Sorted magazine

Sorted magazine and original website Sortedmag.com^[1] were first created and launched in the United Kingdom in 2004^[2] by controversial Brighton publisher Russell Church.^[3] The title was geared to the lads' mag market but failed to establish a strong enough demographic share, with the debut edition overestimating its potential popularity with a colossal 250,000 print run. Consequently, the original Sorted magazine folded after just four editions leaving staff in Brighton jobless and unpaid.^[4] In 2007 a canny south coast neighbour of Russell Church saw an opportunity to relaunch Sorted magazine as a Christian evangelistic title aimed at reclaiming a place in the lads' mag marketplace. With a team of publishing professionals on board the new look Sorted magazine achieved some circulation success^[5] during the post-Leveson Inquiry period where both advertisers and readers seemed to be seeking publications with strong moral credentials. However, this circulation bump eventually fizzled out. Sorted's faith publishing director, Duncan Williams,^[6] who originally campaigned^[7] for more uplifting and progressive news stories, later admitted that; "any magazine on a mission purely to promote Christianity will soon lose any independent viewpoint. Our advertisers and readers will almost certainly grow wary of a title that is in itself an advert." Sorted magazine remains particularly interesting as a record of the once popular lads' mag genre, journeying all the way from adolescent titillation to Biblical promotion.

References

External links

• A new and dynamic magazine for Christian men is finally here! at the Wayback Machine (archived October 31, 2007)
• Later website sorted-magazine.com at the Wayback Machine (archived March 10, 2008)