Editing Soap Opera Digest (section)

==History==
''Soap Opera Digest'' debuted in November 1975, co-founded by Angela Shapiro and Jerome Shapiro<ref>{{cite web |last=Kroll |first=Dan J. |url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/news/2002/0401-shapiro.php |title=Angela Shapiro to Leave ABC Daytime Post |work=[[Soapcentral]] |date=April 1, 2002 |access-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-date=October 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013141527/http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/news/2002/0401-shapiro.php |url-status=live }}</ref> and founding Editor Ruth J Gordon and featuring actors [[John Aniston]], [[Ron Tomme]], [[Audrey Peters]], [[Birgitta Tolksdorf]], [[Jerry Lacy]], and [[Tudi Wiggins]] of ''[[Love of Life]]'' on its first cover. In the early 1990s, the magazine had up to 1.4 million subscribers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}

In 1980, Network Publishing Corporation purchased the magazine from Shapiro, who went on to found ''[[Soap Opera Update]]''. [[Rupert Murdoch]]'s [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] bought the magazine from Gerry M. Ritterman in 1989. Ritterman had owned ''Soap Opera Digest'' for three years before selling it to Murdoch Magazines; Ritterman earned more than $50 million from his share of the $70 million purchase price. According to Ritterman, he'd purchased the magazine at 750,000 subscribers and sold it at 1.3 million. Murdoch sold Soap Opera Digest to [[RentPath|K-III Communications]] in 1991. K-III was renamed [[RentPath|Primedia]] in 1997, and sold its magazines to [[Source Interlink]] in 2007. [[American Media (publisher)|American Media, Inc.]] began publishing ''Soap Opera Digest'' in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sys-con.com/node/1794517|title=American Media, Inc. Reaches Licensing Agreement With Source Interlink Companies - news.sys-con.com|work=sys-con.com}}</ref>

''Soap Opera Digest'' originally published monthly, moved to triweekly issues in 1979, biweekly issues in 1980, and on April 1, 1997, started publishing weekly. The issue dates were on Tuesdays, but changed to Mondays beginning with the April 16, 2012 issue.

Meredith Brown Berlin was named executive editor (the magazine's equivalent of editor-in-chief) in 1982 at the age of 26, making her the youngest editor of a national magazine at that time. Ritterman later promoted her to editor-in-chief and vice president. She stayed in that position until 1991. During her tenure, the magazine saw its greatest circulation growth. Berlin was followed by Lynn Leahey, who headed the magazine for 27 years. In June 2011, Stephanie Sloane replaced Leahey as the magazine's editorial director.{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The magazine used to hold an awards show annually to promote excellence in the genre, as decided by the fans who read the magazine. The [[Soap Opera Digest Awards|''Soap Opera Digest'' Awards]] (formerly the ''Soapies'') have been held every year since 1977, and were last televised in 2000. The Soapy Award was originally designed by Janis Rogak, the magazine's then-[[Art Director]]. Berlin and Ritterman earned a handful of [[Daytime Emmy Award]] nominations, with Dick Clark Productions, for co executive producing the ''Soap Opera Digest'' Awards.{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}}

On October 27, 2023, it was announced [[a360media]] would cease production of the physical weekly publications. The magazine currently continues to update content on its website, and announced its intention to print "special print issues" at least four times per year.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Spangler |first=Todd |title=''Soap Opera Digest'' Is Ending Its Weekly Print Edition |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/soap-opera-digest-discontinuing-weekly-print-edition-1235770929/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=October 27, 2023 |location=United States |issn=0042-2738 |oclc=810134503 |date=October 27, 2023 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027210305/https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/soap-opera-digest-discontinuing-weekly-print-edition-1235770929/ |url-status=live }}</ref>