History Main / MagazineDecay

Some magazines, however, are not as wedded to their original concept as others. [[ExecutiveMeddling Meddling executives]] at your magazine realizes that they could attract ''more'' people in your demographic by, say, adding some dirty humor to your video game magazine. Or adding celebrity gossip to your housekeeping magazine. After all, housewives like housekeeping and like George Clooney, so why not combine them?

** However, if you want to consider ''SuperPlay'' -> ''N64'' -> ''NGC'' -> ''NGamer'' as a [[TheVerse Verse]], you could argue that the decay from an import- and Japanophilia-centric games magazine to the straighter product it is today is [[ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability worth mentioning]].

* ''Dinosaurs!'', a children's magazine about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dinosaurs]], started out as being solely about dinosaurs. Then it stretched out to other prehistoric animals at issue 45, with some dinosaurs thrown in. Then it broke from its tradition of having the main creature of the 'Identikit' section on the cover by featuring one of the two others. Unlike many other examples here, though, it was not canceled, and instead ''finished'' with an issue containing an index to the entire series. This is an appropriate way to close shop, as opposed to just making the GrandFinale seem like just another issue and then a month later readers wonder why a new one isn't out...

Then the owners of the ''National Enquirer'' and ''Star'' bought the magazine's ''RadarOnline'' website and were interested in launching a competitor to Perez Hilton, Jezebel, Gawker and the numerous other gossip sites. The result is a site that's now your official and authoritative source to all things celebrity-related, including Octomom, LindsayLohan, [[JonAndKatePlusEight Jon and Kate]], non-political coverage of SarahPalin, everything regarding Creator/MelGibson and his feud with his former girlfriend, and tons of random and pointless paparazzi footage [[note]](though they do occasionally cover non-celebrity stories, such as the Trayvon-Martin shooting and the 2012 Afghani civilian massacre)[[/note]]. The magazine eventually came back in 2011 under the title ''Radar Weekly'' which is very similar in style to celebrity mags like ''Star'', a far cry from Radar's roots, nevertheless, it quickly became TV's #1 new selling magazine.

** There is an infamous collage floating around the Internet comparing ''Time'' 's U.S. cover to its foreign covers, showing just how far that magazine has gone with regards to this trope. ''Time'' 's Europe, Asia, and South Pacific cover story was the continued unrest in post-revolutionary Egypt. It's U.S. cover story? [[http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2009/07/14.png Why Anxiety Is Good For You]]."

From there, journalism took a backseat to sensationalism, with the magazine devoting covers to stuff like the trashy erotica novel ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', {{fanservice}}-y pictures of SarahPalin in [[http://www.yenra.com/wiki/images/Sarah-palin-newsweek-cover.jpg form-fitting workout gear]], and headlines asking things like [[http://www.akawilliam.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/newsweek_racist_baby-226x300.jpg "is your baby racist?"]] They also ran [[http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999 an inflammatory article]] claiming that openly gay actors like [[Series/WillAndGrace Sean Hayes]] and [[Series/{{Glee}} Jonathan Groff]] come off as self-hating, artificial, and too gay in straight roles, which sparked massive backlash from Ryan Murphy, KristinChenoweth, and other supporters of the LGBT community. They finally [[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/18/a-turn-of-the-page-for-newsweek.html announced]] in 2012 that they were following ''U.S. News'' and going online-only at the start of next year.

** There is an infamous collage floating around the Internet comparing ''Time'''s U.S. cover to its foreign covers, showing just how far that magazine has gone with regards to this trope. ''Time'''s Europe, Asia, and South Pacific cover story was the continued unrest in post-revolutionary Egypt. It's U.S. cover story? [[http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2009/07/14.png Why Anxiety Is Good For You]]."

* Most of the earliest ''EntertainmentWeekly'' readers remember it as the magazine that covered ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/{{The X-Files}}'', since they brought the magazine the most success (along with ''Star Wars'' stories as TheNineties wore on). But it also stood out from other entertainment industry-focused weekly mags (like ''People'' and ''US Weekly'') with its in-depth coverage of movies and TV, treating celebrities as real people/artists rather than gossip fodder, and nurtured under-appreciated hits, like ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' and ''TheWire''. But since 2008's major administration change, the magazine has gotten a bit wonky. With the decline of printed media, ''EW'' has focused much more on their web content, and the mag's usual depth diminished as a result. Compare a 1990s issue to a recent one, and the difference is noticeable. The TV coverage is mostly limited to longtime TV writer Ken Tucker, for instance. The coup de grace to many longtime readers, which coincided with the 2008 changeover, was an infatuation with ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', presumably to attract its fanbase into purchasing the magazine. While their borderline manic coverage has toned down since 2010, the multiple covers and articles turned off non-fans before then -- in the second half of '09, covers seemed to alternate between those and Music/MichaelJackson retrospectives.

* ''SET'' was the most popular movie magazine in Brazil. It was common to see articles done with set visits and exclusive interviews. The magazine was accused of decaying in the last few years for various reasons — adding not-film-related music, questionable cover choices (''Film/VanHelsing'' and ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' were covers instead of both ''Film/KillBill'' parts, which were released around the same time), and excessive comic-book-movie covers. But the real decay came after problems led to a change of publisher and staff. In a month containing the second ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', the sixth ''Film/HarryPotter'', and the high profile ''PublicEnemies'', the new team put on the cover...''DragMeToHell'', with [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eAgbZ0cqhLE/SxCCRq9u8zI/AAAAAAAABKw/dYb2ElcSddg/s1600/set-terror.jpg a badly-designed work]] (image will certainly scare you and may be {{NSFW}})! That phase lasted three issues, then the publisher changed ''again'' and the former editor-in-chief returned. Nowadays, the only decay is [[ScheduleSlip in periodicity]] — so much that the last issue was in November 2010, but the editor-in-chief is hopeful to restart the title.

But with "men's interest" magazines cluttering every single magazine shelf in stores, even the ones that won't hawk full nudity, ''Playboy'' has tried to compete by simply turning into a ''Maxim'' clone where the girls actually show their nipples. And the damnedest thing about it is that, even though they're now trashier than ever, they actually show ''less'' naked women than they used to.
** The Brazilian version is accused of decay for both "less naked women" and "more pseudo-celebrities" (about four ''BigBrother'' contestants a year!), not to mention "questionable cover choices" (a surfer that some compared to Gerard Depardieu, and a writer which had a nice pictorial... [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YSfsaz6CVQ8/SwqrL24vn2I/AAAAAAAAAdE/X5Yp7ACpvkY/s1600/fernanda_young_playboy.jpg except for the model, of course]] (image is SFW).

* ''Cosmopolitan'' used to be a well-respected sophisticated magazine that would cover a variety of topics and also included short stories — a mere step or two below ''Magazine/TheNewYorker'' and ''The Atlantic'', and an excellent place to get your start as a journalist or writer (Ken in ''Series/MadMen'' gets a story published in ''Cosmopolitan'' in Season 2 and earns the envy of every male Sterling Cooper employee under the age of 35). Now the magazine is solely geared towards women with articles like "9 Ways To Please Your Man" and a much bigger emphasis on sex and fashion overall. Now, it's still popular, and worthy of your time if you get interested, but for very different reasons then before.

* The Japanese magazine ''[[Magazine/ShonenJump Weekly Shonen Jump]]'' has existed since 1969, and it has had many changes over the years. In the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and [[TheEighties 1980s]], it included series that seem shockingly violent or obscene now, such as ''Harenchi Gakuen'', ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'', ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', and ''Manga/{{Bastard}}'' Since the mid-1980s, it's become more acceptable to include KidHero characters, {{Bishonen}}, and HeterosexualLifePartners. Some of these trends may be due to attempts to reach a PeripheryDemographic of girls, including [[YaoiFangirl BL fans]].
** The English version, after roughly 10 years of print, is canceling its print edition and switching to digital-only distribution in early 2012.

* ''Car and Driver'' used to be famous for abusing their position as one of the two biggest automotive magazines in existence to get away with insane and sometimes illegal stunts for the magazine — [[http://www.tdiclub.com/articles/Coast2Coast/ locking two writers in a diesel VW Jetta modified for long range driving and driving across the country non-stop without getting out of the car]]; [[http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_staff/csaba_csere_the_steering_column/fear_and_loathing_in_a_100_year_el_nino_in_baja taking eight sedans to test in Baja California and returning with six after multiple encounters with the Federales, a devastating El Niño season and an errant cow]]; and covering [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Baker_Sea-To-Shining-Sea_Memorial_Trophy_Dash the original Cannonball Run cross-country rally]], created by staff editor Brock Yates in protest of the national 55 mph speed limit. The writing at the time was fresh and honest, and could sometimes be properly described as [[HunterSThompson "gonzo"]].\\

* With the exception of ''RadioTimes'' (which is obsessed with ''Series/DoctorWho''), all British listings magazines are obsessed with lifestyle and {{soap opera}}s these days. The ''RadioTimes'' also has an ArtifactTitle — it was originally just radio listings.

* [[http://snarkweighsin.blog-city.com/sowspoof.htm This blog post]] complains that ''SoapOpera Weekly'' devoted most of its cover that week to ''Series/AmericanIdol'', which is '''not''' (despite the cover) a soap. Or maybe it is — hard to tell with all the {{filler}}. In any case, the decline of U.S. network soaps made change inevitable. With only ''four'' such shows remaining in 2012, ''Soap Opera Weekly'' came to an end that year, making way for the unfortunate (but probably more appealing) ''Reality Weekly''.

* ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' itself has been accused of suffering from this, relying only on [[RefugeInVulgarity gross humor]] when it's not aiming {{Take That}}s at almost AnythingThatMoves; the former is rather factual, while the latter fits more to [[WesternAnimation/{{MAD}} its animated adaptation]], itself LighterAndSofter than ''SouthPark'' or ''RobotChicken''

* ''Cosmopolitan'' used to have more articles about women's social issues. While they do still run such articles, they run fewer of them, and those articles are overshadowed by articles about fashion, makeup, celebrity gossip, and sex advice.

* ''WhiteDwarf'', the magazine dedicated to the tabletop battle games ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', used to include such things as original stories, comic strips, pages on modeling ideas, strategies, and other original content with an appendix at the end that dealt with listing the new releases. It still has those things ''now'', but in a much reduced quantity as most of the magazine is dedicated to simply advertising GamesWorkshop's latest releases. They also ran articles with material for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' and other tabletop games (indeed, a lot of ''White Dwarf'' articles were adapted into ''D&D'' sourcebooks), but along the line cut down to ''Warhammer'', ''Warhammer40000'', and their ''LordOfTheRings'' game, with an emphasis on the latter two.\\

** This goes for ''Family Computing'' Magazine as well. It started as a magazine with topics for the whole family, with a focus on educational titles and games for the kids, and productivity for parents. Over time, especially in the aftermath of TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 , the focus on gaming and educational software declined, and there came a greater emphasis towards the home office (a rising trend in the late 80s). It changed its name to ''Family and Home Office Computing'', then completed the shift when it renamed itself again to ''Home Office Computing''.

* Most of the earliest ''EntertainmentWeekly'' readers remember it as the magazine that covered ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/{{The X-Files}}'', since they brought the magazine the most success (along with ''Star Wars'' stories as TheNineties wore on). But it also stood out from other entertainment industry-focused weekly mags (like ''People'' and ''US Weekly'') with its in-depth coverage of movies and TV, treating celebrities as real people/artists rather than gossip fodder, and nurtured under-appreciated hits, like ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' and ''TheWire''. But since 2008's major administration change, the magazine has gotten a bit wonky. With the decline of printed media, ''EW'' has focused much more on their web content, and the mag's usual depth diminished as a result. Compare a 1990s issue to a recent one, and the difference is noticeable. The TV coverage is mostly limited to longtime TV writer Ken Tucker, for instance. The coup de grace to many longtime readers, which coincided with the 2008 changeover, was an infatuation with ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', presumably to attract its fanbase into purchasing the magazine. While their borderline manic coverage has toned down since 2010, the multiple covers and articles turned off non-fans before then (in the second half of '09, covers seemed to alternate between ''Twilight'' and MichaelJackson retrospectives).

* ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' itself has been accused of suffering from this; one major milestone of shame was the addition of actual advertisements, which were previously the subject of vicious lampooning.

* [[http://snarkweighsin.blog-city.com/sowspoof.htm This blog post]] complains that ''SoapOpera Weekly'' devoted most of its cover that week to ''AmericanIdol'', which is '''not''' (despite the cover) a soap. Or maybe it is — hard to tell with all the {{filler}}. In any case, the decline of U.S. network soaps made change inevitable. With only ''four'' such shows remaining in 2012, ''Soap Opera Weekly'' came to an end that year, making way for the unfortunate (but probably more appealing) ''Reality Weekly''.

* Undoubtedly the biggest comics examples are those of ''Detective Comics'' and ''Action Comics'', which went from anthologies to focusing exclusively on their most popular features, Comicbook/{{Batman}} and Comicbook/{{Superman}} respectively.

* ''Cosmopolitan'' used to be a well-respected sophisticated magazine that would cover a variety of topics and also included short stories — a mere step or two below ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'', and an excellent place to get your start as a journalist or writer (Ken in ''Series/MadMen'' gets a story published in ''Cosmopolitan'' in Season 2 and earns the envy of every male Sterling Cooper employee under the age of 35). Now the magazine is solely geared towards women with articles like "9 Ways To Please Your Man" and a much bigger emphasis on sex and fashion overall. Now, it's still popular, and worthy of your time if you get interested, but for very different reasons then before.