(opinion article)

Today, the era of newspapers and magazines is not as popular as, say, ten years ago. Especially in the time of war…Modern technology dictates its rules, so people are changing their search format for new information, preferring web resources to print. But whether the Ukrainian magazine market is really as meager as everyone thinks, we will find out when we look at the whole range in more detail.

After reviewing several resources presenting the modern Ukrainian press, I came to the conclusion that the genre of fashion publications, such as “Elle,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Vogue,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Glamor,” “Caravan,” etc., predominates among the magazines. But this does not complete our list of domestic gloss.

Socio-political magazines occupy the next step. Bright and successful examples of this are “Novoe Vremya,” “Ukrainian Week” and “Ukrainian Forbes.” Also well represented are cultural publications on history, literature, art, cinema, interior (“Local History,” “KinoTeatr,” “Critique,” “Ukrainian Culture,” “Sights of Ukraine”) and narrow publications designed for a certain category of professionals (“Citadel,” “Printing,” “Hospitality Academy,” “Inventor”).

It is necessary to mention a large part of the publications, which are even combined into a separate category — publications for women and men. Yes, it sounds quite sexist, but it’s harder to come up with a more accurate name for this caste. Such magazines mostly have all the stereotypes of society: women read about gossip, stars, makeup, clothes, and men about cars, sport and fishing. For example, I know from my childhood such magazines as “Relax,” “Viva,” “Good advice,” “Women’s stories,” “Family advice,” “Playboy,” “Fisherman” and more.

Finally, the lion’s share of the Ukrainian segment is occupied by children’s magazines. Since independence, our market is increasingly filled with publications designed for young readers. Remembering my childhood, I can confidently call them an integral part of my life. And now this market continues to function quite well. The development of quality children’s magazines warms the soul a little. We can mention the well-known “Neznayko,” “Yablunka,” “Malyatko” and the new, but no less successful “KubRiki,” “Vesela Malecha,” “Kulya.”

Well, summing up, we can still assume that the modern Ukrainian market of magazines is not so poor. If you pay attention to the quality of publications, you will find many good options. Another question is whether they buy those magazines and in what quantity. But it is more up to us.

Personally, I have nothing against reading a luxurious magazine with a cup of coffee in my hand.