View source for Reader's Digest

{{Short description|American general-interest magazine}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Reader's Digest
| logo = Reader's Digest logo.svg
| logo_size = 220px
| image_file = Readers Digest November 2022 cover.jpg
| image_caption = Cover of the November 2022 issue
| editor_title = Chief Content Officer
| editor = [[Jason Buhrmester]]
| format = Digest
| circulation_year = 2020
| total_circulation = 3,029,039<ref>{{cite web |title=Consumer Magazines |url= http://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/magtitlesearch.asp |publisher= [[Alliance for Audited Media]] |access-date = November 14, 2020}}</ref>
| founder = {{ubl|[[DeWitt Wallace]]|[[Lila Bell Wallace]]}}
| firstdate = {{start date and age|1922|2|5}}
| company = [[Trusted Media Brands, Inc.]]
| country = United States
| based = [[Manhattan]], New York City, New York, U.S.
| website = {{official URL}}
| issn = 0034-0375
}}

'''''Reader's Digest''''' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in [[Chappaqua, New York]], it is now headquartered in [[midtown Manhattan]]. The magazine was founded in 1922 by [[DeWitt Wallace]] and his wife [[Lila Bell Wallace]]. For many years, ''Reader's Digest'' was the [[List of magazines by circulation|best-selling consumer magazine]] in the United States; it lost that distinction in 2009 to ''[[Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)|Better Homes and Gardens]]''. According to Media Mark Research (2006), ''Reader's Digest'' reached more readers with household incomes of over $100,000 than ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'', ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Business Week]]'', and ''[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]'' combined.<ref name=TheTimesUK>{{cite news |url= http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article639494.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110611172622/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article639494.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 11, 2011 |title= Reader's Digest Sold to Private Equity Firm for $2.4bn |work=[[The Times]] |access-date= October 24, 2008 |location= London |first= James |last= Doran |date= November 17, 2006}}</ref>

Global editions of ''Reader's Digest'' reach an additional 40 million people in more than 70 countries, via 49 editions in 21 languages. The periodical has a global circulation of 10.5 million, making it the largest paid-circulation magazine in the world.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}{{when|date=March 2021}}

It is also published in [[Braille]], digital, and audio editions, and in a large-type edition called "Reader's Digest Large Print." The magazine is compact: its pages are roughly half the size of most American magazines. With this in mind, in summer 2005, the company adopted the slogan "America in your pocket” for the U.S. edition. In January 2008, however, it changed the slogan to "Life well shared."

==History==
[[File:First issue of the Reader's Digest, February 1922.png|thumb|First issue of the ''Reader's Digest'', February 1922]]

===Inception and growth===
In 1920, [[DeWitt Wallace|Dewitt Wallace]] married [[Lila Bell Wallace]] in [[Pleasantville, New York]]. Shortly thereafter, the two would launch ''Reader's Digest'' in the basement below a [[Greenwich Village]] [[speakeasy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Waterbury |first1=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZBCCxUDJ5cC |title=Mount Pleasant |last2=Waterbury |first2=Claudine |last3=Ruiz |first3=Bert |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7385-6216-2 |pages=102}}</ref> The idea for ''Reader's Digest'' was to gather a sampling of favorite articles on many subjects from various monthly magazines, sometimes condensing and rewriting them, and to combine them into one magazine.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

In the 20th century, ''Reader's Digest'' maintained a [[conservatism|conservative]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Doing the Right Thing Reader's Digest's Lasting Appeal: Condensed and Conservative |first=Patrick A. |last=McGuire |date=August 25, 1993 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/112486825.html?FMT=ABS |access-date=2011-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111171658/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/112486825.html?FMT=ABS |archive-date=2012-01-11 |quote=Still, says Mr. Heidenry, the Digest has a blind side. 'It persists in a right wing ideology,' he says, 'and they don't print two sides to a question.' |url-status=bot: unknown |df=mdy}}</ref> and [[anti-Communist]] perspective on political and social issues.<ref>{{cite book |first= Joanne P. |last= Sharp |title= Condensing the Cold War: Reader's Digest and American Identity |publisher= [[University of Minnesota Press]] |date= 2000}}</ref> The Wallaces initially hoped the journal could provide $5,000 of net income. Wallace's assessment of what the potential mass-market audience wanted to read led to rapid growth. By 1929, the magazine had 290,000 subscribers and had a gross income of $900,000 a year. The first international edition was published in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1938. By the 40th anniversary of ''Reader's Digest'', it had 40 international editions, in 13 languages and Braille, and at one point, it was the largest-circulating journal in [[China]], [[Mexico]], [[Spain]], [[Sweden]], [[Peru]], and other countries, with a total international circulation of 23 million.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

The magazine's format for several decades consisted of 30 articles per issue (one per day), along with an "It Pays to Increase your Word Power" vocabulary quiz, a page of "Amusing Anecdotes" and "Personal Glimpses", two features of funny stories entitled "Humor in Uniform" and "Life in these United States", and a lengthier article at the end, usually [[Reader's Digest Condensed Books|condensed from a published book]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Readers-Digest|title=Reader's Digest {{!}} American magazine|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref> Other regular features were "My Most Unforgettable Character" (since discontinued), the "Drama in Real Life" survival stories, and more recently "That's Outrageous". These were all listed in the table of contents on the front cover. Each article was prefaced by a small, simple line drawing. In more recent times, the format evolved into flashy, colorful, eye-catching graphics throughout, and many short bits of data interspersed with full articles. The table of contents is now contained inside. From 2003 to 2007, the back cover featured "Our America", paintings of [[Norman Rockwell|Rockwell]]-style whimsical situations by artist [[C. F. Payne]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Another monthly consumer advice feature is "What [people in various professions] won't tell you," with a different profession featured each time.

The first "Word Power" column of the magazine was published in the January 1945 edition, written by [[Wilfred John Funk|Wilfred J. Funk]].<ref>{{cite journal |title= Word Power |journal= Reader's Digest |date= January 1945 |pages= 29, 103}}</ref><ref>Don R. Vaughan, Ph.D., vocabulary columnist.{{full citation needed|date= May 2015}}</ref> In December 1952, the magazine published "Cancer by the Carton", a series of articles that linked [[smoking]] with [[lung cancer]],<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/|title=Tobacco History|work=CNN|access-date= June 22, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 August 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010817030439/http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/}}</ref> and this topic was later repeated in other articles.

From 2002 to 2006, ''Reader's Digest'' conducted a vocabulary competition in schools throughout the US called [[Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge|''Reader's Digest'' National Word Power Challenge]]. In 2007, the magazine said it would not have the competition for the 2007–08 school year: "...but rather to use the time to evaluate the program in every respect, including scope, mission, and model for implementation."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rd.com/nwpc/|title=Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge Program Announcement|access-date=2009-06-19|work=Reader's Digest|archive-date=May 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503022316/http://www.rd.com/nwpc/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2006, the magazine published three more local-language editions in [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], and [[Romania]]. In October 2007, the ''Digest'' expanded into [[Serbia]]. The magazine's licensee in [[Italy]] stopped publishing in December 2007. The magazine launched in [[the People's Republic of China]] in January 2008. It ceased publishing in China in 2012, due to a lack of sales caused by a relatively high price, a poorly defined audience and low-quality translated content.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chan |first1=Jenny |title=Reader's Digest closes chapter on Chinese edition |url=https://www.campaignasia.com/article/readers-digest-closes-chapter-on-chinese-edition/307812 |access-date=14 May 2023 |work=Campaign Asia |publisher=Haymarket Media Ltd |date=6 July 2012}}</ref>

For 2010, the US edition of the magazine reduced its publishing schedule to 10 times a year rather than 12, and to increase digital offerings. It also cut its circulation guarantee for advertisers to 5.5 million copies from 8 million. In announcing that decision, in June 2009, the company said that it planned to reduce its number of celebrity profiles and how-to features, and increase the number of inspiring spiritual stories and stories about the military.<ref name="NYT-18Jun09"/>

Beginning in January 2013, the US edition was increased to 12 times a year.<ref name="Vaccariello December, 2012">{{cite journal|author= Liz Vaccariello|title= Editor's Note |journal= Reader's Digest|date= December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Reader's Digest building in Pleasantville.jpg|alt=Reader's Digest building in Pleasantville|left|thumb|Former Reader's Digest building in Chappaqua, New York]] Its current frequency of publication is 6 times a year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://order.readersdigest.com/pubs/RD/RDA/Error.jsp?cds_mag_code=RDA&id=1733457728516|title=Reader's Digest|website=order.readersdigest.com}}</ref>

===Business organization and ownership===

In 1990, the magazine's parent company, [[The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.]] (RDA), became a publicly traded corporation. From 2005 through 2010, RDA reported a net loss each year.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000858558&type=&dateb=&owner=exclude&count=100 |publisher= Securities and Exchange Commission |title= Filings for Reader's<!-- "Readers" in original --> Digest Association, Inc. |work= EDGAR System |access-date=2013-02-21}}</ref>

In March 2007, [[Ripplewood Holdings]] LLC led a consortium of [[private-equity]] investors who bought the company through a leveraged buyout for US$2.8 billion, financed primarily by the issuance of US$2.2 billion of debt.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/><ref name="NYT-18Jun09">{{cite news |title= Reader's Digest Searches for a Contemporary Niche |work= The New York Times |date= June 18, 2009 |first= Stephanie |last=  Clifford |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/media/19readers.html?_r=1}}</ref> Ripplewood invested $275 million of its own money, and had partners including Rothschild Bank of Zürich and GoldenTree Asset Management of New York. The private-equity deal tripled the association's interest payments, to $148 million a year.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

On August 24, 2009, RDA announced it had filed with the US Bankruptcy court an arranged [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] to continue operations, and to restructure the US$2.2 billion debt undertaken by the leveraged buyout transaction.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20">{{Cite news|author= David Segal |date= December 20, 2009|work=The New York Times|title= A Reader's Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/business/media/20digest.html|access-date=2009-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1321364&highlight=|title=Reader's Digest Association, Inc. - News Release|date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326185429/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1321364&highlight= |archive-date=March 26, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-dealbook-2009-08-17">{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/readers-digest-plans-chapter-11-filing/?hpw|work=The New York Times|title=Reader's Digest Plans Chapter 11 Filing|date=August 17, 2009|access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref> The company emerged from bankruptcy with the lenders exchanging debt for equity, and Ripplewood's entire equity investment was extinguished.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

In April 2010, the UK arm was [[management buyout|sold to its management]]. It has a licensing deal with the US company to continue publishing the UK edition.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kevin Reed|url= http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2261116/moore-stephens-sells-reader|title=Moore Stephens Sells Reader's Digest to Jon Moulton Business|work=Accountancy Age|date= April 12, 2010}}</ref> The closure of the UK edition was announced in April 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 30, 2024 |title=Reader's Digest UK closes due to 'unforgiving' magazine landscape |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/magazines/readers-digest-uk-closure/ |website=Press Gazette}}</ref>

On February 17, 2013, RDA Holding filed for bankruptcy a second time.<ref>{{cite news|author=Michael J. De La Merced|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/readers-digest-files-for-bankruptcy-again/|title=Reader's Digest Files for Bankruptcy, Again|work=The New York Times|date= February 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/opinion/sharp-readers-digest/index.html|title=Rise and fall of Reader's Digest |author=Joanne Sharp |website=CNN|date=February 20, 2013|access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref> The company was purchased for £1 by Mike Luckwell, a venture capitalist and once the biggest shareholder in [[WPP plc]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44250900 |title=Yours for a pound: The firms sold on the cheap|website=BBC News |date=25 May 2018  |access-date= 25 May 2018}}</ref>

==Direct marketing==
RDA offers many mail-order products included with "[[sweepstakes]]" or contests. US ''Reader's Digest'' and the company's other US magazines do not use sweepstakes in their direct-mail promotions. A notable shift to electronic direct marketing has been undertaken by the company to adapt to shifting media landscape.<ref>Milidragovic, Visnja (April 13, 2012). [https://summit.sfu.ca/item/12211 "From direct marketing tool to digital niche product: a Reader's Digest Sweepstakes case study"] ''SFU''.</ref>  In the mid-20th century, phonograph [[album|record albums]] of popular [[classical music|classical]] and [[easy listening|easy-listening]] music, bearing the magazine's name, were sold by mail. ''Reader's Digest'' also partnered with [[RCA Corporation|RCA]] to offer a mail-order music club which offered discount pricing on vinyl records.<ref>{{Cite web |title=21 Jan 1962, 36 - The Altus Times-Democrat at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/631969676/?terms=%22Reader%27s%20Digest%22%20+%20rca&match=1 |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ketzer |first=Alex |date=2022-08-25 |title=Completed by Perception |url=https://van-magazine.com/mag/philip-pullman/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=VAN Magazine}}</ref>

==Sweepstakes agreement==
In 2001, 32 states' attorneys general reached agreements with the company and other sweepstakes operators to settle allegations that they tricked the elderly into buying products because they were a "guaranteed winner" of a lottery. The settlement required the companies to expand the type size of notices in the packaging that no purchase is necessary to play the sweepstakes, and to:
# Establish a "Do Not Contact List" and refrain from soliciting any future "high-activity" customers unless and until ''Reader's Digest'' actually makes contact with that customer and determines that the customer is not buying because they believe that the purchase will improve their chances of winning.
# Send letters to individuals who spend more than $1,000 in a six-month period telling them that they are not required to make purchases to win the sweepstakes, that making a purchase will not improve their chances of winning, and that all entries have the same chance to win whether or not the entry is accompanied by a purchase.<ref>{{cite press release |first= Genene |last= Morris |date= March 8, 2001 |url= http://www.nj.gov/oag/ca/press/digest.htm |title= Reader's Digest Enters Into Multi-State Sweepstakes Agreement Agrees to Pay $6 Million in Consumer Restitution |publisher= New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Consumer Affairs |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090821001354/http://www.nj.gov/oag/ca/press/digest.htm |archive-date= August 21, 2009 |access-date= June 22, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |author= Attorney General's Press Office |url= http://www.ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1074&year=2001&month=3 |title= Attorney General Lockyer Announces Settlement With the Reader's Digest Association to Provide Improved Sweepstakes Disclosures |publisher= State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General|date=March 8, 2001|access-date=June 22, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first= Ray |last= Schultz |url= http://directmag.com/news/marketing_readers_digest_agrees/ |title=Reader's Digest Agrees to Sweeps Restrictions |work= Direct Mag |date= March 8, 2001|access-date= June 22, 2009}}</ref>

The UK edition of ''Reader's Digest'' has also been criticized by the [[Trading Standards Institute]] for preying on the elderly and vulnerable with misleading bulk mailings that claim the recipient is guaranteed a large cash prize and advising them not to discuss this with anyone else. Following their complaint, the [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]] said they would be launching an investigation.<ref name="Trading Standards Complaint">{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7441437.stm |title= Reader's Digest Mailshot Probed |date= June 7, 2008 |access-date= September 14, 2010 |work= BBC News}}</ref> The ASA investigation upheld the complaint in 2008, ruling that the ''Reader's Digest'' mailing was irresponsible and misleading (particularly for the elderly) and had breached three clauses of the [[Committee of Advertising Practice]] code.<ref name="ASA">{{cite web |url= http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2008/9/The-Readers-Digest-Association-Ltd/TF_ADJ_44924.aspx |title= ASA Adjudication on The Reader's<!-- "Readers" in original --> Digest Association Ltd |publisher= Advertising Standards Authority |date= June 7, 2008 |access-date= September 14, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20121224093823/http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2008/9/The-Readers-Digest-Association-Ltd/TF_ADJ_44924.aspx |archive-date= December 24, 2012 |df= mdy-all}}</ref> ''Reader's Digest'' was told not to use this mailing again.

==International editions==
International editions have made ''Reader's Digest'' the best-selling monthly journal in the world. Its worldwide circulation including all editions has reached 17 million copies and 70 million readers. ''Reader's Digest'' is currently{{when|date=March 2021}} published in 49 editions and 21 languages and is available in over 70 countries, including Slovenia, Croatia, and Romania in 2008.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Its international editions account for about 50% of the magazine's trade volume. In each market, local editors commission or purchase articles for their own markets and share content with U.S. and other editions. The selected articles are then translated by local translators and the translations edited by the local editors to make them match the "well-educated informal" style of the American edition.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Over the 90 years, the company has published editions in various languages in different countries, or for different regions. Often, these editions started out as translations of the U.S. version of the magazine, but over time they became unique editions, providing material more germane to local readers. Local editions that still publish the bulk of the American ''Reader's Digest'' are usually titled with a qualifier, such as the Portuguese edition, {{lang|pt|[[:pt:Seleções|Seleções]] do Reader's Digest}} (''Selections from Reader's Digest''), or the Swedish edition, {{lang|sv|Reader's Digest Det Bästa}} (''The Best of Reader's Digest'').{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The list is sorted by year of first publication.<ref name="countries">{{cite web|url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-rdatimeline|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021063558/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-rdatimeline|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2007|title=Reader's Digest Timeline|publisher=Phx.corporate-ir.net|date=March 3, 2007|access-date=June 22, 2009}}</ref> Some countries had editions but no longer do; for example, the Danish version of ''Reader's Digest'' ({{lang|da|Det Bedste}}) ceased publication in 2005 and was replaced by the Swedish version (''[[Det Bästa]]''); as a result, the Swedish edition covers stories about both countries (but written solely in Swedish).{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

{{div col|colwidth=}}
* 1938 – [[United Kingdom]] (sold in 2010, operated under license), closed April 2024
* 1940 – [[Cuba]] and [[Latin America]] (in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]) (as {{lang|es|Selecciones}})
* 1942 – [[Brazil]]
* 1943 – [[Sweden]], [[Egypt]] (in [[Arabic language|Arabic]]) ({{transliteration|ar|Al-Mukhtar}})
* 1945 – [[Finland]]<ref>{{cite web|title=SanomaWSOY Corporation|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/67/SanomaWSOY-Corporation.html|work=Reference for Business|access-date=April 23, 2015}}</ref>
* 1946 – [[Australia]], [[Denmark]], [[Japan]] (operations discontinued in 1985)
* 1947 – [[Belgium]] (in [[French language|French]]), [[France]], [[Norway]], [[Canadian French]] (discontinued in 2024<ref name="capcourier">{{cite web | title=A Final Goodbye to Reader's Digest Canada | date=February 2024 | url=https://www.capilanocourier.com/2024/02/01/a-final-goodbye-to-readers-digest-canada/ }}</ref>)
* 1948 – [[Canada]] (English, discontinued in 2024<ref name="capcourier"/>), [[Germany]], [[South Africa]], [[Switzerland]] (in French and [[German language|German]]), [[Italy]] (operations discontinued in 2007)
* 1950 – [[Argentina]], [[New Zealand]] (ceased print in 2025<ref name="nzherald">{{cite web | title=‘Covid killed the magazine’: Reader’s Digest discontinues print edition, moves solely to online | date=17 October 2025 | url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/covid-killed-the-magazine-readers-digest-discontinues-print-edition-moves-solely-to-online/ }}</ref>)
* 1952 – [[Austria]], [[Spain]] (as {{lang|es|Selecciones}} in Spain)
* 1954 – [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] (in English)
* 1957 – [[Netherlands]]
* 1959 – [[Chile]], [[Costa Rica]] and [[Central America]]
* 1965 – [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]] and [[Southeast Asia]] (in [[traditional Chinese]])(operations discontinued in 2025)<ref>[https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acul/202507220320.aspx 讀者文摘中文版停刊　60年老牌雜誌吹熄燈號]</ref>
* 1968 – [[Belgium]] (Dutch)
* 1971 – [[Puerto Rico]] and [[United States]] (in Spanish), [[Portugal]]<!-- (starting out as selections) -->
* 1978 – [[South Korea]] (operations discontinued in 2009)
* 1982 – [[Greece]] (discontinued, probably in 1986)
* 1991 – [[Hungary]], [[Russia]]
* 1993 – [[Czech Republic]] (operations discontinued in 2017)
* 1995 – [[Poland]] (operations discontinued in 2017)
* 1996 – [[Thailand]] (operations discontinued in 2014)
* 1997 – [[Slovakia]]
* 2004 – [[Indonesia]] (operations discontinued in October 2015)
* 2005 – [[Romania]], [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], [[Bulgaria]]
* 2007 – [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Serbia]], [[Ukraine]]
* 2008 – [[China]] (operations discontinued in 2012)<ref>[https://www.time-weekly.com/post/17598 《读者文摘》迷失中国 总部副总裁独家证实“停止印刷”]</ref>
{{div col end}}

=== United Kingdom edition ===
The [[United Kingdom]] edition first published in 1938. Decades later Reader's Digest UK went into [[Administration in United Kingdom law|administration]] in 2010 due a £125 million pension fund deficit.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2010-02-17 |title=Reader's Digest UK placed into administration |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/magazines/readers-digest-uk-placed-into-administration/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Press Gazette}}</ref> Private equity fund Better Capital paid around £14 million for the brand and invested a further £9 million into the business. Better Capital sold Reader's Digest UK in 2013 for a [[nominal fee]] to venture capitalist Mike Luckwell.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ponsford |first=Dominic |date=2014-02-17 |title=Reader's Digest UK sold for nominal sum to Bob the Builder venture capitalist |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/magazines/readers-digest-uk-sold-nominal-sum-tv-entrepreneur-four-years-after-it-went-administration/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Press Gazette}}</ref> The brand was sold again in 2018 to its former chief executive Gary Hopkins.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-17 |title=Reader's Digest changes hands |url=https://www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/readers-digest-changes-hands-2371 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=InPublishing}}</ref> The magazine ceased publication after 86 years in April 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2024-04-30 |title=Reader's Digest UK closes due to 'unforgiving' magazine landscape |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/magazines/readers-digest-uk-closure/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Press Gazette}}</ref>

===Arabic editions===
The first ''Reader's Digest'' publication in the [[Arab World]] was printed in Egypt in September 1943.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nagam.org/showthread.php?t=3159|title=مجلة " المختار " تعاود الصدور من الرياض - منتدى نغم|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626190519/http://www.nagam.org/showthread.php?t=3159|archive-date=June 26, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The license was eventually withdrawn.

The second effort and the first ''Reader's Digest'' franchise agreement was negotiated through the efforts of Frederick Pittera, in 1976, an American entrepreneur, who sold the idea to [[Lebanon]]'s former foreign minister, [[Lucien Dahdah]], then son-in-law of [[Suleiman Frangieh]], [[President of Lebanon]]. Dahdah partnered with [[Ghassan Tueni]] (former Lebanon [[ambassador to the United Nations]], and publisher of {{transliteration|ar|Al Nahar}} newspaper, [[Beirut]]) in publishing ''Reader's Digest'' in the Arabic language. It was printed in [[Cairo]] for distribution throughout the Arab world under title {{transliteration|ar|Al-Mukhtar}}. In format, {{transliteration|ar|Al-Mukhtar}} was the same as the U.S. edition with 75% of the editorial content. [[Philip Hitti]], Chairman of [[Princeton University]]'s Department of Oriental Languages and a team of Arabic advisers counseled on what would be of interest to Arabic readers. The publication of {{transliteration|ar|Al-Mukhtar}} ceased in April 1993.

=== Canadian edition ===
The [[Canada|Canadian]] edition first appeared in July 1947 in French and in February 1948 in English; today, the vast majority of its content is Canadian. Nearly all major and minor articles are locally produced or selected from Canadian publications that match the ''Digest'' style. Usually, there is one American article in each issue.

"Life's Like That" is the Canadian name of "Life in These United States". Most of the other rubrics are taken from the American publication.

On December 6, 2023, it was announced that Reader's Digest Canada would cease publication in the spring of 2024.<ref>[https://montrealgazette.com/business/readers-digest-magazine-to-cease-activities-next-spring "Reader's Digest Magazine to cease activities next spring"]. ''The Montreal Gazette'', December 6, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-readers-digest-to-shut-down-canadian-magazine-in-2024/ "Reader's Digest Canada, once a household staple, will end its run after 76 years"]. ''The Globe and Mail''. December 5, 2023.</ref>

===Indian edition===
The [[India]]n edition was first published in 1954. Its circulation then was 40,000 copies. It was published for many years by the [[Tata Group]] of companies. Today, the magazine is published in India by Living Media India Ltd,<ref name="india"/> and sold over 600,000. It prints Indian and international articles.<ref name="india">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040708055400/http://www.rd-india.com/newsite/aboutus/aboutus.asp Indian version] of ''Reader's Digest''.</ref> According to the Indian Readership Survey Round II of 2009, the readership for ''Reader's Digest'' was 3.94 [[million]], second only to ''[[India Today]]'' at 5.62 million.<ref name="india"/> That has since declined. In the 2017 Survey, the India edition had fallen to ninth position with a readership of 1.354 million, and in the latest Survey (Quarter 1 of 2019), it is not in the Top 10 list of English-language magazines published in India.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

===Australian edition===
According to readership estimates by [[Roy Morgan]], ''Reader's Digest Australia'' had an average readership per issue of 362,000 as at September 2023.<ref name="rm2023">{{cite web |title=Readership of magazines is up 3.5% from a year ago with increases in readership for all magazine categories |url=https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9397-australian-magazine-print-readership-and-cross-platform-audiences-september-2023 |publisher=[[Roy Morgan]] |date=28 November 2023 |accessdate=9 February 2024}}</ref>

==Books==
Nonfiction books with the ''Reader's Digest'' brand and yearly collections of the magazine's content are currently published by Trusted Media Brands, sold through their website and distributed to retailers by [[Simon & Schuster]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bookseller Ordering - Reader's Digest |url=https://tmbtradepublishing.com/bookseller-ordering |website=tmbtradepublishing.com |access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref>

Since 1950, ''Reader's Digest'' has published a [[direct mail]] series of hardcover [[anthologies]] containing abridged novels and nonfiction. The series was originally called ''[[Reader's Digest Condensed Books]]'' and renamed in 1997 to ''[[Reader's Digest Select Editions]]''.

From the mid-1960s to early 1980s, full-length, original works of non-fiction were published under the imprint [[Reader's Digest Press]] and distributed by [[Thomas Y. Crowell Co.]] Beginning in 1982, a series of classic novels was published as ''[[World's Best Reading]]'' and made available by mail order to magazine subscribers.

In Germany, Reader's Digest runs its own book-publishing house called {{lang|de|Verlag Das Beste}} which not only publishes the German edition of the ''Reader's Digest'' magazine. Since 1955, it has published {{lang|de|Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher}} (a German edition of ''Reader's Digest Condensed Books''). Besides publishing the magazine, the publisher is especially well known in Germany for the [[science fiction]] anthology {{lang|de|Unterwegs in die Welt von Morgen}} ("The Road to Tomorrow"), consisting of 50 hardcover volumes of classic science fiction novels (such as [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'', [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)|2001]]'', or [[Ray Bradbury]]'s ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', usually two novels per volume) published between 1986 and 1995.<ref>[https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?1595 ''Unterwegs in die Welt von Morgen''] on the [[Internet Speculative Fiction Database]]</ref> More recent book series by the publisher include {{lang|de|Im Spiegel der Zeit}} ("Reflections of the Times", a series of recent newspaper or magazine reports) and {{lang|de|Klassiker der Weltliteratur}} ("World Literature Classics").

==Editors-in-chief==
# [[Lila Bell Wallace]] and [[DeWitt Wallace]] (1922–1964) (original founders)
# Hobart D. Lewis (1964–1976)
# Edward T. Thompson (1976–1984)
# Kenneth O. Gilmore (1984–1990)
# [[Kenneth Tomlinson]] (1990–1996)
# Christopher Willcox (1996–2000)
# Eric Schrier (2000–2001)
# [[Jacqueline Leo]] (2001–2007)
# Peggy Northrop (2007–2011)
# Liz Vaccariello (2011–2016)
# Bruce Kelley (2016–2021)
# [[Jason Buhrmester]] (2021–present)

==Adaptations==
Content from ''Reader's Digest'' was used as the basis of episodes of ''[[Radio Reader's Digest]]''<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book|last1=Dunning|first1=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=565|edition=Revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Radio+Reader%27s+Digest%22+CBS&pg=PA565 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref> and ''[[TV Reader's Digest]]''.<ref name=tt>{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 812|edition=4th}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[World's Best Reading]]
* [[List of United States magazines]]
* [[John Patric]], noted writer for ''Reader's Digest'' during the 1930s and 1940s
* "[[My Last Wonderful Days]]", a 1956 article about an Iowa woman dying from cancer
* [[Duzhe]], Chinese version of Reader's Digest, and used the exact same magazine name in Chinese between 1981 and 1993<ref>{{Cite web |title=中国《读者》与美国《读者文摘》将携手合作(组图) |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/cl/2002-11-26/1830819667.html#:~:text=1986%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%8C%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD,%E7%9A%84%E5%88%8A%E5%90%8D%E3%80%8A%E8%AF%BB%E8%80%85%E3%80%8B%E3%80%82 |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=news.sina.com.cn}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* John Bainbridge, ''Little Wonder. Or, the Reader's Digest and How It Grew,'' New York: [[Reynal & Hitchcock]], 1945.
* John Heidenry, ''Theirs Was the Kingdom: Lila and DeWitt Wallace and the Story of the Reader's Digest'', New York/London: [[W.W. Norton]], 1993
* Samuel A. Schreiner, ''The Condensed World of the Reader's Digest'', New York: Stein and Day, 1977.
* James Playsted Wood, ''Of Lasting Interest: The Story of the Reader's Digest'', Westport, Connecticut: [[Greenwood Press]], 1958.
* Clem Robyns, [https://kuleuven.academia.edu/ClemRobyns/Papers/692301/The_internationalisation_of_social_and_cultural_values_on_the_homogenization_and_localization_strategies_of_the_Reader_s_Digest "The Internationalisation of Social and Cultural Values: On the Homogenization and Localization Strategies of the Reader's Digest"], ''Folia Translatologica'' 3, 1994, 83–92
* Joanne P. Sharp, ''Condensing the Cold War: Reader's Digest and American Identity'', [[University of Minnesota Press]], 2000.
* Joanne P. Sharp, ''Hegemony, popular culture and geopolitics: the Reader's Digest and the construction of danger'', [[Political Geography]], Elsevier, 1996.
* Visnja Milidragovic, "[https://summit.sfu.ca/item/12211 From direct marketing tool to digital niche product: a Reader's Digest Sweepstakes case study]", SFU, 2012.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|www.rd.com}}

{{Reader's Digest}}
{{Authority control}}

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