Thousands of magazines are published in Britain. You have read some, and have seen many others in newsagents - the famous glossy fashion and lifestyle magazines, teen and pop magazines, news magazines, consumer magazines, showbiz and TV listing magazines, the mainstream business, trade, hobby and pastime magazines (e.g. on computers, angling, breeding budgies).
Some specialist magazines have a tradition of investigative reporting within their own field.
Some magazines – e.g. in business and industry fields – are circulated by post direct to subscribers. If you come across the term B2B it means a "business to business" magazine, i.e. a specialist magazine for a business field, e.g. telecommunications. The term "consumer magazine" means it is targeted at the general public. Charities and pressure groups have their own, campaigning magazines.
In the last decade, there has been a growth in magazines aimed at women which, by means of tabloid-style features, delve deeper into dramatic news stories, e.g. "My husband stabbed my mother", health and social issues.
All mainstream magazines need journalists, and some pay better than the regional press. The larger magazine groups have dozens of titles, and switching between them, within the group, can make it easier and faster to climb the careers ladder. In London you can do this by switching employers without necessarily uprooting your home each time you move jobs.
Starting your career in some magazine fields, e.g. women´s, business, consumer or financial services, can be a route to the national newspaper press or indeed the BBC, because national newsrooms may recruit specialist reporters/feature writers from these fields. http://www.ppa.co.uk
You can get an idea of the size of the magazine industry by reading the website of the
Periodical Publishers´ Association. http://www.ppa.co.uk/careers/index.asp
This website is also host to the Periodicals Training Council website,
Part of the PTC website has a list of employers who may offer work placements, but you should also approach magazine employers not listed here, if you fancy working for them.
Magazines on the PTC work placement list include the New Statesman, Time Out and
Slimming World. Some magazines even offer a little money to students on work placements
(whatever next!).
The PTC also publishes a careers guide, ‘Magscene’ online. http://www.mediauk.com
A good resource is mediauk which lists over 1,900 British magazines with websites and addresses.