19

19 magazine used to be at the vanguard of the new-look of women's magazines. Along with Honey it blazed a trail through the 1970s with fun and fashion and all sorts of articles so completely evocative of the anarchy in the publishing industry of the time. In other words it was exciting. And now, quite simply, it isn't. It's doing very much the same, only not as well, as it did 30 years ago. Only what was groundbreaking then isn't any more. Far, far from it. The features are the same old subjects rehashed every two years or so (ah - it's March so it must be a feature on leaving home); while much of the rest is trite without being especially amusing or witty. The teen market is pretty much saturated and the likes of Minx and More have pretty much got the whole age range sewn up. There's certainly room for a magazine offering something different to those two - but 19 hasn't got a strong enough identity to be what's needed. Adding a few nice giveaways (and I did buy it recently - just for the spangly flip flops) may boost sales figures. But it doesn't make a quality magazine.