Question 1

Webzines such as Salon and Slate have opened new doors for online journalism.

Accepted Answer

Webzines like Salon and Slate have paved the way for online journalism and have provided a platform for in-depth reporting, analysis, and discussion.

Question 2

The Saturday Evening Post continued the muckraking tradition-especially by criticizing business corruption-into the 1920s.

Accepted Answer

False

Question 3

For many years Reader's Digest was the most popular magazine in the world.

Accepted Answer

Reader's Digest was once the most widely read magazine in the world, with a circulation of over 17 million in the 1980s. However, its popularity has declined since then with the rise of digital media.

Question 4

Collier's and Woman's Home Companion failed in the 1950s because of poor management.

Accepted Answer

Both magazines ceased publication due to declining advertising revenue and competition from television, not primarily because of poor management.

Question 5

Muckraking journalists exposed corruption and abuses in the oil, meatpacking, and patent medicine industries.

Accepted Answer

Muckraking journalists in the early 1900s exposed corruption and abuses in various industries, including oil, meatpacking, and patent medicine. They were known for their investigative reporting and willingness to expose societal problems and injustices.

Question 6

Specialized magazines were published in America throughout the nineteenth century.

Accepted Answer

Specialized magazines, such as agricultural or literary publications, were popular in America during the 1800s, with many being published on a regular basis.

Question 7

The magazine industry continues to shun the Internet because of its threat to printed journals.

Accepted Answer

The statement is not entirely accurate. While some parts of the magazine industry may still prefer printed journals, many others have embraced the internet and offer digital versions of their publications. In fact, some magazines only exist in digital form and have never been printed.

Question 8

The word magazine comes from the French term magasin, meaning "storehouse."

Accepted Answer

The word magazine does indeed come from the French term magasin, meaning "storehouse."

Question 9

Production costs and reduced distribution forced magazine publishers to raise magazine prices.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Production costs and reduced distribution forced magazine...

Question 10

Life magazine was able to compete with the popular radio programs of the 1930s and 1940s by running popular fiction, first-person news reports, and other text-based features.

Accepted Answer

Life magazine was known for its photojournalism and visual storytelling, which set it apart from radio programs and contributed to its success.

Question 11

Women's magazines, such as Good Housekeeping and Woman's Day, survived the competition for ad dollars better than magazines like Life and Look.

Accepted Answer

Women's magazines have always had a strong niche market and loyal readership, particularly in the realm of home and family life. They also tend to have more targeted advertising, which makes them more attractive to advertisers. Life and Look were general interest magazines that faced more competition for ad dollars from other publications.

Question 12

Some of the most influential magazines of the nineteenth century were targeted at women.

Accepted Answer

Women were a significant target audience for many popular magazines in the nineteenth century, including Godey's Lady's Book, The Ladies' Home Journal, and Harper's Bazar. These magazines covered a variety of topics including fashion, literature, and homemaking, and helped to shape cultural norms and expectations for women during this time period.

Question 13

The first magazines primarily offered entertainment news and gossip.

Accepted Answer

The first magazines, such as "The Gentleman's Magazine" in the 18th century, were more focused on essays, poetry, and political commentary rather than entertainment news and gossip.

Question 14

TV Guide succeeded, in part, because it was readily available at the nation's supermarket checkout lines.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. TV Guide was strategically placed at checkout lines in supermarkets, making it easily accessible to a wide audience.

Question 15

The first magazines in America were edited for the working classes.

Accepted Answer

The first magazines in America were actually edited for the upper classes and focused on topics such as literature, fashion, and politics. It wasn't until later in the 19th century that magazines targeting a wider audience, including the working classes, began to emerge.

Question 16

The first colonial magazines published by Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin enjoyed instant success and continued for several years.

Accepted Answer

The first colonial magazines published by Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin did not enjoy instant success and only lasted for a few months.

Question 17

In a desperate attempt to compete with television in the late 1960s, the Saturday Evening Post and Life cut their cover prices and thereby increased circulation by millions of copies.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In a desperate attempt to compete with...

Question 18

President Theodore Roosevelt criticized magazine journalists who exposed corruption in government and business by calling them muckrakers.

Accepted Answer

This is true. In a speech given in 1906, Roosevelt used the term "muckrakers" to refer to journalists who he felt were too focused on exposing corruption and sensational stories rather than highlighting positive developments and progress. However, the term was eventually embraced by many journalists as a badge of honor, and the tradition of investigative journalism continues today.

Question 19

In what might be the earliest example of media synergy, some of the first magazines in France were collections of works taken mostly from newspapers.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Some of the first magazines in France, such as the Mercure de France and the Journal des sçavans, were collections of works taken mostly from newspapers. This allowed for the same content to be distributed to a wider audience through a different medium.

Question 20

By the end of the nineteenth century, some magazine prices actually went down-from thirty-five cents to ten cents.

Accepted Answer

This is true. With improvements in printing technology and the rise of mass production, magazine publishers were able to produce more copies at lower costs and subsequently lower their prices. This led to the popularization of ten-cent magazines, which became a staple of American pop culture in the early twentieth century.

Quiz 9: Magazines in the Age of Specialization