So instead, let me pose you a question. Which magazines do you think are truly awful, and which do you think are really good?
And no obvious answers please from those who know me. I'm expecting something mean
from the anonymous poster who clearly works in my office. I can find out who you are, you know!
Anyway, I'll start with:
The Word
Sometimes it's truly excellent. Other times it forgets itself and is truly awful and really boring. look at this issue. Brrrr. Very poor!
After that devastating critique it's now over to you for the Friday poser.
15 comments:
I only really read three now. The Word, New Yorker and Outside. The last two are quite American but the the journalism is top-notch.
Talking of American I'm an Entertainment Weekly fan, however even that's gone off a bit lately.
I have read Private Eye for 19 years now and still find it unputdownable. My other two regular perusals are both about football, F-C, so I'll halt it right here.
Hmm, this might not help F-C, but if it's a kind of a survey could I register a nil return?
I don't regularly buy or read any magazine or newspaper now, because none of them are "that" interesting to me.
For mags that's because one subject area in quantity is generally too much.
For papers, because I have limited interest in tittle-tattle, no matter how well written. The occasional interesting article isn't enough to save the day.
That's why I like the internet, you can go from news to history to general knowledge to music to nature etc, as the train of thought takes you.
My ideal magazine would be 96 pages, with a different subject / genre on each page / spread.
(I doubt this is unusual, but if I do get featured in Psychology Today at any time I will buy that issue).
I don't read magazines unless I'm in the hairdresser's. And even then, the usual Cosmo-type "women's" fodder usually makes me want to brain someone. It's mostly hypocritical tosh about how you're GREAT just the way you are, except all you need to do is change your hair, your clothes, your shoes, your weight, your personality... grrrrrr.
If I notice that something features an article about someone I fancy, I might pick it up in Sainsbury's, have a look at the pictures and then put it back down again without buying it. But like most film or TV news, you can generally find that stuff on the internet first anyway.
But don't you like to have something in your hand, Kitten. Actually, don't answer that.
The net is great but for me will never replace magazines.
The only magazines that I read regularly are The Word and Time Out. I sometimes pick up The New Statesman, Songlines, Plan B, Vanity Fair or The Economist but how does anyone get the time to read any of these magazines properly and regularly?
I never read 'women's magazines' and entirely agree with Kitten's description. Fortunately an addiction to Jackie, Dolly, Y&M, J17 etc. in my formative years helped me get over all that crap quite early on.
Magazines are good though. You can read them on the train...
By the way (I need to get this out of my system) I absolutely despise the covers of the Word CDs. Hate them, hate them, hate them.
Right, I'll go quietly now.
I'm not mad on them either. They're this side of erotic and rather samey.
I gave up Private Eye a few years ago as it began to depress me; gave up Q as it did the same but for different reasons, gave up UK Marie Claire (but still read the French one, to try and keep my rubbish language skills functioning - plus it still has a few vaguely interesting articles unlike the UK version.).
Afraid that just leaves 'The Word', which seems to be the default magazine choice for my demographic. People always expect me to read 'Psychologies' - I tried two editions and found they just seem to rehash four stock articles, so no to that as well.
Mind you I quite like those ones that come out after New Year, which feature a free piece of doll's house furniture that you can build up into a whole set.
From Marshall Cavendish? Perfumes of the World or Greatest Ever Serial killers? They seem to vanish after about three issues. Where do they go? Has anyone ever collected a whole set?
I'm sure someone I worked with years ago told me that none of those partworks ever makes it to the end, and that they're actually planned that way. They budget to make a profit on the first few issues, and once sales drop below a certain point they stop publishing and move on to the next one.
That edition of Word was the prog special, my favourite ever. They didn't do themselves any favours by putting a picture of a bearded Cocker on the cover though.
They haven't gone down the road of Your Top 100 Favourite B-Sides. Yet. This edition comes pretty close though with all that stuff about Island albums I've never heard. And I'm a U2-denier, but in an Island special you'd at least expect some mention of the labels's biggest-selling act.
I bought a Roy of the Rovers special edition this week, it's ace!
I'm chiming in to agree on the subject of Word CD covers: they never were my cup of tea, but it was nice to see some real illustration being commissioned. What about giving some other artist a crack at a series of covers? I'm sure there are plenty who'd love the exposure (presuming the usage fees are nothing to write home about).
As for the main topic, my only subscription is to the Word. They are hit and miss, but despite mostly covering types of music I really don't care for, and an ugly design, I do look forward to each issue.
It does have far too many "whacky" lists these days though.
-- MokoLoco
Only buy/subscribe to The Word (there's a pattern emerging here). The Jarvis issue was not a favourite. Otherwise I love the writing but cannot abide the cover of the CDs (puts me off listening to them, which is probably silly, but that's the effect).
Post a Comment