Newsmagazines

These are the earliest forms of Cebuano magazines, consisting of weekly combination of news and articles, in magazine form. These magazines came about as a response to the slower pace of communications at that time. Aimed at an adult membership, these were general magazines that carried “a bit of everything” - current events (local, national, or world), literary and cultural pieces, gossip and humor, personality sketches, items of practical knowledge (such as homemaker’s tips) and advertisements by local establishments. Language used in the magazines during that time was either bilingual or trilingual, using Cebuano, Spanish, and English.

Examples: 
Vicente Rama’s Bag-ong Kusog (1915-1941)
Paulino Gullas’ The Freeman (1919-1941)

General Magazines

Pedro Lopez’ Nasud (1930-1941) and Ramon Roces’ Bisaya (1930+) were among the examples of general magazines during the 1930s, which continued to be popular and profitable in the years that followed. Bisaya was phenomenal. Published out of Manila by the Roces-owned Liwayway chain of publications, it rose from an initial circulation of 5,000 to 50,000 copies by 1955, widely distributed in Visayas and Mindanao. Its content is mainly on fiction, poetry, comics, entertainment features (particularly movies) and general-interest articles. Bisaya (more than any other Cebuano magazine) shaped the cultural literacy of generations of Visayan readers.

“Niche” Magazines

With the expansion of daily newspapers, magazines had to define its special niche in the publishing scene. For one, there was the attempt to focus on a more literate, upscale market.

Examples : 
La Epoca (1922) and Star (1929-1930)

Both magazines were published by Cebu’s leading printing establishment, Falek’s Printing House, owned by a Jewish entrepreneur Leopold Falek. La Epoca was trilingual (English, Spanish, Cebuano) with more than 50 pages per issue and had a circulation of 1,000 copies. Its staff and contributors were prominent Cebuano writers of the day, led by Antonio Abad, Vicente Padriga, and Piux Kabahar. The magazine lasted only for a year, and was succeeded by Star, a weekly English-Cebuano magazine, which only lasted for two years.

Other magazines focused on a particular set of readers were:

• Progress (1928-34) - catered to English readers

• Babaye (1930-40) - a “family magazine” designed to appeal to women. This magazine was a joint venture of Sotero Cabahug, Ciprianio Barba, and Eliseo Dejoras.

• Lungsoranon (1934+) - a weekly publication founded by Archbishop Gabriel Reyes which is a general-circulation magazine focused on religion and church matters.

Excerpts from an article by Resil Mojares