History of the Rotary World Magazine Press
R otary International’s unique communications network has steadily grown throughout the century along with Rotary itself. It includes The Rotarian, the official English-language magazine, published at RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, and about 30 Rotary World Magazine Press publications, which are independently produced in countries around the globe. The regional magazines are published in more than 20 languages and distributed in about 130 countries. They have a combined circulation of more than 700,000.
First regional magazine
The first regional magazine was started in Great Britain and Ireland in 1915, not long after The National Rotarian appeared. In the 1920s, a Rotary regional magazine in Australia became the predecessor to Rotary Down Under. This Australian magazine was the first regional publication to gain RI approval. Though regionals were published in several continental European countries in the 1920s and 1930s, they suspended publication during World War II.
The founders of three Latin American regional publications were Rotary leaders. El Rotario Péruano, the official regional magazine of Peru, was founded in 1933 by Fernando Carbajal Segura, RI president in 1942-43. The first editor of Rotarismo en México, founded in 1974, was Frank J. Devlyn, RI president in 2000-01. And the predecessor of Brasil Rotário, a bulletin called Notícias Rotárias that started in 1924, was edited by Joo Thomas Saboya e Silva, then president of the newly founded Rotary Club of Rio de Janeiro, which had been chartered a year earlier.
The magazines today
The Rotarian and the Rotary World Magazine Press enjoy a mutually cooperative and beneficial working relationship. Information is freely shared, as is expertise and help in the field. This system enables RI to distribute its message throughout the world. Articles and photographs from each monthly issue of The Rotarian are sent to the regionals, including the President's Message, material from Rotary Insider, and special features promoting the RI theme, Rotary and Rotary Foundation programs, and the international convention. Though the publications help promote RI’s mission, each magazine retains its individual identity, national flavor, and editorial freedom.