular political magz but now they are not that popular any more and their circulation has also decreased to a great extent. The major reason of their decline is newspapers; newspapers are now so deeply and thoroughly covering political news and other related things in the form of editorials, features and columns that people are no more interested in spending extra money on reading political magazines because they can read and get all the required information from newspapers. Some of the very famous political magazines that once we had were: Lail-o-nahar, Al-fateh etc.
Women’s Magazine
Before partition, sub-continent had some very popular women’s magazines like Ismat, which was published from Delhi. After independence, in 1960s other then independent women magz, all national dailies also started publishing women’s periodicals.
A women’s magazine has everything of women’s interest which could be beauty tips, articles on women issues, their poetry and other writings, interviews of successful women, etc.
Children’s Magazine
Phool was one of the most popular children’s magazine of sub-continent before independence. Khilona from Delhi was another one that continued publishing even after partition. In Pakistan, daily newspapers are also publishing children’s special periodicals in which they mostly cover children’s drawings, pictures, poems, shot stories, cartoons and other stuff of their interest.
Fashion Magazine
They are also called society magazines as they inform people about the new trends of the society in different ways. A special feature of these fashion mag is their quality of Photo Journalism, which is very high. They are usually liked by people but their circulation is not that high in the country which is due to their expensive nature.
Digest Magazine
Reader’s Digest is the first digest in the history of digest magazines. Digest magazine is a magazine that provides a digestible material to its readers. In Pakistan 80-85 digest magazines are available for light reading. They usually cover translations of short stories and novels from other languages mostly English, mythological stories, local stories, fiction etc. Digest magazines have now become the most popular and affordable type of magazine in Pakistan.
