Julia Gillard red hot cover girl

Women’s magazines go into over-drive with special editions featuring Julia Gillard on the front page.

As news broke last week that Australia had its first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, some magazines pushed their deadlines forward to cover the event while it was still fresh.

First was weekly magazine, Woman’s Day, which hit the news stands on Friday around New South Wales and Victoria with the headline: Julia’s triumph. We celebrate our first female PM!, followed by its regular edition the next Monday (also featuring Gillard on the cover).

Woman’s Day editor, Fiona Connolly, believes the issue has been a success. “Australia’s first ever female Prime Minister is a monumental milestone that we knew would resonate strongly with our primarily female readership, and early sales are backing our gut feeling that the special edition will do well.”

This week, monthly magazine, The Australian Women’s Weekly, follows suit with a Julia Gillard souvenir booklet (pictured) inserted free into 300,000 copies of the magazine.

Michelle Endacott, managing editor of the Weekly told Print21 it was too good an opportunity to miss. “The nation’s first female prime minister is such an historic event, that staff worked around the clock to send the souvenir to print,” she said.

“The Weekly has been following Ms Gillard’s career closely, and had on file insightful exclusive photos of Julia and her family, plus her partner Tim Mathieson.”

Both Woman’s Day and Women’s Weekly are published by PBL Media's ACP Magazines, which recently pulled the pin on opening its own printing plant. Both titles are printed by PMP.