Genevieve - One Puzzled Reader

Although I mostly get to read it a few months late, I am a fairly consistent reader of Genevieve magazine and have been for the last couple of years.

However with each publication, I find myself scratching my head and puzzling over exactly what sort of magazine it is.

I was under the impression that it was a glossy magazine and when I read a glossy I look for the three G’s – Glamour, Glitz and Gossip (gossip meaning articles, information and entertainment) however, I find that with each published issue Genevieve is leaning increasingly towards being a Christian/Religious magazine.

I am a Christian yes, but I don’t expect to buy a glossy magazine only to find almost every article heavily laced with scripture, praise reports and personal testimonies. If I want to read these themes then I will pick up my copy of The Word for Today, Leadership and Lifestyle or Joyce Meyers Enjoying Everyday Life.

I would have thought that the main goal of any glossy magazine would be to reach as wide and diverse a target audience as possible but the strategy that Genevieve is knowingly, or unknowingly, adopting is alienating readers who don’t share the same religious beliefs. After all, the Nigerian market is a mixed bag of Christians, Muslims, Traditionalists and people of other religious leanings and people who don’t believe in anything at all. I think Genevieve should be more embracing and broad minded.

If they find it impossible to avoid sharing their beliefs, then surely it must be possible for them to write an article or give advice incorporating basic biblical principles without having to resort to quoting whole chunks of scripture. Oprah adopts this approach quite often in her O Magazine column ‘What I know for Sure’.

I think Genevieve has to tone it down a bit to regain their mass market appeal if not they’ll lose readers, myself included, to their rival True Love.