Great Cultural Breakthroughs in Zining
Let’s see if we can list the top breakthroughs
in any aspect of zining and magazining in the last
10 years and see who comes out on top. Heck, let’s
go back 20 years even to give mags a better chance.
ZINES:
*ultra-short-run printing
*DIY publishing
*F5 (and other review zines)
*proliferation of networking, mail art and APAs
*perzines—about 10 top dogs with major mentions to: PatheticLife, Cometbus,
Gogglebox, PermaFrost, CrimeWave, HappyNotStupid
*the first candid moviezines like FilmThreat
*Anarchy and Processed World—blew poli-mag status quo out of water
*AnswerMe, ReSearch, babysue, GunFag, MurderCanBeFun—facing the un-faceable
*Rollerderby—a new way of celebrity, sex, and critique
*Giant Robot—a new view of the East, helping to mainstream HK movies
and NHB-fighting events, which have changed movies and sports
*minor hobbies and voices coming out of the woodwork at expert levels
like never before: bike culture, messenger culture, animal rights, SEX
art, comics
*literature of the old mail art war horses gets its best chance ever,
starting with the breakthru of Buk, moving on to unprecedented
exposure of Jack Saunders, John Bennett, Al Ackerman & Company
—-but only Buk really got anywhere even in the zine scene. ONE artist
got thru in past 30 years. ONE.
*THE INTERNET—got used and pushed in a big way by smalltime alt and underground
publishers. It has helped make minor voices more accessible. It has done more for Independents
than it has improved anything about the mainstream media.
*Teenage literary training ground for the neglected aspects of multiculturalism
(the suburbs? the literary arts in general?)
*INDY MUSIC LABELS! say no more
*Indy movie labels! ?
*folk culture revival—-steady support for art brut, permaculture voices
like Plain
(deficits of zining)
 same same same dreadfully bad music reviews, interviews and diary stuff
and other unexamined shallowness
 shock pandering—overboard on the hate, violence, murder, obscene revelry
 not really developed or supported by establishment or by anyone
with clout as another viable media form yet—it has only just begun,
growth explosion followed by growing pains and sophomore blues,
but mainly all in a vaccuum, in a worse state than art brut….an insane
inmate has a better chance of getting exposure for his vision.
MAGAZINES:
*Utne Reader—alt.voices start squeaking out, quickly silenced
by limo liberals
*Salon, online
*Harper’s (80’s diversity template is hoary but innovative for its day)
*Ms—-first no-ads mainstream mag, but stuck with being trapped
to preaching to the converted
(deficits of magazining)
 great overall loss of readership
