JANE magazine will close after its August issue, according to an announcement made last week. I have mixed feelings about this event, as I was not a regular reader of the magazine, but I did really like it the few times I picked up a copy. The content mocked women’s magazines, but also understood that women are inherently drawn to them. JANE wasn’t afraid to be a little dry and sarcastic, yet without alienating their readers. In a way, JANE is the women’s magazine that I would have wanted to create if I had the choice. It did have a respectable entertainment section that gave smart reviews. I can’t exactly describe what I found appealing about Jane, but I would narrow it down to the fun smart tone of the magazine.
The truly scary thing about JANE closing is that the readership is not all the young. When I was interning at Teen People and it shut down, the close made sense since younger readers look for free information on the web. Magazines simply do not have a place in a younger generation's lifestyle. JANE, however, catered towards the college and post-college woman, who should be reading. JANE's closing does not bode well.
Despite my appreciation and respect for JANE, I could probably count on one hand how many times I actually read an issue. For all its wit and humor, I could not be motivated to subscribe or buy it when in the airport. (The one time I actually choose a few magazines from the rack with every intention of reading them cover-to-cover.) So is it really worth it for a magazine to be of intelligent and comic caliber? Perhaps it is safer to fall back on the universal tone found in Cosmo, Glamour, Self, and Allure in order to sell magazines. If the tone doesn’t contribute to the bottom line, there’s no way advertisers will stick around simply for the sake of cleverness.
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