Follow the Worker, Not the Work: Hard Lessons from Failed London Music Hall Magazines

Authors

Scott B. Fosdick, San Jose State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

October 2003

Publication Title

Journal of Magazine and New Media Research

First Page

1

Last Page

16

Disciplines

Journalism Studies | Mass Communication

Abstract

London’s music hall stages and the variety entertainment that flourished there at the turn of the 20th century gave rise to a raft of magazines hopeful of gaining an audience from fans and/or performers and theater managers. Some flourished for a time, but all died with the artform, unlike their American cousin, Variety, which still thrives nearly a century after its first issue. This article compares the founding missions of these magazines to that of Variety in search of guiding principles for magazine management, particularly of business publications, in industries undergoing rapid change. The conflict between two long-standing principles of magazine management—to adhere to the founding mission and to adapt to changing times—is resolved by offering a new principle: follow the worker, not the work, and let the most successful readers define the field through their actions.

Comments

Copyright © 2003 Journal of Magazine & New Media Research.

Recommended Citation

Scott B. Fosdick. "Follow the Worker, Not the Work: Hard Lessons from Failed London Music Hall Magazines" Journal of Magazine and New Media Research (2003): 1-16.