Chapter five summary

Chapter five focuses on opinion writing for magazines and how it differs from daily or weekly newspapers.

Magazines writing has to be approched differently because they go to press less often. The news will not be as timely, and, as a result, should focus on either looking forward or news summary and anylisis writing.

There are several different types of magazines that are important to opinion writers: news-magazines i.e. Time, consumer magazines such as The New Yorker business magazines like The Economist and trade magazines for various industries.

Magazine readers also affect how writers approach stories. Studies show the average magazine reader is around 40-years-old, and spends about 52 minutes reading a magazine during liesure time in the home or a doctor's office.

Magazine readers are also typically more familiar with the subject matter covered by their publication of choice. Because of this, writer's should know their subject matter quite well and write for insiders--"There is no need to explain air flaps in an editorial for Aviation Week & Space Technology."

Lastly, magazines vary widely in tone and style.

Some trade magazines praise their industries and businesses while others critique. Some business and news magazines do not take institutional sides and others focus solely on one type of political ideal.