Archive Report
Archive Report
Economic Ills of American Magazines
Multiple Problems of Past Two Recession Years
In a recession, most businesses expect some loss of profit. A business that produces non-essential luxury products is usually hard hit. It should come as no surprise that during the 1970–71 recession many of the approximately 750 general magazines published in the United States encountered financial problems. Readers bought fewer magazines and advertisers began to spread their money thin. The Gallagher Report, a trade newsletter, reported that the combined circulation of 203 leading magazines declined in the first six months of 1971 from the same period of 1970.
The decline was only one-half of one per cent but it was the first to occur in two decades. Moreover, the drop in circulation was predicted to ...