.'' The earliest example of magazines was
Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen, a literary and philosophy magazine, which was launched in 1663 in Germany. ''
The Gentleman's Magazine, first published in 1731 in London was the first general-interest magazine. the quote being: "a monthly collection, to treasure up as in a magazine". Founded by Herbert Ingram in 1842, The Illustrated London News'' was the first
illustrated weekly
news magazine.
Britain The oldest consumer magazine still in print is
The Scots Magazine, which was first published in 1739, though multiple changes in ownership and gaps in publication totalling over 90 years weaken that claim. ''
Lloyd's List'' was founded in Edward Lloyd's England coffee shop in 1734; although its online platform is still updated daily, it has not been published as a printed magazine since 2013, when it ended print publication after 274 years.
France '', 26 December 1786 Under the
Ancien Régime, the most prominent magazines were , , founded in 1665 for scientists, and , founded in 1631.
Jean Loret was one of France's first journalists. He disseminated the weekly news of music, dance and Parisian society from 1650 until 1665 in verse, in what he called a
gazette burlesque, assembled in three volumes of
La Muse historique (1650, 1660, 1665). The French press lagged a generation behind the British, for they catered to the needs of the aristocracy, while the newer British counterparts were oriented toward the middle and working classes. Periodicals were censored by the central government in
Paris. They were not totally quiescent politically—often they criticized Church abuses and bureaucratic ineptitude. They supported the monarchy and they played at most a small role in stimulating the revolution. During the Revolution, new periodicals played central roles as propaganda organs for various factions.
Jean-Paul Marat (1743–1793) was the most prominent editor. His ''
L'Ami du peuple'' advocated vigorously for the rights of the lower classes against the enemies of the people Marat hated; it closed when he was assassinated. After 1800 Napoleon reimposed strict censorship. Magazines flourished after Napoleon left in 1815. Most were based in Paris and most emphasized literature, poetry and stories. They served religious, cultural and political communities. In times of political crisis they expressed and helped shape the views of their readership and thereby were major elements in the changing political culture. For example, there were eight Catholic periodicals in 1830 in Paris. None were officially owned or sponsored by the Church and they reflected a range of opinion among educated Catholics about current issues, such as the 1830 July Revolution that overthrew the Bourbon monarchy. Several were strong supporters of the Bourbon kings, but all eight ultimately urged support for the new government, putting their appeals in terms of preserving civil order. They often discussed the relationship between church and state. Generally, they urged priests to focus on spiritual matters and not engage in politics. Historian M. Patricia Dougherty says this process created a distance between the Church and the new monarch and enabled Catholics to develop a new understanding of church-state relationships and the source of political authority.
Turkey General The
Moniteur Ottoman was a gazette written in
French and first published in 1831 on the order of
Mahmud II. It was the first
official gazette of the
Ottoman Empire, edited by Alexandre Blacque at the expense of the
Sublime Porte. Its name perhaps referred to the French newspaper
Le Moniteur Universel. It was issued weekly.
Takvim-i vekayi was published a few months later, intended as a translation of the
Moniteur into
Ottoman Turkish. After having been edited by former Consul for Denmark "
M. Franceschi", and later on by "
Hassuna de Ghiez", it was lastly edited by Lucien Rouet. However, facing the hostility of embassies, it was closed in the 1840s.
Satire Satirical magazines of Turkey have a long tradition. One of the earliest satirical magazines was
Diyojen which was launched in 1870. There are around 20 satirical magazines; the leading ones are
Penguen (70,000 weekly circulation),
LeMan (50,000) and
Uykusuz. Historical examples include
Oğuz Aral's magazine
Gırgır (which reached a circulation of 750,000 in the 1970s) and
Marko Paşa (launched in 1946).
Late 19th century In the mid-19th century, monthly magazines gained popularity. They were general interest to begin, containing some news, vignettes, poems, history, political events, and social discussion. Unlike newspapers, they were more of a monthly record of current events along with entertaining stories, poems, and pictures. The first periodicals to branch out from news were
''Harper's and
The Atlantic, which focused on fostering the arts. Both Harper's
and The Atlantic
persist to this day, with Harper's
being a cultural magazine and The Atlantic focusing mainly on world events. Early publications of Harper's
even held famous works such as early publications of Moby Dick'' or famous events such as the laying of the world's first
transatlantic telegraph cable; however, the majority of early content was trickle down from British events. The development of the magazines stimulated an increase in literary criticism and political debate, moving towards more opinionated pieces from the objective newspapers. The early periodical predecessors to magazines started to evolve to modern definition in the late 1800s. One cause was the heavy coverage of corruption in politics, local government and big business, especially by
Muckrakers. They were journalists who wrote for popular magazines to expose social and political sins and shortcomings. They relied on their own
investigative journalism reporting; muckrakers often worked to expose social ills and corporate and
political corruption. Muckraking magazines–notably ''
McClure's''–took on corporate monopolies and crooked
political machines while raising public awareness of chronic urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, and
social issues such as
child labor. The journalists who specialized in exposing waste, corruption, and scandal operated at the state and local level, like
Ray Stannard Baker,
George Creel, and
Brand Whitlock. Others, including
Lincoln Steffens, exposed political corruption in many large cities;
Ida Tarbell went after
John D. Rockefeller's
Standard Oil Company.
Samuel Hopkins Adams in 1905 showed the fraud involved in many patent medicines,
Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel
The Jungle gave a horrid portrayal of how meat was packed, and, also in 1906,
David Graham Phillips unleashed a blistering indictment of the U.S. Senate. Roosevelt gave these journalists their nickname when he complained that they were not being helpful by raking up all the muck.
1930s–1990s on the cover of Al-Kawakeb magazine, 12 September 1932
21st century of the January 2009 issue of
State Magazine, published by the
United States Department of State According to the Research Department of
Statista, closures of magazines outnumbered launches in
North America during 2009. Although both figures declined during 2010–2015, launches outnumbered closures in each of those years, sometimes by a 3:1 ratio. Focusing more narrowly, MediaFinder.com found that 93 new magazines were launched during the first six months of 2014, while only 30 closed in that time frame. The category which produced the most new publications was "Regional interest", of which six new magazines were launched, including
12th & Broad and
Craft Beer & Brewing. However, two magazines had to change their print schedules.
Johnson Publishing's
Jet stopped printing regular issues, making the transition to digital format, though still printing an annual print edition. ''
Ladies' Home Journal'' stopped their monthly schedule and home delivery for subscribers to become a quarterly newsstand-only special interest publication. According to statistics from the end of 2013, subscription levels for 22 of the top 25 magazines declined from 2012 to 2013, with just
Time,
Glamour and
ESPN The Magazine gaining numbers. However, by 2024, some titles, notably outdoors magazines, appeared to be growing in popularity. Furthermore, recent research (2025) has shown that print magazines are seen as more trustworthy, with better quality journalism.
Women's magazines The "seven sisters" of American women's magazines are ''
Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, McCall's, Woman's Day, Redbook, Family Circle, and Better Homes and Gardens. Some magazines, among them Godey's Lady's Book and Harper's Bazaar, were intended exclusively for a female audience, emphasizing the traditional gender roles of the 19th century. Harper's Bazaar'' was the first to focus exclusively on
couture fashion, fashion accessories and textiles. The inclusion of
didactic content about housekeeping may have increased the appeal of the magazine for a broader audience of women and men concerned about the frivolity of a fashion magazine. ==Types==