Self-Portrait: The Teen-Type Magazine

Abstract

Just as the true-story type of magazine arose to cater to the newly literate public some forty years ago, so the teen-type magazine has arisen in the last decade to cater to the high school public that can write, at least write letters. These new magazines vary slightly with respect to the age of the target public and with respect to intensity and "kooki ness," but they all include fan club departments and pen-pal departments. And they all include dozens of letters. The major problems of readers are shyness, weight, and skin con dition. The major preoccupation is with relations with the other sex. There is a large cultic element in these magazines, articles about popular singing, television, and moving picture performers constituting a considerable proportion of their con tents. The portrait of teen-agers which they themselves paint in their letters is shown to be correct; it corresponds almost exactly with the picture which a national survey assembled on the basis of years of questioning teen-agers. Although the readers of these magazines are absorbed in personal moral problems, they are completely adrift with respect to morality in the larger issues of the day, as shown by the position with respect to payola. There is some evidence that these maga zines have underestimated their publics. The most recent venture in this field shows a broadening of interest to include major issues of the day.