Whatever happened to American Demographics?

A frequent question to Jim Madden and myself, both of whom worked at American Demographics, is whatever happened to the magazine. The short answer is that it was sold to Advertising Age and is now incorporated into that magazine and its website.

For those not in the know, American Demographics magazine was founded in 1979 by Peter Francese, to help planners and marketers better understand the U.S. Census that would be taken in 1980 and to use the data from it in their work. This was an era when massive changes in technology were making it easier to analyze and use data and to make it available much more quickly.

The magazine at first had the feel of an academic journal, but under the guidance of Bryant Robey, the first editor, it quickly turned into a readable monthly loaded with what we used to call "distant early warnings" about trends. One loyal reader told me just a year or so ago how much he missed the magazine. "With every issue, I'd be wandering into other people's offices and saying, 'Did you know this?' It was a wonderful compendium of data and insights."

For many years it boasted signature covers illustrated by Tom Parker. Readers often requested copies of the covers for their offices.

The magazine was purchased by Dow Jones, Inc. in 1981 and sold several times before being acquired by Crain's Advertising Age in the first part of this decade.

Several former staffers remain in the Ithaca area and in publishing. Penelope Wickham who was the marketing director founded New Strategist Publications, which publishes reference books based primarily on government and other survey data, including the U.S. Census. The books are ably edited by Cheryl Russell. We have commended their American Consumer newsletter to you before and continue to do so.

Jim Madden and I founded Paramount Market Publishing, Inc. in 1999 to carry on the magazine's book publishing program. I was publisher of the magazine from 1988 to 1990, after having been an editor. Jim was associate publisher in charge of the book publishing program.

Others still in the area and working in research, writing, or publishing include Diane Crispell, Martha Farnsworth Riche, Brad Edmondson, Carol Terrizzi, and Caroline Arthur.