Specificity, factors of development and functions of popular scientific magazines covering the achievements of the academic community (on the example of the magazine Max Planck Forschung)

The first issues of the German popular scientific magazines MPG Monatsspiegel (1972), MPG Spiegel (1973), Max Planck Forschung (1999) are considered in the article. These issues are the forerunners of the modern magazine Max Planck Forschung and they are published by the Max Planck Society. In the article, emphasis is placed on the typological features of the mentioned issues, on the differences in the nature of the presentation of material in them, and on the changes that the three issues are undergoing under the influence of modern information technologies. The MPG Monatsspiegel, due to the specifics of its target audience (researchers of the Institutes of the Max Planck Society), was designed to build internal communication and intended to form a positive and successful image of the German academic community in the person of the Max Planck Society. The magazine creates the atmosphere of the academic community's vital activity and operation: its needs, research interests, and financial possibilities. The first issue of MPG-Spiegel contains more voluminous texts. Authors of some articles are not only members of the editorial board, but also certain people (researchers of the Institutes of the Max Planck Society or journalists from other mass media). MPG-Spiegel pays much attention to science policy and education, and media interaction (the problem of the researcher's freedom, their career opportunities, the state's attitude to science). Max Planck Forschung significantly differs from the forerunners and looks like a full-fledged popular science illustrated magazine. It aims to inform the outside reader about research work of the Institutes of the Max Planck Society. The high-quality content is presented objectively on behalf of experts in a popular form, not in a science-like form. The comparison of the results of the years 1972, 1973, and 1999 has evidently shown that over time the target audience expanded, the periodicity grid and the graphic design of issues of the magazines changed. The evolution of the content model of the magazine, its target audience, means of visual representation, the redesign of the publication, and the introduction of a multimedia format allowed the publication to effectively promote the achievements of scientists of the Institutes of the Max Planck Society and also to popularize topical fundamental and applied research in the field of natural sciences and the humanities. The increase in the professional success of the scientists of the Institutes of the Max Planck Society also predetermined the development of the magazine. Evidently, the editors revised the typological features of the first issues and enhanced typology; that is why they chose the popular science magazine type. Now the magazine informs about current research in German science in a more readable and attractive way, but does not give up the former ideology.

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