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There was a 'Magazine boom" in India in 1980s. Magazine publication grew in both English and major Indian languages.
Ex: I n midseventies the new look of Illustrated Weekly of India under the editorship of Khushwant Singh, in early eighties other magazines, like Gentleman, Fashion Quarterly, Onlooker, New Delhi, Bombay, The Week, 'G' were started.
Magazines appeal to an expanding range of reading tastes and interests. They are designed for homogeneous or special interest groups. Despite their design for special groups, they developed as a mass medium because they appeal to large numbers in a national market that cut across social, economic and educational class lines.
Mainly there are two types of magazines.
a. General interest magazines and
b. Special interest magazines.
- General interest magazines attempt to cater to a wide variety of reading interests. D'souza points out, "Increasing affluence, education and leisure time had fragmented the mass audience and enabled people to persue a variety of interests to which hundreds of specialized magazines responded".
The magazine as a contemporary medium continues to serve surveillance functions, monitoring what is going on, transmitting the culture, and entertaining the population. Its most notable function, however, is correlation - that is, interpreting the society by bringing together diverse facts, trends and sequences of events. Magazines in essence, are the great interpreters of what is happening in society.
The magazine boom continued in India in 1990s despite the closure of long established magazines like "The Illustrated Weekly of India" and "Bombay". The growth was spectacular in the case of special interest magazines, especially those dealing with business and finance, computers and electronics. Several special interest periodicals such as Parenting, Auto India and Car and Bike were launched in 1993.
Magazines have been much more visually innovative than newspapers. Their covers blaze from news stands and market racks, thus attracting the readers' attention with color and allure of advertisements besides their articles. These are basically news magazines but they include sections on arts, culture, sports, films, business, politics, industry, environment and so on. There are about 500 such general interest magazines focusing on news and current affairs, having largest readership. These are opinion magazines, which set agendas, shape ideas and start trends. These are read by government officials, business leaders, educators, intellectuals and others who affect public affairs.
- Special interest magazines: These magazines cater to the interest of a specific profession or group. Viz., Business India or Business Today, women's magazines such as Femina, Women's era, Savvy, Gruhshobha etc., Children's magazines such as Safari, Chandamama, Target, etc. There are many other special interest magazines for readers interested in interior decoration, literature, architecture, sports, medicine, etc. Advertisers use these magazines as medium for publishing their products to the special target groups.
The number of magazines and periodicals in 1994 increased to 31,264 from 29,597 in previous year. It indicated the increase of 5.63 per cent. They are brought out in all the principal languages of the country.
Compared to television news or immediacy and impact of daily newspapers, magazines serve the function of informing modestly. Even in case of fictions or feature stories, newspapers have stolen the market. The advantage that magazines have is that they have the luxury of expressing their biases and they can make long investigations and present their findings in lengthy form. The magazine business has become very competitive and dynamic.
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