Ladies' Home Journal

==Recent history==
[[File:The Ladies' home journal (1948) (14768384972).jpg|thumb|405x405px|A refrigerator advertisement, 1948]]
The ''Journal'', along with its major rivals, ''[[Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)|Better Homes and Gardens]]'', ''[[Family Circle]]'', ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'', ''[[McCall's]]'', ''[[Redbook]]'' and ''[[Woman's Day]]'', were long known as the "seven sisters", after the prestigious [[Seven Sisters (colleges)|women's colleges]] in the Northeast.<ref>{{cite news |last= Carmody |first= D. |title= Identity Crisis for 'Seven Sisters' |work= The New York Times |date= August 6, 1990 |page=D1}}</ref>  For decades, the ''Journal'' had the greatest circulation of this group, but it fell behind ''McCall's'' in 1961.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= Revolt at Curtis |magazine= Time |date= October 16, 1964 |pages=93–94}}</ref>  By 1968, its circulation was 6.8 million compared to ''McCall's'' 8.5 million. Society was changing and this was reflected in people's magazine choices.

That year, Curtis Publishing sold the ''Ladies' Home Journal'', along with the magazine ''[[The American Home]]'', to Downe Communications for $5.4 million in stock.<ref>{{cite news |last= Bedingfield |first= R. E. |title= Curtis Publishing Sells 2 Magazines; Downe Paying $5.4-Million in Stock |work= The New York Times |date= August 15, 1968 |at= Business and Finance section, p. 54}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title= Too Few Believers |magazine= Time |date= August 23, 1968 |page=67}}</ref> Between 1969 and 1974 Downe was acquired by [[Charter Company]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title= Magna charter |magazine= Time |date= June 16, 1980|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924223,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080408105605/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924223,00.html  |archive-date= April 8, 2008 |page=70}}</ref> In 1982 it sold the magazine to Family Media Inc., publishers of [[Health (magazine)|''Health'']] magazine, when Charter decided to divest its publishing interests.

In March 1970, feminists led by [[Susan Brownmiller]] held an 11-hour sit-in at the ''Ladies' Home Journal''{{'}}s office, with some of them sitting on the desk of editor [[John Mack Carter]], smoking his cigars, and asking him to resign and be replaced by a woman editor.<ref name="gsmNYT11">{{cite web | author=  Leslie Kaufman| date= September 26, 2014| work= The New York Times| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/business/media/john-carter-86-is-dead-led-womens-magazines-.html| title= John Mack Carter, 86, Is Dead; Led 'Big 3' Women's Magazines| access-date= January 14, 2022| quote= …Mr. Carter edited McCall's from 1961 to 1965, Ladies' Home Journal from 1965 to 1974 and Good Housekeeping from 1975 to 1994. … only person to edit all three.… }}</ref> Carter declined to resign but he listened to their grievances, and as a result, they were allowed to produce a section of the magazine that August. They wanted the magazine to recognize a wider variety of choices for women's lives, as well as give greater attention to women's issues such as [[sexual discrimination]] and abortion.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gibson |first=Megan |url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2088114_2087975_2087966,00.html |title=The ''Ladies' Home Journal'' Sit-In - A Brief History of Women's Protests|magazine=Time|date=August 12, 2011|access-date=January 28, 2015}}</ref><ref name="gsmNYT11"/> Other activists continued the protests and seem to have achieved some success. They "may not have liberated the Ladies' Home Journal, but they did help change perceptions of how the media could portray women's lives", according to one source.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/news/women-feminist-protest-ladies-home-journal |title=When Angry Women Staged a Sit-In at the Ladies Home Journal |date=February 11, 2019 |work=History |access-date=February 17, 2023 }}</ref>  

In 1986, the Meredith Corporation acquired the magazine from Family Media for $96 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meredith.com/aboutmeredith/history.html |title=History of Meredith Corporation  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703091813/http://www.meredith.com/aboutmeredith/history.html |archive-date=July 3, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Meredith Won't Tinker with Added Magazines |work= The New York Times |date= November 25, 1985 |edition= Late City Final |at= p. D2, col 5}}</ref> By 1998, the ''Journal'''s circulation had dropped to 4.5 million.<ref>{{cite news |last= Kuczynski |first= A. |title= Some Consumer Magazines Are Getting Real |work= The New York Times |date= November 9, 1998 |page=C1}}</ref>

The magazine debuted an extensive visual and editorial redesign in its March 2012 issue. Photographer [[Brigitte Lacombe]] was hired to shoot cover photos, with [[Kate Winslet]] appearing on the first revamped issue. The ''Journal'' announced that portions of its editorial content would be [[crowdsourcing|crowdsourced]] from readers, who would be fairly compensated for their work.<ref>{{cite news |first= Stefanie |last= Botelho |date= January 10, 2012 |title= Ladies' Home Journal to Move to Reader-Produced Content Model |url= http://www.foliomag.com/2012/ladies-home-journal-move-reader-produced-content-model |work= Folio}}</ref> The arrangement was one of the first of its kind among major consumer magazines.<ref>{{cite news |first= Nat |last= Ives |date= January 9, 2012|title=Ladies' Home Journal Lets Readers Write the Magazine |url= http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/ladies-home-journal-lets-readers-write-magazine/231966/|work= AdvertisingAge}}</ref>

Although the magazine remained very popular, it ran into increasing difficulty attracting advertising. Despite its high subscriber base (3.2 million in 2016), it was not a leader in the women's service category. These factors prompted the decision to end monthly publication.<ref name="emb">{{cite news|author=Emma Bazilian|title=Ladies' Home Journal to Cease Monthly Publication|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/press/ladies-home-journal-shuts-down-157233|access-date=February 6, 2016|work=AdWeek|date=April 24, 2014}}</ref> The magazine was relaunched as a quarterly.<ref name="emb"/> At the same time, the headquarters of the magazine moved from New York City<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kathleen L. Endres|author2=Therese L. Lueck|title=Women's Periodicals in the United States: Consumer Magazines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sld1Jj0jM7cC&pg=PA172|access-date=February 6, 2016|year=1995|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-28631-5|page=172}}</ref> to [[Des Moines, Iowa]].<ref name="emb"/> Meredith offered its subscribers the chance to transfer their subscriptions to Meredith's sister publications.<ref name=NYT/>

In 2016, Meredith partnered with Grand Editorial to produce Ladies' Home Journal. Only one issue was created.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Sutton| first = Kelsey| title = Grand Editorial to produce Ladies' Home Journal| work = POLITICO Media| date = January 7, 2016| access-date = 2020-04-04| url = http://politi.co/21qiKqj}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Behance| title = Ladies' Home Journal| work = Behance| access-date = 2020-04-04| url = https://www.behance.net/gallery/40360237/Ladies-Home-Journal}}</ref>