Mr. Magazine

I had to buy my copy. It cost me $4.99. The cover, as usual, outstanding and inviting, screams Free. Well, the folks at the newsstands ignored the big free and looked at the small $4.99 which I had to pay. No problem until I reached to my hotel room and opened the magazine to start reading it. On the masthead page (yes, I try to read every page) I saw the free sign again. This time with some copy. Walking the Walk reads the title under the free sign. Here is what the rest of the copy says:

We know, we know: A newsstand copy of WIRED will set you back $4.99, which is nowhere close to free (although we think it’s great value). In the spirit of the cover story, we’ll send a gratis copy of this month’s issue to the first 10,000 people who ask. See wired.com/free for details.

So, what are you still waiting for. Click on the link above and get your free copy of WIRED. Free or $4.99, trust me, it is worth the price. But, why pay for something you can get for free… it is starting to feel as if I am writing about those who put their content for free on the web… well, I better stop, this blog is about the March issue of WIRED, so let me stop here.

Adbusters magazine tags itself as the Journal of The Mental Environment and for years has been doing just that. The latest issue of the magazine celebrates The Reconquest of Cool with a parody cover that resembles the design of most of the so-called celeb magazines, i.e., gossip magazines. The issue starts with a visual essay on Cool : the rise, fall and rebirth of an attitude. The article traces Cool “from its roots in Africa through to the youth cultures of the present day, cool has always been an attitude of resistance to subjugation, an expression of rebellion and a posture of defiance.”
Adbusters is more than a magazine. They refer to themselves as “a global network of artists, activists, students, educators and entrepreneurs working to change the way information flows and meaning is produced in our society.”
The magazine is based in Canada and is published six times a year by the Adbusters Media Foundation which is soliciting support to its legal actions “Buy Nothing, True Cost and Media Carta campaigns and help launch the Spanish and Chinese editions of Adbusters…”
Interested, check the magazine and its foundation here. There is a lot more under the covers of this magazine.

Whether you are a magazine insider or just someone who loves to read and flip through pages of different magazines, this documentary trilogy DVD set is a MUST. A three part series that will keep you glued to your television set as if you are watching the Super Bowl of magazines. The series opens with “how magazines define our cultural and personal images, and fuel the growth of democracy and consumerism.” From the days of the first magazine in London to the first use of a photograph in Paris to the days of Life and Vanity Fair in the United States, the first DVD has it all. Magazines as an element of social change is the topic of the second DVD. Leading magazines in this era of social change are included in this DVD. Playboy, Ms magazine and The Advocate are presented as an example of “how magazines find the way to challenge us with ideas that have the power to shape our political and social landscape.” The third DVD “investigates the work of impassioned individual editors, writers and photographers within the new market realities.”
This trilogy is produced by Irene Angelico and Abbey Jack Neidik from the Canadian DLI Productions company. The price for the series is :
Home — $45 for the three-part series
Institutions — $270 for three-part series
It’s available on DLI Productions website. Click here for information about Inside the Great Magazines. You will not regret it. Watch the intro to the series below.