The MPA Magazine Media Factbook is one of the most widely sourced and relied upon tools in our industry. The Factbook features noteworthy research, useful statistics and compelling facts that articulate how magazine media is unique and its effectiveness compared to other media. Members are encouraged to use this information in conversations, brand presentations, and sales and marketing materials.
A letter from Brigette Schmidt Gwyn, President and CEO of MPA
I am pleased to present the 2021 Magazine Media Factbook. For more than 25 years, MPA – The Association of Magazine Media – has documented in the Factbook the ongoing vitality of the magazine sector and unique credibility and trust magazine media have earned among their readers.
This edition of MPA’s Factbook highlights the resiliency of magazine media in the midst of a global pandemic, and the high level of trust consumers continue to place in magazine media platforms. Overall audience across print, digital, and video rose during the COVID-19 pandemic — to 1.56 billion readers — and enthusiasm for the trusted, curated content that magazine media delivers remained strong, with the top three magazine publishers reaching more women than the top four technology platforms. Ninety percent of Americans under 25 read print and digital versions of magazines – and 63 percent of millennials (Americans aged 25 to 40) say that, even in the digital age, they love the touch and feel of a printed magazine. Magazine media’s social media footprint grew to nearly 700 million “page likers” and followers on Facebook and Instagram, and Instagram followers increased by 16 percent year over year.
This year’s edition also highlights the efforts magazine media publishers are making to enhance environmental sustainability, including using sustainably sourced paper from certified forests, reducing the use of non-sustainable plastics, limiting greenhouse gas emissions – and continuing to educate with incisive and inspiring environmental coverage.
We are grateful to MRI-Simmons for their vital work in integrating the data for this year’s Factbook.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test for society, and I am proud of the fact that the magazine media industry came through with flying colors. As this year’s edition of the Factbook clearly shows, MPA members have once again proven themselves to be adaptable innovators who continue to find new ways to deliver trusted content to magazine media consumers.
Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn
President and CEO, MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
