VACUOUS

Midwest Living is a slick magazine, to be sure. Unfortunately, it lacks any substance whatsoever. Surely Heartlanders are interested in more than just recipes, gardening and decorating tips. The photos are cliche, the writing superficial. It's hard to distinguish one issue from another -- they all look alike. Instead of putting PEOPLE on the cover, they put PEONIES. Frankly, it's insulting to the intelligence of those of us who live in the Midwest. Surely the magazine would better serve its market if it invested some of its efforts into actually covering the subjects that are of interest to most of us: work, family, health, politics, law, religion, etc. And region-specific matters. What's region-specific about a recipe or a flower? This tired format makes each issue of Midwest Living interchangeable with every other "house and garden variety" publication. There is little in it to connote the Midwest, and they tend to re-use the same ideas year to year. The other problem concerns the heavy advertising to editorial ratio. Obviously, the magazine appeals to a much older, largely female demographic (disproportionate to the population). That's okay, but why do they slight men?