By: Megan Lux ~Staff Writer~

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy Magazine, was just an ordinary man from Chicago. He graduated from college and worked at Esquire magazine but later left the magazine after being denied a pay raise. Young and ambitious, Hefner set out to start his own magazine. Hefner transformed the adult entertainment industry when he introduced Playboy to the world in 1953. The first issue sold more than 50,000 copies and featured actress Marilyn Monroe on the cover.

Playboy set itself apart from other magazines by publishing nude photos of women. The magazine had such a wide audience that in 1975 it had a circulation of about 5.6 million. Nowadays, however, the circulation has greatly declined and is only around 800,000.

The New York Times reported that Scott Flanders, chief executive at Playboy, said that with today’s Internet access people are just one click away from every sex act imaginable. People no longer have to wait for the next issue of Playboy to come out to find what they are seeking. Not only is Playboy eliminating nude photos from its magazine, it is also changing other aspects to keep up with the times and give the magazine a classier look and feel.

Flanders started by shrinking the staff at Playboy by 75 percent and moving its headquarters from Chicago to Los Angeles. He also plans to have the magazine printed on thicker, higher quality paper and wants the magazine to be a larger size.

Playboy said it understands that its audience may be disappointed that it is no longer printing nude photos since it has been at the core of the magazine since the very first issue came out. The magazine still plans on publishing photographs of women posed in very provocative ways like it has done in years past.

Cory Jones, a top editor at Playboy, said that the magazine will adopt a cleaner, more modern style and the images will be more PG-13. This is similar to changes that have already been made to its website in order to make it more work-appropriate. These changes have actually generated a higher viewing audience of the website than the print issue.

Among those who are sad to see Playboy end its publication of nude photos is former Playmate Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy says she would gladly pose as the last nude woman in Playboy’s centerfold. While it may be the end of an era, it is certainly a new beginning for Playboy and a chance for it to change its image. It’s also a chance for it to reach out to an audience who may pay more attention to news articles than nude photos.