This dissertation examines children’s print magazines on sale in the United Kingdom in 2023 and in doing so closes a gap in the existing literature where the children’s segment has been long neglected. The print magazine industry has been challenged by the advent of digital media and the ensuing loss of advertising revenues for decades and yet the children’s print format has stood apart from most other market segments by continuing to show resilience. This study identifies what the children’s segment offers its readers and, by extension, why it endures in the face of such challenges. While doing so, key scholarly theories, concerning the rise of children’s ‘edutainment’ magazines are validated and calls for further research into how children’s magazines communicate content concerning sustainability are answered. The UK market is revealed to be dominated by a small number of mass-market publishers producing licensed, and therefore ‘consumer’ material for famous brands. Mass market titles are compared to independent ones throughout, identifying that each have different approaches to meeting the needs of the children of today, known as Generation Alpha. Content analysis of 128 titles and the 654 words displayed on their covers reveals that the core feature of a child’s magazine, once all branded content is stripped away, is educational activity. The conclusion determines that it is the tactile element of the offer, whether relating to a covermount toy, stickers or activities, that explains the endurance of the print format in this sector. The findings support the duality of the publishers’ relationship with society in terms of both responding to and reflecting structural change.
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Derges, Lucy
Rights Holders: Derges, Lucy Supervisors: Cain, Genevieve
Oxford International Centre for Publishing
MA Publishing Studies
2024
© Derges, Lucy Published by Oxford Brookes UniversityAll rights reserved