Mmm...Magazine Analysis!

The magazine I have chosen is Our State North Carolina (October 2008 issue). It is basically a magazine about events(travel, food, etc)—NC based--different NC locations and what is going on in NC. The publisher is Bernard Mann. The magazine is published monthly by Mann Media, Inc. Our State magazine was founded in 1933 by Carl Goerch. It costs $24.95 for a one year subscription, $44.95 for two years and $59.95 for three years. The cover price of the mag is $4.95. In my opinion, it is better off if you buy the one year subscription instead of buying them individually. I think that the target audience of Our State magazine are people who want to know more about North Carolina and older people. I say people who want to know more about North Carolina because the articles are all NC based. I say older people because the magazine seems calm and relaxing and it has a lot of beautiful scenery pictures. Artists would love the magazine, too, because of the pictures. This issue of Our State magazine contains 220 in all, about 130 pages of advertisements, and about 96 pages of articles. I think that the articles do relate to some of the advertisements because all of the ads are NC based and the magazine is all about NC. NC is the main topic. For example, there is a NC Seafood Festival advertisement in the magazine. There is travel ads in the magazine that are all NC based. Also, most of the articles in the magazine involve a different part of NC (ex:Salisbury,NC). I do not really think that the ads influence the magazine’s contents. Instead, I think that the magazine influence the ads that are put into it. The kinds of ads placed in a magazine depend on the target audience and the basic main point of the magazine. Since Our State magazine is strictly about NC, the ads have to relate to NC. I picked this magazine because the cover is absolutely beautiful. The vivid blue sky and the crisp, yellow fall leaves of the trees drew my attention immediately. The cover brings a place of relaxation into mind.