ANGUS magazine

I read magazines. I enjoy them. Basketball, soccer, hip-hop, music, even celebrity gossip (a guilty pleasure). I've found that good magazines provide articles of the length, depth and accuracy that is not yet available on the internet. There are limitations to what is possible with articles on the internet, with page lengths kept short and articles aimed to get the most impact at the start. A good, feature-length article is tough to find, except in quality magazine publications.

Now, I think I fit into the category that magazines like FHM and Ralph are aimed at. I don't read them because I think they're too focused on sex and girls with big boobs (nothing inherently wrong with either of those things, but I prefer to read about different stuff, that's all).

If I were creating a men's magazine, I'd aim it at informing the Modern Man. Helping him get the information he needs to be better.

This is what I'd include:

• Two sports features on mainstream team sports + at least a page on each of the others. AFL, basketball, rugby union, soccer, cricket... they'd rotate between getting a feature and a page each issue.
• A medium-sized section on individual sports. Tennis, motorsport, golf etc. The less about golf, the better though.
• A prominent feature on a men's issue. Whether it's men's health, dealing with chicks, how to be a man, general advice on stuff like that. It would be aimed at informing and building up men.
• A celebrity Q&A, with reader-submitted questions. I've seen this work for soccer magazines really well, and I like the format. It also provides an option for the front cover pic every issue, if nothing better comes up. I would aim to have men interviewed in preference to women.
• A regular page on politics. With the proviso that men be informed about political issues, but also focusing on good decisions and bad decisions in state, federal and international politics.
• A top [number] list, counting down the top number of whatevers. I know from experience that these lists are well-read, create debate and provide talking points. When I put Ben Cousins at the top of my 50 Biggest Moments in Sport in 2007 last year, I copped a bunch of flak, but I also copped some praise.
• A tech section, but with less focus on selling the gadgets and more on road-testing them. Games would also get a good testing out.
• A music feature, not necessarily incredibly long, but with the aim of revealing something different about the artist or album that doesn't usually come across in other interviews or reports.
• A few of the typical bloke-mag things like What's Hot, Up-and-coming sports stars, letters etc etc.
• And, a page with a beautiful girl smiling. It's vital. Not sexual, or provocative, or over-the-top. It's just that blokes like to look at pretty girls. Since... since, well, time immemorium.

That's it for starters.

And here's a selection of random covers that came up when I searched for "men's magazine" in Google Images (I culled all the pics of tanned women with large, oiled-up breasts that also came up in the search... yes, the internet is a perilous place).



Anyone else out there read magazines still?