Q: Is a magazine article better quality than a newspaper article on the same topic, by the same author?
magazine price per 1000 words is higher.
magazine is printed on better paper with color graphics

This blogpost is more general than magazines for recreational xx  or  read`^ other Recreations #w1r3. This blogpost goes beyond recreational xx. It also includes stressful/deliberate learning like deep_work for professional learning and development.

— seminar vs text books .. Many popular authors publish books only as marketing for their lucrative training/speaking engagements. (They know that writing a book is unlikely to be profitable in itself in the digital age.) Most in the audience seem to prefer a live event, possibly because less Sys2 effort is required when they are being read to, and entertained. They don’t need to maintain attention, because the live event captures their attention. Such a spectator is not serious about learning, reflection, and internal growth, for which books are the most effective medium. Look at colleges. Even in the digital age, I think most schools still use text books because they are still the most effective medium for the student’s internalization.

— fuxi .. [Dram refresh and 温故知新] is crucial for any learning, although most people are not serious about fuxi. Professional(not photocopied) print media is the easiest for fuxi. Electronic medium is hugely inferior for fuxi.

==== some common tangible advantages of magazines and youth educational books
— paper won’t turn yellowish. Can keep for decades.
— quality of editing .. generally higher (better QC/QA) at reputable magazines, youth textbooks, children’s books.
— some topics won’t become obsolete. In contrast, I feel TheEconomist, Time, Fortune are /world-class/ in quality but leaning more towards current affairs.
— taste enhancers, or absorbency enhancers
Q1: why are these “print media” more valuable, more attractive than traditional learning materials
A: Big colorful pictorials. These attractive pictorials [cartoons, photos, charts,] are designed like protein powder taste-enhancer — to enhance absorbency, soften the material,  inject some fun and imagination. Some books even use special paper with texture. Fun language also injects fun and imagination.

In the opposite direction, Vertical or traditional Chinese characters aggravate the boredom of recreational reading. Most China (text)books of my generation use newspaper-quality paper and mono-color pictorials.

How about online video for creational learning? Sometimes it does enhance absorbency to some extent, but I can’t review or take notes. See video_xx