40 Information illustrated French weeklies

Modern mass illustrated magazines. Advances in the development of printing, the progress of technology and the art of photography created the preconditions for the flourishing of the modern type of mass illustrated magazines. The production of massive multicolor illustrated magazines of the modern type, spreading over millions of copies, was associated with significant costs: they required expensive paper, and besides, high-quality color printing was very expensive. However, nonetheless, the massive illustrated magazines that attracted advertisers with the possibility of displaying commercial advertisements to hugely large audiences turned into one of the most preferred objects of advertising investments. A significant inflow of advertising revenue allowed not only to fully cover the costs of producing and distributing circulation, to ensure high profitability of the publishing business, but also the opportunity to offer magazines to the general reader at a low price, often below their cost. The French textile manufacturer and publisher J. Provo in 1938 bought the sports weekly “Match” and, after revising the concept of this publication, turned it into a weekly mass illustrated magazine on the model “Life” X. Luce (from 1949 to this day the magazine is published under the name "Paris-Match"). Introduction to the “Paris-Match” pages of a large number of high-quality color photo illustrations, in particular, “number photo report”, devoted to one of the sensational events of the week, careful work on the accompanying texts contributed to creating an visibility effect for the audience, and being on the spot gave an additional charge to the news. emotionality. Already in the prewar period, the magazine’s circulation increased from 80 thousand to 1,400 thousand copies, and after the war the distribution of the restored edition exceeded one and a half million copies. (in the mid-fifties) and in 1960 reached a record high of 1,800 thousand copies. The orientation of the Paris-Match on the American samples of the journalistic press contributed to its employees assimilating the style and methods of work characteristic of US journalism. In the late 1950s and in the 1960s, large illustrated magazines began to lose advertising revenue everywhere under the influence of competition with television, which showed vivid pictures of reality, exceeded in expressiveness photographic “pictures of life” captured by reporters of illustrated magazines, and was much more operational and mass channel for the delivery of information and advertising. In 1959, despite the fact that Life magazine again reached a record circulation, the main issue of the publication in the field of advertising was competition with television. The following years were a period of continuous revision of the concept of the magazine so that it would hold and expand its positions in the context of rivalry with television for advertising revenues and the growth of publishing costs. In 1962, the Saturday Evening Post, once the most popular illustrated magazine in the United States with its multi-million dollar circulation, suffered losses for the first time since 1891 (and a very significant $ 4 million). After an economic collapse and a change in frequency, it lost mass audiences. The difficulties of mass magazines have been aggravated by certain trends in the development of the advertising business. As targeted advertising technologies improved, advertisers increasingly switched from mainstream magazines to collaborating with specialized magazine publications targeted at certain sectors and audience groups, viewing such publications as a more effective “targeted” advertising medium. Along with the substantial increase in production and distribution costs observed in the late 1960s and 1970s, this also seriously undermined the position of the journal giants. In the early seventies, a sharp crisis erupted in the mass illustrated magazines, which confirmed the need to change the usual publishing concepts. Similar problems were experienced during this period by the European typological counterparts of Life and Look, in particular, the French Paris Match. In 1973, the circulation of this edition fell to 645,304 copies. Three years later, the magazine experiencing an acute crisis passed into the ownership of the new owner, D. Filipachi, who corrected the concept of the publication, enhanced the role of political information in it, bringing it closer to the type of weekly news magazine that focuses on sensational and scandalous incidents, simplified and emotional image of events. At the same time, the most advantageous sides of Paris-Match as an illustrated magazine, in particular, the “nail” photo report of the issue, were preserved. The magazine’s circulation was raised to the million mark. In 1992, the magazine began to be published in Russian. In the mid-80s, the formula of an illustrated weekly was adopted by the author in 1977. weekly newspaper type "Vandredi Sandy-Demani." Without leaving aside some of the problems of political life, this magazine provided readers with a wealth of topics on the subject of culture and leisure. In the 81st year, 335 thousand copies, and in the 93rd year 298 269 copies. In 70-80gg several informational weeklies appear as an annex to the daily newspapers. The 1st was created by Ersan in 1975, “Figoro Shop”. In the 93rd year, its distribution reached 600,482 copies. Somewhat different is the harp of the illustrated weekly Frans Dimani, which has been published since 1945. It usually uses one plot of some kind, laid out by a series of photographs. At the end of the 60s, the circulation exceeded mil-ln copies, and in the 93rd, the division approached 700 thousand copies. In the market it established itself as a family publication.