University of Mississippi

New Media 

 

Changes in the media environment between 1995 and 2005 included multiple computers 

and broadband at home, along with more sophisticated game consoles, the arrival of DVD 

players and flat panel televisions. So while time spent reading print media did not decrease 

between 1999 and 2005, time 

exclusively

 spent reading did.

17

  

The Millennium Generation’s record-breaking birthrate and the booming 1990s 

children’s market did not help the survival of children’s magazines. Of the 12 publications 

participating in Kids’ Magnet in 1995 only four exist in 2011: 

Boys’ Life

, 

Girls’ Life

, 

Sports 

Illustrated for Kids

, and 

U.S. Kids

 (

Jack and Jill

, 

Humpty Dumpty

, 

Turtle

). Ultimately 

unsuccessful were 

Nickelodeon Magazine

, 

Disney Adventures

, 

Popular Science for Kids

, 

Soccer 

Junior

, 

Children’s Television Workshop

, 

Delta Fantastic Flyer

, and 

Outside for Kids

.

18

 

Nickelodeon cited the downturn in the overall magazine business and a decision to 

---

 

45 

concentrate on Nickelodeon Web sites as its reasons for discontinuing the publication in 2009.

 

“The switch to the Internet is understandable, economically, but reading a magazine . . . is 

clearly a different experience than going online, with all of the video options,” said Bob Der, 

managing editor of 

Sports Illustrated Kids

 in 2009.

 19 

 

Launched in 1992, one survivor 

New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams

, 

examined new media changes to the publishing world and decided technology “represented an 

unparalleled opportunity to reach more girls than ever before, and embarked on a bold growth 

plan.” In 2007 the renamed print publication, 

New Moon Girls

, debuted with additional 

opportunities for self-discovery, creativity, and community at New Moon Girls Online. Parents, 

teachers, youth leaders, and other caring adults have a Web site, www.daughters.com, resource 

to help girls build healthy resistance to gender stereotypes and inequities. The award winning, ad 

free 

New Moon

 was created to empower girls eight and older by the parents of twins using an 

editorial board composed of the then 11-year-old daughters and 18 of their friends.

20