Newhouse School of Communications
Career Paths:
Magazine
Magazines
Magazines can be organized into two groups. The first and larger group is made up of consumer magazines, many of which address a niche market related to hobbies and leisure activities (Tennis, Vegetarian Times), or offer a variety of news, information, and entertainment (The New Yorker, Esquire). The "big three" news magazines, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report, are influential consumer magazines that have large circulations and employ large staffs. Niche consumer magazines usually have small staffs and rely on freelance writers for much of their content. The second group is trade or professional magazines, which contain material of interest to certain industries or professions. Deadlines tend to fall farther apart in the magazine industry than at many newspapers, so the pace can be a little less break-neck.
Online Publications
Web publishing is certain to play an increasingly important role in news and information delivery because it decreases production costs and supplies a product that is easy to distribute and update. To the user's advantage, online publications often maintain easily searchable archives of back issues at their sites. Currently, electronic publications can be divided into two groups. First, there are sites produced by established news organizations, including CNN and most major metropolitan newspapers, where you can access their broadcast or print versions plus features that are only available online. (Some large companies have wholly separate new media divisions; The New York Times owns New York Times Digital.) The second type of online publication has no association with other media. The flowering of independent electronic publications like the "webzine" Slate, which covers public affairs, has created a great new market for young writers.
Wire Services
Wire services, also known as news agencies or press associations, are newsgathering and reporting organizations that provide their subscribers with up-to-date, round-the-clock news stories and photographs. The two largest wire services in the United States carry general news: the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). Wire services are much like newspapers in their daily operations except that the "wires" transmit stories via satellite to their members and subscribers (newspapers, magazines, broadcast news programs, and government agencies) which then print the stories.
Sales and Circulation
Both newspapers and magazines rely heavily on sales or "the business side" of the industry for survival. Newspapers sell both print ads and classifieds, while magazines sell page ads. Circulation deals with subscribers. The sales and circulation departments can be the most financially rewarding of the industry.
Information from experience.com 6/2000
Positions held by Newhouse Class of 2005 graduates:
- Reporter - The Citizen, Auburn, NY
- Editorial Assistant - HC Pro, Inc., Marblehead, MA
- Editorial Assistant - New Jersey Life magazine, NJ
- Editorial Assistant - Travel + Leisure Golf magazine, NYC
