Open Thread: Helping Magazines That Get It
By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
In the wake of the Reggie Bush controversy and this month’s Vanity FAIL, it’s worth spreading the word that magazines like Giant Robot & Hyphen are still in need of aid in order to stay afloat. As Jessica Lum notes::
Many of the organizations that were started to reach out, broadcast, and appreciate the amazing work of Asians and Asian Americans (or Asian Canadians, Asian Brazilians, etc.) are struggling under the financial burdens of the economic environment, especially in the journalism and print media industry.
So, while encouraging you to help those magazines out, I ask: what culture mags – Asian or otherwise – are you reading these days? What should we be reading?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Kyle wrote:
My current magazine addiction is Monocle, a magazine of international culture, business, etc. published in Great Britain, with bureaux in New York City and Tokyo. I like it because it is the most cosmopolitan magazine I’ve ever run across, truly transcultural in its vibe. Also, it’s just plain gorgeous to look at.
I always loved Giant Robot. I think they were groundbreaking in both content and presentation. I have noticed a revolution in art and design in the past 15 years which I think Giant Robot definitely helped create and shape. For instance, the art magazine Juxtapose has a definite GR look and feel, even though it isn’t Asian culture-specific.
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 12:46 pm ¶
rosiecotton wrote:
One of my professors recommended “Black Enterprise” as an essential magazine subscription. Each issue features successful and innovative individuals who work in the corporate, service, and entertainment industries. I enjoy the monthly feedback to help readers reduce debt and reach financial goals. I also enjoy “American Legacy,” a quarterly magazine devoted to African American history and culture.
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 2:33 pm ¶
G.K. wrote:
I love me some Giant Robot–been reading it for 10 years now. I found an ad for it with Jet Li on the cover when I first got on the web and was just learning how navigate my way around it. Back then I had just gotten into been happily hooked on Hong Kong action flicks and dramas, and for awhile GR were the only magazine I knew that did reviews of such films,plus I kind of liked their I-don’t-give-a-f*** attitude about everything. They’ve grown and matured a lot, though, over the past decade. I had to give up my subscription when I became unemployed, but I’ve still bought an issue whenever I had a chance to—just bought a new one last week.
However, most magazines that I used to read at an Asian-American audience sadly went out of business years ago due to the ecomony/other reasons—like A (a political mag),another magazine that featured interviews with HK stars, and a lifestyle mag called Audrey. There’s a new really good magazine called THEME that primarily focuses on Asians and Asian-Americans doing new and progressive things in the art/business/film worlds,–it has great pictures in it, too–check that one out.
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 2:46 pm ¶
G.K. wrote:
I got to admit, I always thought that GR editor Martin Wong was a hottie (he still is,even if he’s married and has a little one now). Whatever, I still love me some GR and it’s in-your-face-attitude—at least they haven’t lost that aspect of their appeal!
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 2:48 pm ¶
Cakes wrote:
HYPHEN for sure! Can’t say enough great stuff about the mag, even though I may have some hometown pride since they are based in the bay area. They are looking at Asian American life – not an anime-induced exotification of “asian culture” like some rags tend to be – and issues that are particularly relevant to Asians born in/living in/ended up in/interested in the U.S.
Plus I have noticed that they are committed to intersecting as well – one of my favorite articles was on the Asian queer women owners of the queer porn company Pink and White Productions, Shawn and Jiz Lee. Anybody who produces a mag of this high quality, and obvious passionate commitment, is AWESOME and should be supported at all costs!
PS. I read they are looking for a Books Editor…
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 2:57 pm ¶
Al wrote:
The Chicago Reporter is a well-respected, yet little-known investigative news magazine focusing on race and poverty issues in metro Chicago. It’s lasted for 38 years thanks to its skillful use of data analysis and its unique focus. In the past year, The Chicago Reporter revealed that the Illinois State Police ignored thousands of court orders to seal and expunge criminal records–a discovery that ultimately led to the resignation of the state police director. The magazine also uncovered astonishing racial disparities in mortgage lending by Wells Fargo–which ultimately led the Illinois Attorney General to file a lawsuit against the lending giant.
You can find The Chicago Reporter at http://www.chicagoreporter.com
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 5:23 pm ¶
Lena wrote:
Thanks for this post.I’m not reading many magazines lately.I used to really enjoy reading magazines at the salon or even at home but I do think the magazines that I used to read became repetitive in content and not even when it came to good or important things such as money management.I am looking forward to reading more comments because i’m hoping to get some ideas of minority run mags that I may like to buy and subscribe to.I’m just really trying to cut out tv and meaningless entertainment.I’m looking to read more educational books and magazines.So I hope people list some good ones.
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 9:09 pm ¶
mute wrote:
A couple months back I picked up a pan-African pop culture/fashion magazine called Arise. I believe the current issue they have out now has Alicia Keys on the cover. I’ve seen it in Barnes and Noble and Borders. I haven’t checked it out since, but I liked the one issue I bought. It’s glossy and fun, but I felt like it needed a heftier feature or two. It’s put out by This Day, which I believe is a daily in Nigeria.
Check it out: http://www.arisemagazine.net/
Posted 06 Feb 2010 at 11:02 am ¶
Shannon wrote:
I like Black Enterprise magazine and the emagazine Honey. The latter is more of a gossip/celebrity focused magazine but I still enjoy reading the articles.
Posted 07 Feb 2010 at 7:19 am ¶
miga wrote:
As far as manga goes, I was really into Shojo beat, a product of Viz and similar to Shonen Jump. It was one of the few places where I could get my manga fix without the large price tag, and that I felt catered to females and fandom without being condescending. It also featured lots of articles on Japanese cooking, fashion, history, crafts, video games, etc. I especially liked how they highlighted women’s contributions to manga, anime, and gaming, and featured diverse pictures of fandom- not just asian or white, or even female, actually. Sadly, Viz cancelled the magazine, though Shojo Beat manga still exists.
Posted 07 Feb 2010 at 7:44 am ¶
juliaclare wrote:
As far as fashion magazines go, I’ve been noticing that NYLON seems to have more diversity among models — using models of color not just in shoots that exoticize and highlight their race but as a matter of course — I’m curious if anyone else knows of other fashion magazines that do a little better with diversity than Vogue, etc.
Posted 07 Feb 2010 at 10:48 am ¶
yuey wrote:
I’m reading Peril Magazine
http://www.peril.com.au/
Posted 12 Feb 2010 at 10:46 am ¶