Trends in the Magazine Industry

It’s 2am and my brain won’t shut up. Perhaps I’ll use this time to research the magazine industry, it’s current trends, and tips on publishing. Hopefully this will put my mind at ease and I get back to sleep.

I typed in “trends in the magazine industry,” and an article came up that I clicked on which lead me to finding the answer to this question: What components actually make up a magazine? According to Robert Sacks, there are six:

1. Metered
2. Edited
3. Designed content
4. Delivered periodically to the reader
5. Date-stamped
6. Permanent

What does “Metered” mean? David Saffir talks about light meter in his article about photo techniques, so I’m guessing that “metered” here means digital photography for publishing quality images online. It’s self-explanatory what Sacks means for the rest of the components.

As far as trending goes, he talks about the future of digital magazines which will increase to nearly 30 percent of the magazine market then to 75 percent. Print is decreasing before our very eyes. This changes how the reader reads content and how they receive information.

Since the cost of print is increasing, Sacks suggests that magazines will need to be distributed to targeted demographics with higher prices. This increase in price would require publishers to choose the inevitable and more affordable (almost free) route to digital publication.

Reading more of this article on Publishing Executive, I’m learning that magazines need to retain their brand name under search engines that attract internet surfers. Big name companies don’t have a huge problem with this, but smaller magazine businesses are still trying to maintain their information-distribution model through social media and other forums.

Along with this, Sacks explains that Amazon Kindle and e-readers is where the magazine industry is going. Readers will be using tablets (they already are, actually) and smartphones to flip through pages of digital magazines. It’s sad to see print declining, because I have such a love of books, literature, hard-copy print, highlighting and writing side margins. A screen is simply not the same. Then again, here I am typing on a laptop rather than writing with a pen on paper or sending a letter to a friend through the mail.

The cost of paper and ink is becoming more expensive, it appears, and less efficient. With that said, I’ve learned that publishing employees need to have a larger skill set with technology, like blogging, shooting and editing video, and rewriting content to fit a different medium. Good thing I’m currently blogging on my own, I know how to rewrite content to suit different forms of publication, and I’ve edited video using Movie Maker on my computer for a school project.

I’m also finding great advice on this website Mequoda Advice for publishing tips and how to ultimately become a multimedia journalist.

There’s plenty more to read about and understand how the world of magazine editing is changing. With this knowledge, I feel that I will have a greater chance at getting a job as a magazine writer, and work my way up to becoming an editor-in-chief. But I would also like to learn more about newspapers and how that industry is changing as well. My guess is that it’s not very different than magazines. It’s all going digital, but there still is a demand for print.

Joan of Arc Armor

Journal No. 12

Today, I internalized the stories of trauma I heard about at UpRising Yoga teacher training without emotional or psychological armor. Their raw and honest stories of incarceration and human trafficking flooded the forefront of my mind. I was speaking to my mom about the event and suddenly began crying. I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the waterworks and get to work without looking like a total wreck. She lovingly guided me towards personal detachment, despite my habit of constantly reflecting on what I had heard as I went about my shift at the restaurant.

Yesterday, I listened to the story of a 19-year old girl who said she was one of the youth instructed to do yoga while in jail. “Doing yoga,” she said, “was one of the only things I had done right in my life.” Both parents in jail. I don’t know the rest of her story. But being close to her age, I reflected on my own parents and my own childhood. Her story literally hit home.

I saw the redevelopment of an impoverished community in Wilmington, California. The people had torn out a vacant parking lot where trash was thrown into, and they built a garden of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Volunteers tend to the garden beds and keep the soil fresh. Every Saturday, a farmer’s market is held here. Whatever produce is leftover is donated back to the community. The value of this project kept Wilmington nourished and unified. I saw my own neighborhood in conjunction with Wilmington, remembering my neighbors who provide our family with fresh oranges from their backyard trees. Another story that reminded me of home, a place that shaped who I am.

Jill Ippolito, Founder of UpRising Yoga, and I standing in front of the community garden.

A beautiful bed of lettuce planted by the community members.

A yoga instructor opened the teacher training with a 15-minute meditation, and through this meditation, I visualized the image of a brown box with a travel tag. This is the “gift” she told us to see. It’s the gift that we possess as well as give back to people. As a journalist, I envision giving the gift of story-telling and news.

Back to this morning and my unanticipated meltdown, my mother helped remind me to build a shield around my heart. She said to me that as a journalist, I need to create some distance between myself and the stories I cover, especially since I’m emotionally invested in issues of gender. My mother made a point that journalists who take on serious projects like these can potentially end up with PTSD from their job. I’m seeking to build an emotional and subconscious armor, some protection against my repressed memories, my most secret thoughts, my dreams.

I don’t believe this guard can be manufactured in a day, in a month or in a year. Maybe I call it my Joan of Arc armor. Whenever I pick up a pen or sit at my laptop with emotional and mental investment, I put on this armor. And if I need to strip off the armor in order to go there — go to that place of truly connecting with another person through journalism, fighting my own demons — I choose to have that option.

It’s risky opening up myself completely and I might not be as functional for awhile afterwards. But I care. I’m human. I am a person who also has a story. Being a journalist doesn’t make me a hero or someone with more authority or power. It doesn’t make me better than anybody else. I am who I choose to be. I am what I give back. Above all, I choose to fight being a victim of my own mind.

A Yoga Therapist Perspective

Journal No. 5

I want to see through the eyes of a yoga therapist. I’m still trying to grasp the relationship between a yoga therapist and victim of sexual slavery. Imagine if yoga therapy was an actual program implemented into a safe-house. Would the therapist treat each woman individually? As a whole? What would be most effective? I remember my yoga teacher trainer told me he worked with troubled teenagers in a group setting while they were in prison. I think a yoga therapist could do the same for women in a safe-house. If they are given a free and inviting space to talk to other women about their experiences, women can begin to understand themselves and feel safer, more comfortable around each other and become a support system.

To do that, I started looking into the editorials written by professional yoga therapists who have been trained and certified through the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). I found an editorial written by Grace Bullock, editor in chief of a 2013 IAYT issue who wrote: “Indra Devi, a renowned ambassador of yoga, contended that yoga is an art and science of living.”

A blend of art and science is such a beautiful way to describe how yoga therapy can heal women. After looking into the psychological benefits of yoga therapy, I’m interested now in understanding how anatomy, psychology and spirituality intertwine. More importantly, how does a yoga therapist deal with these layers at once? How does a yoga therapist determine the “right” diagnosis?

Looking back on my notes from the Loyola Marymount University conference, I learned from Dr. Amy Wheeler that there are five Pancamaya layers that a therapist considers during treatment: physical, prana (or breath), psychological, personality, emotion; the deepest layer. In order for a yoga therapist to determine a diagnosis, he or she listens to the client’s story and establishes a connection through empathy. The professional is simply present without judgement or expectation; completely different than problem solving or trying to find a quick fix.

For a yoga therapist who works with a human trafficking victim, she detaches herself from becoming deeply impacted by the victim’s injuries. Also, she needs to keep in mind that not all clients may be suited for her, or she may not be the best fit for the client.

The job of a yoga therapist takes an immense amount of patience for both parties. Given that there are seven chakras, Dr. Wheeler estimates that it takes around two-three years to balance and realign the chakras. An enormous shift occurs in the body, mind and spirit during this process. In Sanskrit, we call the habits that create symptoms Samskaras. For a woman who has been sexually abused, her yoga therapist would identify and bring attention to her anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, intense nightmares, feelings of alertness, etc.

The yoga therapist suggests that the client perform an Upayam, or spiritual practice. Examples of this could be humming a mantra or chanting, pranayama which are breathing techniques, going through a particular asana (a series of poses), Dravya (oil application) or Yajna (a sacred ceremony). Once the client has been given a spiritual practice, she will journal her experiences and see how they impact her. If she doesn’t experience any changes, the yoga therapist could offer trying something else. The healing process may be all trial and error, depending on the person.

I would argue that yoga therapy is one of the best forms of medication. It may not work for everyone, but it’s certainly worth trying. Yoga therapists can even have the victim draw or paint a Yantra which is creating her own version of this geometric design for self-reflection and revelation:

For those who are still trying to understand the difference between human trafficking and prostitution: Click here to watch a Human Trafficking Video I created. (If you have trouble seeing it, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll send it to you) Human trafficking and prostitution mean the same thing. As you watch the video, you begin to understand the challenges both a yoga therapist and victim of sexual slavery face together.

Thanks for reading!

“A jug fills drop by drop.” -Buddha