YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ
Reading between the lines (The Antic Muse, July 23, 2003)
What magazines you read don't say that much about you. What says more about you: The ads that appear in the magazines you read. For instance: Modern women's magazines' editorial content consists of benign feel-good affirmations -- "Love your body!" or "Look great at any age!" or "Take charge at work!" -- but their advertising -- for weight-loss formulas, "age-defying" pseudo-ceuticals, and uncomfortable lingerie -- belies any intimation of post-feminist progress.
There are no surprises in this kind analysis: Weekly newsmagazines contain ads for fiber supplements. The New Yorker? Tiny appeals on behalf of the Poke Boat. And political magazines? Why, full-page explanations of "Honey: The Gourmet Medicine," of course.
But, aside for their shared weakness for dubious new-age health strategies, what else can the ad pages of political publications tell us about their readers?
The National Review reader is a sleep-deprived (or possibly bed-ridden)1, cigar-smoking2, America-First3 Catholic4 who believes in both free markets5 and limited government intervention6. Also into wresting7.
1. Memory Foam Ultra Mattress, Catholic Traditionalish Movement, Inc. ("If you cannot physically attend Catholic mass, the next best thing is… an internet website with around-the-clock video Latin mass."), Classified ad: "Earn $400 weekly assembling products in your home."
2.National Review 2003 Cruise, featuring "two late-night poolside 'smokers.'
3. Crafted with Pride in the USA ("The vote on the Singapore Trade Agreement is a surrogate for a much larger and more important question -- Will the US Congress vote to pit the American worker against the penny-wage labor of Asia?"
4. Ave Marie Mutual Funds ("You never have to sacrifice your religious beliefs to pursue your financial objectives.")
5. Cato Institute Books
6. Fannie Mae ("It's our belief that having a safe place to call home strengthens families, communities, and our nation as a whole."), Freddie Mac ("It may not be as well-known as Social Security, Head Start, or the National Institutes of Health, but the secondary mortgage market is every bit as successful.")
7. Young America's Foundation National Conservative Student Conference ("Confirmed speakers include… Nobel Laurate Milton Friedman, Weekly Standard Editor Fred Barnes, Former WWF Champion Warrior…")
The Weekly Standard reader is a rabidly free-market lobbyist1 or government official2. (Possibly Dick Cheney, but probably not W.3)
1. Partnership to protect consumer credit warns of "the resulting bureaucratic nightmare of red tape," Real Estate Roundtable posits "Who pays for excessive lawsuits? We all do." Conservative Book Club
2. Sawyer Miller ("We specialize in creating highly effective communications targeting the most influential business leaders, beltway insiders, politicians and decision-makers.")
3. The Great Courses ("Discover how something as minute as a subatomic particle can be marvelously complex and interesting, yet rendered comprehensible.")
The New Republic reader is a moderately free-market1, literate2 policy wonk3. Doesn't get out much.4
1. Shell International ("We are also working to increase the supply of natural gas"), Hoover Institution advertorial (the post office is "train wreck waiting to happen" and should be privatized)
2. U of Chicago press, "Come to a reading" of The Book Against God
3. Legal Affairs, Cornell University degree in industrial and labor relations
4. ETS advertorial ("The public wants an educational system that works.")
The Nation reader is a sensitive1, bird-watching2, book-loving3 optimist4. Also into spanking5.
1. Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones ("You can list to portable CD/DVD/MP3 players, home stereos, computers and in-flight entertainment systems -- or nothing at all."), Memory Foam Ultra Mattress
2. Micro Mono ("The Micro-Mono is perfect for any activities, like bird watching, concerts, and sports watching."), Carson SuperZoom Binoculars ("You never know where or when you may want them to take a closer look at the natural world.")
3. University of Chicago Press ("It's your world--understand it."), New Press
4. Classified: "Ex-Nation staffer looking for full-time position with benefits in Queens/NYC area"
5. Classified: "Find a partner into spanking!"
The Mother Jones reader is a lactose-intolerant1, impressionable2, wealthy (but guilt-ridden)3 lesbian4. Alternative demographic: Bushy-browed5 professional bike messenger6 and peace activist7. (Demographics may overlap.) All readers believe in human perfectability8. (Suckers.9)
1. Edensoy soymilk, Silk soymilk
2. Earth Justice ("Because the earth needs a good lawyer"), Blue Man group album
3. Pax World Funds ("Several months ago, the New York Times said, 'Nonviolence is no longer in fashion.' We disagree."), Citizen Funds
4.Classified: "Women who love women meet through [this] beautiful alternative."
5. Tweezerman tweezers ("The company with a heart")
6. Clif Bars, Hip-O Records reggae collection
7. Free Speech TV ("What democracy looks like.")
8. Humber College Business School ("For those who want to make a difference"), Naropa University ("at the intersection of academic excellence and contemplative practice"), Union Institute and University ("anti-bias and diversity education"), Lesley University Independent study programs for "entrepreneurs…artists…retirees, philosophers," New School, MBA in sustainable management from Presido World College
9. Honey, the Gourmet Medicine
Posted by M Ali Choudhury at August 8, 2003 4:30 PM
