Reader's Digest

==History==
[[File:First issue of the Reader's Digest, February 1922.png|thumb|First issue of the ''Reader's Digest'', February 1922]]

===Inception and growth===
In 1920, [[DeWitt Wallace|Dewitt Wallace]] married [[Lila Bell Wallace]] in [[Pleasantville, New York]]. Shortly thereafter, the two would launch ''Reader's Digest'' in the basement below a [[Greenwich Village]] [[speakeasy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Waterbury |first1=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZBCCxUDJ5cC |title=Mount Pleasant |last2=Waterbury |first2=Claudine |last3=Ruiz |first3=Bert |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7385-6216-2 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref> The idea for ''Reader's Digest'' was to gather a sampling of favorite articles on many subjects from various monthly magazines, sometimes condensing and rewriting them, and to combine them into one magazine.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

Since its inception ''Reader's Digest'' has maintained a [[conservatism|conservative]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Doing the Right Thing Reader's Digest's Lasting Appeal: Condensed and Conservative |first=Patrick A. |last=McGuire |date=August 25, 1993 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/112486825.html?FMT=ABS |access-date=2011-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111171658/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/112486825.html?FMT=ABS |archive-date=2012-01-11 |quote=Still, says Mr. Heidenry, the Digest has a blind side. 'It persists in a right wing ideology,' he says, 'and they don't print two sides to a question.' |url-status=bot: unknown |df=mdy }}</ref> and [[anti-Communist]] perspective on political and social issues.<ref>{{cite book |first= Joanne P. |last= Sharp |title= Condensing the Cold War: Reader's Digest and American Identity |publisher= [[University of Minnesota Press]] |date= 2000}}</ref> The Wallaces initially hoped the journal could provide $5,000 of net income. Wallace's assessment of what the potential mass-market audience wanted to read led to rapid growth. By 1929, the magazine had 290,000 subscribers and had a gross income of $900,000 a year. The first international edition was published in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1938. By the 40th anniversary of ''Reader's Digest'', it had 40 international editions, in 13 languages and Braille, and at one point, it was the largest-circulating journal in [[China]], [[Mexico]], [[Spain]], [[Sweden]], [[Peru]], and other countries, with a total international circulation of 23 million.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

The magazine's format for several decades consisted of 30 articles per issue (one per day), along with an "It Pays to Increase your Word Power" vocabulary quiz, a page of "Amusing Anecdotes" and "Personal Glimpses", two features of funny stories entitled "Humor in Uniform" and "Life in these United States", and a lengthier article at the end, usually [[Reader's Digest Condensed Books|condensed from a published book]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Readers-Digest|title=Reader's Digest {{!}} American magazine|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-06-01|language=en}}</ref> Other regular features were "My Most Unforgettable Character" (since discontinued), the "Drama in Real Life" survival stories, and more recently "That's Outrageous". These were all listed in the table of contents on the front cover. Each article was prefaced by a small, simple line drawing. In more recent times, the format evolved into flashy, colorful, eye-catching graphics throughout, and many short bits of data interspersed with full articles. The table of contents is now contained inside. From 2003 to 2007, the back cover featured "Our America", paintings of [[Norman Rockwell|Rockwell]]-style whimsical situations by artist [[C. F. Payne]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Another monthly consumer advice feature is "What [people in various professions] won't tell you," with a different profession featured each time.

The first "Word Power" column of the magazine was published in the January 1945 edition, written by [[Wilfred John Funk|Wilfred J. Funk]].<ref>{{cite journal |title= Word Power |journal= Reader's Digest |date= January 1945 |pages= 29, 103}}</ref><ref>Don R. Vaughan, Ph.D., vocabulary columnist.{{full citation needed|date= May 2015}}</ref> In December 1952, the magazine published "Cancer by the Carton", a series of articles that linked [[smoking]] with [[lung cancer]],<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/|title=Tobacco History|work=CNN|access-date= June 22, 2009}}</ref> and this topic was later repeated in other articles.

From 2002 to 2006, ''Reader's Digest'' conducted a vocabulary competition in schools throughout the US called [[Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge|''Reader's Digest'' National Word Power Challenge]]. In 2007, the magazine said it would not have the competition for the 2007–08 school year: "...but rather to use the time to evaluate the program in every respect, including scope, mission, and model for implementation."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rd.com/nwpc/|title=Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge Program Announcement|access-date=2009-06-19|work=Reader's Digest|archive-date=May 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503022316/http://www.rd.com/nwpc/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2006, the magazine published three more local-language editions in [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], and [[Romania]]. In October 2007, the ''Digest'' expanded into [[Serbia]]. The magazine's licensee in [[Italy]] stopped publishing in December 2007. The magazine launched in [[the People's Republic of China]] in January 2008. It ceased publishing in China in 2012, due to a lack of sales caused by a relatively high price, a poorly defined audience and low-quality translated content.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chan |first1=Jenny |title=Reader's Digest closes chapter on Chinese edition |url=https://www.campaignasia.com/article/readers-digest-closes-chapter-on-chinese-edition/307812 |access-date=14 May 2023 |work=Campaign Asia |publisher=Haymarket Media Ltd |date=6 July 2012}}</ref>

For 2010, the US edition of the magazine reduced its publishing schedule to 10 times a year rather than 12, and to increase digital offerings. It also cut its circulation guarantee for advertisers to 5.5 million copies from 8 million. In announcing that decision, in June 2009, the company said that it planned to reduce its number of celebrity profiles and how-to features, and increase the number of inspiring spiritual stories and stories about the military.<ref name="NYT-18Jun09"/>

Beginning in January 2013, the US edition was increased to 12 times a year.<ref name="Vaccariello December, 2012">{{cite journal|author= Liz Vaccariello|title= Editor's Note |journal= Reader's Digest|date= December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Reader's Digest building in Pleasantville.jpg|alt=Reader's Digest building in Pleasantville|left|thumb|Former Reader's Digest building in Chappaqua, New York]]

===Business organization and ownership===

In 1990, the magazine's parent company, [[The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.]] (RDA), became a publicly traded corporation. From 2005 through 2010, RDA reported a net loss each year.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000858558&type=&dateb=&owner=exclude&count=100 |publisher= Securities and Exchange Commission |title= Filings for Readers{{sic |nolink=yes}} Digest Association, Inc. |work= EDGAR System |access-date=2013-02-21}}</ref>

In March 2007, [[Ripplewood Holdings]] LLC led a consortium of [[private-equity]] investors who bought the company through a leveraged buyout for US$2.8 billion, financed primarily by the issuance of US$2.2 billion of debt.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/><ref name="NYT-18Jun09">{{cite news |title= Reader's Digest Searches for a Contemporary Niche |work= The New York Times |date= June 18, 2009 |first= Stephanie |last=  Clifford |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/media/19readers.html?_r=1 }}</ref> Ripplewood invested $275 million of its own money, and had partners including Rothschild Bank of Zürich and GoldenTree Asset Management of New York. The private-equity deal tripled the association's interest payments, to $148 million a year.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

On August 24, 2009, RDA announced it had filed with the US Bankruptcy court an arranged [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] to continue operations, and to restructure the US$2.2 billion debt undertaken by the leveraged buyout transaction.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20">{{Cite news|author= David Segal |date= December 20, 2009|work=The New York Times|title= A Reader's Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/business/media/20digest.html|access-date=2009-12-20}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150326185429/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1321364&highlight= Reader's Digest Association – News & Releases<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="NYT-dealbook-2009-08-17">{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/readers-digest-plans-chapter-11-filing/?hpw|work=The New York Times|title=Reader's Digest Plans Chapter 11 Filing|date=August 17, 2009|access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref> The company emerged from bankruptcy with the lenders exchanging debt for equity, and Ripplewood's entire equity investment was extinguished.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

In April 2010, the UK arm was [[management buyout|sold to its management]]. It has a licensing deal with the US company to continue publishing the UK edition.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kevin Reed|url= http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2261116/moore-stephens-sells-reader|title=Moore Stephens Sells Reader's Digest to Jon Moulton Business|work=Accountancy Age|date= April 12, 2010}}</ref>

On February 17, 2013, RDA Holding filed for bankruptcy a second time.<ref>{{cite news|author=Michael J. De La Merced|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/readers-digest-files-for-bankruptcy-again/|title=Reader's Digest Files for Bankruptcy, Again|work=The New York Times|date= February 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/opinion/sharp-readers-digest/index.html|title=Rise and fall of Reader's Digest |author=Joanne Sharp |website=CNN|date=February 20, 2013|access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref> The company was purchased for £1 by Mike Luckwell, a venture capitalist and once the biggest shareholder in [[WPP plc]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44250900 |title=Yours for a pound: The firms sold on the cheap|website=BBC News |date=25 May 2018  |access-date= 25 May 2018}}</ref>