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Trade publications have long offered specialized information to readers working in a specific trade, industry, or business sector. Their scope ranges from local and regional titles such as Chicago Construction News (though many of these are now zoned editions of larger operations) to international publications such as Lloyd’s List, offering daily coverage of the global shipping trade. They are also sometimes referred to as business-to-business or specialized business publications. While originally issued in newspaper or magazine format, the trade press has expanded to include newsletters (now primarily digital), directories, industry surveys, and special reports. Publishers have built on their print brands to offer specialized industry-relevant information through a wide range of platforms including conferences, trade shows, webinars, awards programs, web portals, and e-newsletters.
Nearly every business field and profession is served by a trade publication, ranging from the American Machinist to Hospitals & Health Networks to Wood Bioenergy. These publications survive because they have made themselves indispensable to those working in the particular industry or profession they serve, providing targeted news and analysis of new products, business trends, government policy, and leaders in the industry.
Actionable Information
The number of trade publications is quite substantial, and despite not being available on newsstands many have circulations that rival specialized consumer magazines. Many publishers have developed strong presences in particular industries or sectors, offering a variety of publications serving different niches within them. Trade publications perform at least two major functions: delivering advertisements to decision makers in the targeted business sector, and providing specialized information that those readers need to develop their businesses or further their careers. There is a fairly tight connection between the two, as nearly all of the advertising is business-to-business. In addition to advertising and other promotional services, trade publications earn revenue from selling marketing research and other industry-specific data, from subscriptions and sales, and from conferences, seminars, and trade shows.
The boundaries between trade and professional publications can be porous. There is also significant overlap with association publications in some fields. The American Booksellers Association’s American Bookseller competed with commercially published trade magazines such as Publishers Weekly until publication ceased in 1998 (though the association’s newsletter, Bookselling this Week, continued and is now distributed digitally). Publishers Weekly has gone full circle. Launched in 1872 by a bibliographer, it was owned for several years by R.R. Bowker (publisher of Books in Print) until being sold to Xerox and then to Reed International. Reed later merged with the Netherlands-based specialized publishing giant Elsevier to form Reed Elsevier, which sold Publishers Weekly to George Slowik Jr., a former publisher of the magazine, in 2010. After purchasing Publishers Weekly, Slowik added email newsletters, podcasts, and an international book rights database to the weekly magazine.
Professional journals serve the needs of their readers, but they also document changing norms and practices in the industries they serve. Nursing magazine, for example, reflects the changing demographics of the profession, as well as the new challenges nurses face.
Historical Evolution
Aside from a few studies finding that trade publications are an effective advertising medium, most scholarly research on the field has been historical in nature, often drawing upon trade publications as a vehicle for assessing the industry or market they cover. There has been much work on the agricultural press, relating the proliferation of titles to westward expansion (and hence new soil and weather conditions) and modernization, as individual holdings gave way to commercial agriculture. Early farm papers such as the Agricultural Museum offered an opportunity for farmers to share knowledge and firsthand experience, as well as develop a common voice on issues such as railroad regulation. Later years saw the emergence of corporate publishers, increased specialization, and an emphasis on changing markets and economic conditions.
While most trade publications have been issued on a weekly or monthly basis, there have been several daily trade newspapers as well, many of which continue as online publications. Like other major cities, Chicago hosted trade and professional dailies, including the Daily National Hotel Reporter (1872–1932) and the Chicago Daily Drovers Journal. The latter, a livestock industry publication founded in 1873, eventually evolved into the monthly Drovers magazine published by Farm Journal Media. Other daily trade newspapers included Variety, Oil Daily, and the venerable Lloyd’s List and Shipping Gazette, founded in 1734. Lloyd’s ceased printing its daily newspaper in December 2013, transitioning to all-digital publication, but launched a monthly print magazine in 2015 featuring longer-form analytical articles.
American Machinist exemplifies the evolution from occupational to trade magazine. Founded in 1877 as a weekly newspaper serving working machinists, it slowly evolved into a glossy monthly magazine aimed at engineers and managers employed in manufacturing and machine shops. Its editors were originally working machinists, as were most of its contributors, but they were gradually replaced by writers with a background in industrial engineering. In the 1960s American Machinist moved from paid subscriptions and single-copy newsstand sales to controlled circulation. In 2013 it shifted to online publication, offering a website, weekly email newsletters, and webinars.
Controlled Circulation
While trade publications originally circulated primarily through paid subscriptions, controlled circulation—providing the publication free of charge to individuals qualified by occupation or employer—has become a widely used distribution model for trade magazines and their Internet-based progeny. These publications are supported by advertising, sponsored content, and fees for ancillary services including trade shows, webinars, and special reports.
However, many trade publications have resisted controlled circulation. Crain Communications’ flagship Ad Age (the company also publishes city business newspapers and trade magazines for auto dealers and health care executives, among other titles) has been sold by subscription since it was founded in 1930, relying on solid news coverage, investigative reporting, and informative columns to persuade advertisers and media organizations alike that it is indispensable. In addition, many newsletters and dailies continue to charge substantial subscription fees even as they shift to digital platforms.
A Vibrant, Global Publishing Sector
While the circulation of most individual titles is relatively modest, collectively trade publications make up a large portion of the magazine industry, in the United States and around the world, and reach a highly desirable audience of influential industry executives and government policymakers. But given the proliferation of web-based publications, digital newsletters, and print titles, it is difficult to reliably estimate either the number of trade publications or their combined circulation.
Trade journalism is an international phenomenon. While many titles are stand-alone publications or issued by small firms with a handful of titles, transnational media conglomerates have long held a dominant share of the trade press. These firms typically own several titles in related fields, closing or selling off titles that do not complement their portfolio. The resulting clusters facilitate the development of industry databases and other resources that can be shared across several titles. For example, Haymarket Media Group, the British publishing house that owns PRWeek (and conferences and digital newsletters serving the United Kingdom, United States, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets), operates clusters of automotive, horticultural, marketing, and medical trade magazines, websites, and conferences.
Similarly, in 1998, Lloyd’s of London Press merged with International Business Communications Group, which issued financial publications and organized professional conferences, to form Informa. The company grew quickly, acquiring academic publisher Taylor & Francis, trade magazine conglomerate Penton, and other publishers of aviation, energy, finance, life sciences, and telecommunications newsletters and magazines. Today Informa has major holdings in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, with hundreds of publications across multiple sectors. It also sponsors conferences and trade shows and operates data and intelligence services drawing upon its global network of reporters and publications.
The trade press reflects trends in the broader economy. New business sectors give birth to new trade publications, even as legacy publications migrate to digital platforms and more interactive models. As industry becomes more complex and products more specialized, new publications emerge (often spun off from existing ones) to serve the new needs. Digital platforms have also facilitated the development of regional editions. Regardless of medium, trade publications provide essential information to their specialized readers and a highly efficient marketing mechanism for businesses. As a result, trade publications are well positioned to thrive in an otherwise challenging media environment.
The original version of this article was published by SAGE Publications in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Journalism.
