The purpose of of gun magazines, like the purpose for T.V. or radio, is not to entertain. The purpose is to sell advertisements. That is the primary "purpose" for the magazines to exist.
That being said, most gun manufacturers do not want the consumer to understand a few facts.
1) Virtually all that needs to be done with a gun, CAN be done with a few calibers (within each class of firearm, i.e., shotgun, centerfire rifle, pistol and revolver, rimfire). New calibers, new guns, with VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS fill a nonexistent void.
2) Since the average gun, with good maintainance, will last as long as its owner, reasons need to be created for the purchase of another gun. I know, I know, we all like to own as many as we can support...like women or cars...but the many "new developments" are superfluous, with few exceptions. I find the tendency to try and replace knowledge and skill with some sort of technology amusing. It is a common theme. It runs throughout the culture in many areas and could be the subject of a future thread.
3) Many "gun experts" are nothing of the kind. I used to watch the way they hold a gun, or use (or not use) a sling. That tells me a lot. There are exceptions.
I recently purchased a rather large quantity of old (1960-1980) gun magazines from a used bookstore that purchased them from an estate. The writing was superior in the past, especially from the readership, as in "letters to the editor" and the like. Fewer blanket assertions were made and a higher degree of knowledge of the readership was inferred by the subject matter and nature of the writing. But that is to be expected, as today we are living in the Age of Mediocrity.
The previous posts about being useful for the first year or so was a good point. Generally about that time you garner enough information to understand the nature of the magazine's game.
And by the way, most articles have already been written before, though perhaps by someone else, in some other time.