Magazine 1998 Abstracts
Magazine Division
Miracle in South Africa: A Historical Review of U.S. Magazines’ Coverage of the First Heart Transplant • Raymond N. Ankney, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Magazine coverage of the first human heart transplant, which was performed in south Africa in December 1967 by Christiaan Barnard, was reviewed. Magazines showed a pro-American slant in their coverage by asserting that luck played a large part in Barnard performing the operation. They also downplayed Barnard’s accomplishment by saying he received surgical training in the United States. However, few stories mentioned that Barnard’s patients were living much longer that those of American surgeons.
Consumption of Teen Magazines by Adolescent Italian Girls: Reading Patterns and Motives • Britto M. Berchmans, University Pontificia Salesiana • Research on teens’ use of teen magazines is meager even though magazine reading is a widespread phenomenon among adolescents. Basing itself on a theory of media use uniquely suited to the specific development exigencies of teenagers, a survey of 903 adolescent Italian girls inquired into their reading habits and motivations for reading teen magazines. This paper proposes that teenzines are an agent of broad socialization that assists teens in their identity formation, identification with other teens, and entertainment.
What’s Wrong With These Pictures?: Images of the Elderly in Life and Ebony Magazine Ads, 1990-1997 • Sharon Bramlett-Solomon and Ganga Subramanian, Arizona State University • This content analysis of Life and Ebony, which replicated and updates an earlier study, reveals a gloomier picture of elderly portrayal in the 1990s than in the previous decade. The findings show decreased elderly representations in ads and show more elderly figures featuring aging-associated products and services. One of the most interesting and surprising study findings was observed on the race variable. Black elderly figures were three times more likely to appear in Life as white elderly figures were likely to appear in Ebony, a finding opposite what was noted in the earlier study.
The Astounding Women of Analog: A Content Analysis of Cover Art • Lisa Daigle, Georgia State University • This study is a content analysis of science fiction magazines cover art. It is designed to find out if specific types of cover art, namely those with images of women, exist and if certain images are reoccurring. It also seeks to find out if certain female images have changed over time. Its focus is on Analog Magazine and its history of cover art from 1930 to 1990.
Zine But Not Heard? Editors Talk About Publishing On-line • Kathleen Endres, Akron • This study was based on responses from 123 editors of on-line publications. Among the results: most on-line publications had a print counterpart, although on-line content was often different; specialized business publications lag behind consumer magazines in on-line publishing; the editorial department was key in determining if a publication went on-line.
“When I Grow Up…” How Popular Magazines Portrayed Journalism as a Career for Women, 1872-1926 • Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, Seton Hall University • This paper asks a fundamental question: “How did popular magazines portray journalism as a career for women?” This is asked as a first step toward understanding what it was like for women a century ago as they tried to break into a male-dominated profession. This paper describes cases of sexual harassment, job discrimination and prejudice against the women who pioneered journalism as a feasible career path for women.
Women’s Magazines Used Agenda-Setting, Priming In Effort to Influence ‘96 Election • Ernest C. Hynds, Georgia • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.
Family Pictures: Constructing the Typical American in 1920s Magazines • Carolyn Kitch, Northwestern University • Beginning in the 1920s, American magazines described a modern but wholesome lifestyle based on a shared national identity. Their audience was an ambitious, suburban middle class — the group key to the success of mass culture in twentieth-century America. This rhetorical analysis considers how two top-circulation magazines, The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping, used verbal and visual imagery, especially cover art, to create a blueprint for the “typical” American family in a commercial world.
Cultural Standard of Attractiveness: A 30-Year Look at Changes in Male Images in Magazines • Cheryl Lynn Law, Florida • This research examined mass media images being portrayed in three popular men’s magazines • GQ, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated • from 1967 to 1997. Some researchers indicate that men are entering the world of objectified bodies where unattainable ideals are the norm and that these mass media images contribute to psychological distress and related disorders. The researcher concluded that over the 30-year time period studied, male images have become thinner and more muscularly defined.
McLuhan’s Dew-Line Multi-Media Newsletter: A Retrospective Study • William M. Lawbaugh • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.
Images of the Poor in Newsmagazines, 1958-1967 and 1988-1997 • Michael R. Newberg, Ohio University • Poverty and related public assistance programs have been prominent news topics throughout the past forty years. This content analysis of articles in Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report compares the representations of the poor from the 1960s with the 1990s. Examination of photos, text and source citations indicate that coverage of the poor and programs aimed to combat poverty has grown increasingly unsympathetic and male politicians continue to dominate the discussion.
The Ebola Virus: Tracking Master Narratives in Magazine Journalism Discourse • Donnalyn Pompper, Cabrini College • This empirical project scrutinized the content of Ebola virus reportage in widely circulated consumer magazines from 1976 through 1996. The study was launched to gain insight into magazines’ role as influential molders of discourse designed to promote social order. A close textual reading, with attention to linguistic dimensions, uncovered more than the medial reality of an incurable virus, or real geography. The ideologically loaded master narratives underscored hegemonic power relations through frames, sourcing practices, metaphors, and symbolic word groupings.
Bypassing the Mainstream: Finding Gratification Through Zine Publishing • Neil A. Swanson, Georgia • Zine publishers use their work to satisfy specific needs that the mainstream media fail to satisfy. Through the creation of their own texts, they explore dimensions of their lives that consuming other media simply cannot reach. Generally exploring alternative subject matter, zines offer their publishers a form of “textual productivity” that they can circulate within their own cultural community (Fiske, 1992). Zinesters share their they work with other zine publishers, developing common bonds and tightening connections within their community.
Beauty and Fashion Magazine Reading and Anorectic Cognitions As Predictors of Dieting Behavior in College-Age Women • Steven R. Thomsen, J. Kelly McCoy, Marleen Williams, Brigham Young and Robert L. Gustafson, Ball State University • The study was conducted to explore the relationship between the reading of women’s beauty and fashion magazines, dieting behavior, and the existence of anorectic cognitions in college-age women. Unlike past studies, which have examined the relationship between the quantity of beauty and fashion magazines read and eating disorders, this study assesses the impact of reading frequency, preferences for articles, photos, of ads, and motivation for reading on dieting behavior, which is considered to be precursor to the development of eating disorders.
Reviewing The Record: What Magazine Letters to the Editor Said About Journalism in 1962, 1972, 1982 and 1992 • Brian Thornton, Midwestern State University • This research examines what ordinary consumers of news have written about journalism over the past 30 years in letters to the editor. To obtain a national view of public sentiment about journalism, letters to the editor from 1962m 1972, 1982 and 1992 published in 10 national news magazines • as opposed to newspapers – were examined. This research found that within the span of 30 years, the number of letters to the editor discussing journalism published in the 10 mainstream new magazines declined from 66 percent to 3 percent.
Uncovering the “Hidden Epidemic:” Consumer Magazine Reporting on HIV/AIDS and Other STDs • Kim Walsh-Childers, Debbie Treise, Alyse Gotthoffer and Lyn Ringer, Florida • The paper describes the STD- and AIDS/HIV -related results of a content analysis of 44 consumer magazines. There was significant variation in the extent of coverage across the four magazine types analyzed. About 9 percent of al sex-related items made some mention of STDs; about 14 percent mentioned HIV. The women’s and teen magazines were most likely to cover non-HIV STDs without reference to specific diseases. In covering HIV/AIDS, the most common topic was the sexual transmission of HIV.
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