You need no special skills to differentiate between a newspaper and a magazine. They are two distinct physical products.
But other than looks what are the other differences between these two publications? The differences are not one or two but six, and they are:
# 1. Content
The newspaper reports are short and cover a large range of subjects — from political stories to sports to business, to city happenings to world affairs. Almost 90 percent of the stories are written in inverted pyramid format with the most important point figuring in the first paragraph; the remaining points are in descending order of importance. The newspaper content has low shelf life.
The magazines, in contrast, focus on one issue. So, you have news magazines, business magazines, women’s magazines, fashion magazines, film magazines, travel magazines etc Each magazine caters to the interests of its specific audience. Their content too is more in depth and runs across several pages. Their write ups are free flowing and are backed by powerful photographs. The content is more evergreen in nature and can be read over a longer period of time.
#2. Audience
The newspapers are family products irrespective of the fact that it is the male, earning member who decides which newspaper should be purchased. The content mix is such that every member of the household from the homemaker to the children has something to read.
The target audience of each magazine is narrow. The business magazines focus on corporate executives; the women’s magazines target women, mainly housewives; the film magazines cater to film lovers. This narrows their appeal and the market size.
#3. Frequency
The newspapers are mostly dailies — that is they are published on a daily basis. There are some newspapers that are published once a week or even once a fortnight. But they are few and far between and are gradually dying.
The magazines, depending upon their nature, are published once a week, once a fortnight or once a month. There are even quarterly or annual magazines.
#4. Paper Quality
The newspapers are published on printing paper which is called newsprint. The grammage of the newsprint is low, and barring newsprint produced in western countries the quality of newsprint is not very good.
The magazines are printed on high quality paper, which is thick and glossy. This makes them visually more appealing.
#5. Size
The newspapers are printed in three sizes. The broadsheet is the full-sized newspaper and its size differs from country to country and from newspaper to newspaper. Broadly speaking a broadsheet is around 550mm by 350 mm. The tabloids are half the size of broadsheets while Berliners are a little bigger than tabloids.
Magazines are relatively smaller. Their size also varies from magazine to magazine.
#6. Cost
The newspapers are much cheaper as compared to magazines, especially in India. The cost of an Indian newspaper varies from Rs 3 to Rs 10.
The magazines on account of their expensive glossy paper can be priced from Rs 20 to Rs 100 or even more.