Top Ten Magazines Has Economist on Top

One of my favorite magazines is The Economist. It is the most thorough (without slipping into the less engaging "academic journal" genre) and strikes me as a publication without an agenda. The publication is often deemed "conservative" (especially by European standards), but it doesn't present its views in any way one could consider biased in tone. If anything, its views are expressed in a matter of fact manner. It provides a very thorough understanding of the unique perspectives that different countries and cultures have towards today's problems.

The Economist is a more intellectually oriented publication and I was surprised to see it on the top of Advertising Age's list of the best magazines. Mediabistro wrote about the honor noting: that the magazine's "editor-in-chief Jonah Bloom announced his publication's "A-List" awards earlier tonight and The Economist won Magazine of the Year, beating out No. 2 Women's Health and No. 3 Elle."

Advertising Age than provided the rest of the "A-list"

No. 10 — Conde Nast Traveler

No. 9 — House Beautiful

No. 8 — People Stylewatch

No. 7 — New York ("A perennial award winner, I'm afraid.")

No. 6 — Fast Company ("They love to steal Ad Age stories.")

No. 5 — National Geographic

No. 4 — Every Day With Rachael Ray

No. 3 — Elle

No. 2 — Women's Health ("Perhaps the most intuitive spin-off in magazines. Also known as the 'Duh' magazine.")

No. 1 — The Economist

Six of the magazines are lifestyle oriented, with Women's Health topping the list and Elle not far behind. Two are informational (New York and National Geographic), but of very different styles. The last two (Fast Company and The Economist) are business and financial oriented.

The above seems to be a very eclectic list and without any particular trend other than they all are visually attractive. That would be a significant part of the "bottom line" to a publication like Advertising Age.

Kevin Price articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.