HReader’s Digest, U.S.-based monthly magazine, having probably the largest circulation of any periodical in the world. It was first published in 1922 as a digest of condensed articles of topical interest and entertainment value taken from other periodicals. Founded on a low budget by DeWitt Wallace and his wife, Lila Acheson, after numerous magazine publishers had rejected the idea, the pocket-size magazine appealed from the start to popular tastes. It began publishing condensed versions of current books in 1934. Later Wallace began to develop articles for Reader’s Digest by commissioning them first and then offering the completed articles to other publications—from which the Digest would then reprint them, paying the other magazine a fee for reprint rights. This practice was attacked by some editors. However, the Digest moved gradually toward publishing original material under its own auspices most of the time. Although conceived by Wallace as an impartial journal, the Digest was occasionally criticized for reflecting its publishers’ generally conservative point of view. Its circulation, however, did not falter. By the late 20th century the Digest had 39 editions worldwide in 15 languages, with a total circulation of 28 million.
DeWitt Wallace and Lila Acheson Headquarters of RD till 1939
Taking over Reader’s Digest, Mary Berner has campaigned to change perceptions inside and outside
the company.(2007)
Since March 2007, Ms. Berner has been reconfiguring the innards of the company — and trying to overhaul its public image, too. If you hear “Reader’s Digest” and think only of a cheery, waiting-room magazine — the one with the jokes, the lists, and the homespun stories like “Nobody Cares About Grandfather’s Clock but Grandma” — well, Ms. Berner would like to have a word with you.
She would like you to know that Reader’s Digest has modernized and, for the first time in its history, won the National Magazine Award this year, the industry’s most coveted prize. (Recent articles have included “Disposable Income: How to Make a Quick Buck on the Treasures — and Trash — in Your Closets” and “Simple Till 6: An Eating Plan for Busy People.”) And she would like you to know that said magazine is but a small part of a soon-to-be-renamed company, with a trove of Web sites (likeAllRecipes.com) and magazines (like Every Day With Rachael Ray) that you probably didn’t know it owned.
