Teen 'zines Keep Fans In The Know
Source: The Dallas Morning News and Backstreet.net
June 5, 2000
06/02/2000
By Teresa Gubbins / The Dallas Morning News
When you have many teens, as we do right now, you consequently have many teen pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync.
Out of this plentitude comes the need for guides to sort out burning questions such as "Which one is Justin?" vs. "Which one is Lance?"
Thus, happy days are here again for Tiger Beat, Bop, BB, Teen Beat and 16 - magazines that have tracked hopes, dreams and favorite colors since the '50s.
Previously rivals, these magazines now are all in the family ever since they were purchased last year by Primedia. The only place you can buy them is on newsstands - no subscriptions - and each magazine sells about 100,000 to 135,000 copies each, says Mark Peterson, who oversees all of the company's teen titles. (Primedia also owns Chicago and New York magazines, as well as Seventeen.)
Right now, Mr. Peterson says, music is very hot, with the same five acts ruling each and every cover: 'N Sync (with special emphasis, for some reason, on Justin Timberlake), Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Hanson.
For an act trying to break through, desperate measures are required. Westlife, yet another boy band, allowed itself to be photographed for the new issue of SuperTeen with the members all holding autographed Beanie Babies just below their smiling faces.
These traditional fan magazines have an innocence that contrasts sweetly with the newer Teen People, CosmoGirl and other faux-teen mags, which are heavily into overt sexuality and selling products.
"Our editorial mission, for lack of a better word, is that we provide facts and fun about the kids' favorite stars," Mr. Peterson says. "In reality, what we're doing is very age-appropriate. I don't think you have to throw sex or any of that into kids' faces to deem yourself cool.
"Not that we ignore it. But if you look at our magazines, you can see we're not - well, I just got a copy of TV Guide, and it's Britney in a bikini on the cover. We're not going to do that. That's not what we do."
