Twenty years ago, The Devil Wears Prada was released and never left pop culture conversations. The film follows Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a young woman hired as second assistant to Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep), the formidable editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine. The film was an obvious nod to Vogue Magazine and its former editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. Now, two decades later, the sequel is here, and the story it tells could not have come at a better time.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not just a fashion film; it is a love letter to print media. Runway Magazine is being absorbed by a conglomerate, editorial direction is discussed in boardrooms, and jobs are at risk due to layoffs. This is the reality of the print media today, even in Nigeria. Print is taking the backseat while digital is prioritised. Newsrooms are leaner than ever, and journalists now juggle multiple roles.
In Nigeria, the industry is not dying but transforming. Some refuse to let print go quietly; Native Mag, The Republic, and ThisDay Style preserve this important media form. Culture Custodian also recently launched ‘The Custodian,’ its first annual print issue. These titles share something rare now: a genuine commitment to documenting contemporary Nigeria in all its forms.
We have been thinking about the magazines that came before, shaped the Nigeria that raised this generation of editors, writers and readers, and that lived on centre tables in living rooms across the country.
If print were to have its big moment again, which old Nigerian magazines deserve a seat at the revival table? We made a list!
Newswatch Magazine
Founded on January 28, 1985, by seasoned journalists Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, and Yakubu Mohammed, Newswatch stood as a trailblazing Nigerian weekly news magazine. It earned its reputation as a groundbreaker in investigative journalism, transforming the country’s print media landscape. However, its legacy was tested when Global Media Mirror Limited acquired it in 2011, triggering a prolonged battle to reclaim the publication’s independence and direction.
Source: Archivi.ng
Tell Magazine
Tell magazine was founded by five journalists who had previously worked at Newswatch. Though the company was incorporated in 1989, its first edition hit news stands in April 1991, marking a new dawn in Nigerian journalism. The founders were uncomfortable with the closeness that had developed between Newswatch’s editors and the government, and set out to create a more challenging and critical publication with core principles of balanced reporting and upholding citizens’ rights. The magazine quickly became a thorn in the side of Nigeria’s military rulers. During General Babangida’s rule, circulation rose to as many as 100,000 copies a week, the magazine was forced underground, and editors were arrested. They continued publishing as a tabloid, becoming the first of Nigeria’s “guerrilla tabloids of contemporary times.” Their courage was internationally recognized: in 1993, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded editor-in-chief Nosa Igiebor its International Press Freedom Award, and in 1998, Amnesty International honored the entire staff for human rights journalism under threat. BBC News described Tell in 2007 as “one of Nigeria’s most respected news magazines,” and it remains a landmark institution in African press history.
Source: tellmagazineng on Instagram
Ovation International
Ovation International was founded in 1996 by publisher Chief Dele Momodu, a journalist who had been driven into exile by the Sani Abacha government. Rather than abandon his craft, Momodu chose to stick to journalism, with a desire to publish an African magazine for Africans and present a more accurate picture of the continent to the world. The magazine showed through vivid pictures and well-crafted prose that Africa was not all about war and disease, but was home to brilliant minds, creative businesspeople, and millions who live well and celebrate life. Designed primarily for the upper-class elite but aspirational in nature, Ovation became the go-to publication for Africa’s socialites. It is today widely regarded as the number one celebrity magazine in Africa.
Source: delemomoduovation on Instagram
Encomium Magazine
Encomium was one of Nigeria’s most authentic soft-sell magazines, it first hit news stands on May 27, 1997. Its coverage includes celebrity gossip, health, style, and wellbeing. Over the years the brand expanded its portfolio: it launched Encomium Special, a no-gossip, no-scandal celebrity journal in 2002, followed by E’ Lifestyle, a style, health, and wellbeing title in 2005.
Source: BellaNaija.com
Drum Magazine
With roots in South Africa that became a significant presence across the African continent, including Nigeria, Drum was started in 1951 as African Drum by former test cricketer Bob Crisp and Jim Bailey, an ex-RAF pilot and son of a South African mining baron. It struggled to find success until Bailey rebranded it to appeal to the emerging Black middle class, shifting its focus to Black African culture and openly supporting Pan-Africanism. At its height in 1959, almost 250,000 copies were distributed per month across eight African countries, giving it the largest circulation of any African magazine at the time. The Nigerian edition was arguably the most successful and profitable of all the magazine’s expansionist endeavors, proving that a pan-African popular magazine was both feasible and profitable when properly administered. Through its Nigerian pages, Drum captured the country’s turbulent political history, social issues, sports, entertainment, and key events including the Civil War, presenting an African view of contemporary history through vivid photography.
Source: https://african.pictures/asset/227849
Nigeria Magazine
Nigeria Magazine is one of the oldest and most historically significant periodicals ever published in the country. It remains a remarkable archival record of Nigerian life and culture across the colonial and post-independence eras. The journal began as ‘The Nigerian Teacher’ before being published from 1936 to 1959 as ‘Nigeria: a quarterly magazine of general interest’, and after independence in 1960 it was formally renamed Nigeria Magazine, continuing publication until 1990. It was compiled by the Education Department in Lagos in collaboration with private contributors and all government departments, published under the aegis of the Nigerian government, and billed as a quarterly magazine for “everyone interested in the progress of the country.” Each issue covered Nigerian arts, history, architecture, literature, music, and culture from all parts of the country, and the journals collectively provide nearly sixty years of reporting and research that highlight heritage and traditions, some of which are lost in today’s world.
Source: nomad4n0w.com
Fim Magazine
Fim was founded in 1999 to feature Kannywood’s (Northern Nigeria’s film industry) stars, industry gossip, and film updates. The magazine was published monthly in Hausa. In addition to editorial commentaries about the Kannywood movies, the magazine served as a platform for interactions between role players in the Hausa film industry.
Source: fimmagazine_ on Instagram
Tozali Magazine
Tozali was a lifestyle magazine founded in 2007. It was conceived to promote northern culture, people, and lifestyle, filling what its founder saw as a virgin market with no publication quite like it. It had a very strong female audience due to its exclusive wedding content and beauty tips. The brand has since expanded beyond print and focuses on its television channel, Tozali TV.
Source: tozalimagazine on Instagram
Genevieve Magazine
Genevieve Magazine is a Nigerian lifestyle publication founded in 2003 by Betty Irabor, a journalist and entrepreneur who recognized a void in the Nigerian publishing industry. Her motivation was sparked while browsing through a lifestyle publication from Singapore, and her vision was to establish a lifestyle publication specifically for African women. After studying English at the University of Lagos and working as a journalist at several major Nigerian publications, Irabor launched Genevieve and shaped it into a lifestyle guide and source of inspiration for women. It has featured prominent personalities such as Tems, Genevieve Nnaji, Tiwa Savage, and Rita Dominic.
Source: lindaikejisblog.com
City People Magazine
City People Magazine was founded in November 1996 by Dr. Seye Kehinde and grew to become the undisputed leader in Nigeria’s soft-sell sector. It began as a modest 3-page black-and-white publication, gradually adding colour and expanding its page count as readership grew. It is the only soft-sell magazine in Nigeria with offices across all major geopolitical zones, as well as a presence in Ghana, and holds the distinction of being the oldest soft-sell publication in the country. By 2014, it had reached a weekly circulation of 50,000 copies and an estimated readership of 150,000, targeting middle- and upper-middle-class audiences.
Source: citypeopleonline.com
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