MAGAZINE ARTICLES

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Analyze the types of magazine articles and recognize the methods used in researching ideas for the various types.

Magazine articles are the stories, news items and other copy, regardless of length, that appear in magazines. Before publication, any such material is called a manuscript.

Magazine articles may be either fictitious or true, and much of the information presented in this chapter can be applied to both types. However, since Navy journalists are expected to deal with facts, only nonfiction writing is specifically addressed here and throughout this TRAMAN.

The major difference between a magazine article and a newspaper story is the style in which each is written. Matthew Arnold, a famous nineteenth century

English poet and literary critic, once described journalism as "literature in a hurry."

Arnold was not trying to belittle newspaper writers with that remark He was merely noting that the obvious difference between news reporters and other writers is the breakneck pace at which newspaper journalists so often must operate. Newspaper reporters, by the very nature of their jobs, must carry the burden of unrelenting and monotonous regularity intensified by the pressure of deadlines. Working under those conditions could hardly be considered ideal for creative writing.

Now, however, even newspapers have discovered the magazine style, and many are even adopting its format!

Most newspapers report hard news in the traditional, inverted pyramid style but have had to use new tactics to compete with television coverage of timely news events. Their solution has been to provide in-depth coverage and a lengthy analysis of the news.

Many newspapers also have begun carrying any number of feature stories in their pages on a regular basis to boost circulation Some newspapers now publish almost nothing but features, especially photo features. And almost all major dailies with large Sunday editions publish their own magazine inserts or carry a syndicated magazine insert, such as Parade.

Consequently, when you are searching for a market for your manuscripts, you may often need to look no further than your local newspaper. Remember, however, that newspapers are published more frequently than magazines, and therefore, they usually are governed by stringent deadlines.

'Traditional" magazines, on the other hand, impose no such deadlines. It is true that news magazines, financial publications and a few other periodicals have a need for timely material. However, those are not the magazines you are likely to approach about running your Navy stones.

While all magazines, of necessity, have deadlines to meet, they are only printers' deadlines. Most magazines carry material compiled two to three months in advance of publication

Sometimes a magazine staff member is given a deadline for writing an article for a particular edition, but usually outside writers are faced with no such constraints. Any idea you may have is yours to develop at whatever pace you choose. You can allow ample time for research, time for the actual writing and more time, as necessary, for rewriting. You can leave the project and go on to other things, returning when you are ready. Then, when you are satisfied with your article, you are the one who decides it is completed. 'Theoretically, all this is done before anyone else knows the article is in the offing. In effect, it does not exist until you are ready to submit it.

Realistically, you, working as a Navy journalist, are likely to be given an expected completion date for a magazine article assigned by your PAO. Also, after communicating with a magazine editor about a proposed article, you may be told that the article is needed before a particular date. Those instances could bethought of as deadlines, but not very rigid ones. They mean glancing at a calendar, not watching a clock. This more leisurely pace of writing allows the marked difference in style between standard newspaper stories and magazine articles. Basic news stories, you will recall from Chapter 2, are written in an inverted pyramid style. This form is preferred by newspapers and electronic media news departments because it presents all of the important facts at the beginning of a story. If there is not enough time to write or enough space or time to publish the complete story, a paragraph or two will usually suffice.

Since magazine articles are printed in their entirety, there are no requirements to put all of the important details "up front." Therefore, magazine writers may use any format they believe best suits the material being presented. This allows the writers wider latitudes of expression and creativity.

The magazine form also provides writers with the opportunity to be more thorough in their storytelling. Both news stories and magazine articles deal with facts. However, while newspapers usually present the basic details without comment (except in editorials and columns), magazines amplify those facts in depth to show how they will affect the reader. When necessary, magazines also permit their writers to provide extensive background details to enable the reader to understand the subject more frilly.

A newspaper's news has a perishable quality; its value and interest diminish as the degree of immediacy wanes. The news in magazines, although less timely, is more enduring. Many magazine articles are as informative and interesting a year after publication as they were on the day they first appeared in print. Magazine articles also are remembered longer than newspaper stories because magazines are read more thoroughly, and at a more leisurely pace, than are newspapers.