Response: The History of Magazines

The fact that caught me off guard was the fact that Benjamin Franklin wrote the first American magazine in 1714, it was called the General Magazine. I also liked hearing about the Saturday Evening Post, which is a magazine from the early 1820's that was the most popular at the time. This magazine like many others tried to incorporate bits of everything from hard news to silly morning comics.
Magazines also helped develop many things like photo journalism and national advertising. National advertising helped support businesses and helped them grow, I find this as an important advancement that the magazine industry came up with. Not only did it introduce new advancements but it also spread literacy because of their lower prices next to books.
Magazines were eventually down graded because of the radio, which could reach millions instead of thousands. Now it is hard to find a true national magazine that has a little bit of everything. It is more likely to find gossip, fashion, or sports based magazines.
This lesson was absolutely fascinating. I love learning about the history of literature and journalism, especially when I love magazines. I was rather excited for this lesson hoping that I would learn when magazines came along and how they turned out like they are now.