Woman's Own

Woman's Own is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women.

Woman's Own was first published in 1932. It is one of the UK's most famous women's magazines and is published by IPC Media. The magazine has recently had a new look and now includes articles on celebrity gossip, real life stories, fashion, beauty, shopping deals, wellbeing, food, and travel. The editor is Karen Livermore.

Woman’s Own has a worthy 75-year history. In 1987, its journalist Douglas Keay captured history when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously gave him her views on individual and governmental responsibility: “There is no such thing as society”. ^[1] The magazine sponsors an annual Children of Courage Award, first launched in 1973, which recognises children who have shown heroism, endured pain, disability, or devoted their lives to caring for a family in need.^[2]

However, the magazine’s recent history has been troubled with a succession of editorial makeovers, relaunches and sudden departures. The magazine was left without an editor for five months from September 2006, following the abrupt resignation of Elsa McAlonan, just a few months after her second revamp of the title during her four years in charge. In 2007, Karen Livermore was brought in from Family Circle, another magazine within the IPC stable. Her £2 million facelift failed to stem a long-term slide in circulation that saw weekly sales slipping towards 340,000 by the end of 2007, down from 450,000 in 2005 and well behind the market leader, Take A Break, circulation over 1 million. ^{[3] [4]}

Then in 2008, the accuracy of the magazine’s health and medical reporting was the subject of a Press Complaints Commission enquiry with its journalistic ethics and its treatment of case studies questioned in the mainstream press. ("Jackie’s tale sets alarm bells ringing: how Woman’s Own sexed up Addison’s disease for its own ends") ^[5] An ageing title, struggling to reinvent itself in a saturated market, Woman’s Own can ill-afford the implication from this controversy, that it exploits and misrepresents the real-life women who feature in its pages.

References

External links

• Brand Profile: Woman’s Own

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[[Category:Women's magazines]