JOM803 The Magazine Business

Module leader

to be confirmed.

Rationale

To understand fully the nature of the periodical industry and to work effectively within it, students must be familiar with the different kinds or magazines publishing structures, such as business-to-business, consumer, customer etc, how they are run as businesses and the relationship between magazines and their audiences and proprietors.

Module aims

To provide you with an understanding of:

the structure and breadth of the periodical industry
the underlying business structures governing the magazine and electronic publishing industries
the relationships between editorial content and circulation, advertisingand other forms of revenue
management structures of media companies
publishing decision-making processes
marketing, distribution and retail dimensions of the publishing industries

Indicative content

Master classes by visiting speakers; group 'launch' of magazine in front of panel from the industry; Introduction: the publishing business. Key players.
How publishing companies are organised. Introduction to the financial structure of business. Who's who in the magazine business. Money supply and distribution. Business planning and the role of the publisher. Decision making processes. Brand stretching, subsidiary rights, Human resource issues, magazines in the future. Review of learning and key points.

Assessment and credit

10 credits

The module is compulsory for students on the Diploma/MA in Journalism (Magazine Journalism pathway only).

The module is assessed by coursework only.