Claim: Shantel VanSanten has been featured in an American fashion magazine for teenagers.

Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers . The magazine 's reader base is 13-to-19-year-old females . It began as a publication geared towards inspiring teen girls to become model workers and citizens . Soon after its debut , Seventeen took a more fashion and romance-oriented approach in presenting its material while promoting self-confidence in young women . It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg 's Triangle Publications .   == Seventeen '' 's early history ==  The first editor of Seventeen , Helen Valentine , provided teenage girls with working woman role models and information about their development . Seventeen enhanced the role of teenagers as consumers of popular culture . The concept of `` teenager '' as a distinct demographic originated in that era . In July 1944 , King Features Syndicate began running the comic strip Teena , created by cartoonist Hilda Terry , in which a typical teenager 's life was examined . Teena ran internationally in newspapers for twenty years .   After Seventeen was launched in September 1944 , Estelle Ellis Rubenstein , the magazine 's promotion director , introduced advertisers to the life of teenage girls through Teena , selling advertising in Seventeen at the same time . From 1945 to 1946 , the magazine surveyed teen girls in order to better understand the magazine 's audience . The magazine became an important source of information to manufacturers seeking guidance on how to satisfy consumer demand among teenagers . Today , the magazine entertains as well as promotes self-confidence in young women .   Sylvia Plath submitted nearly fifty pieces to Seventeen before her first short story , `` And Summer Will Not Come Again '' , was accepted and published in the August 1950 issue .   Joyce Walker became the first black model to be featured on the cover of Seventeen magazine in July 1971 . In the early 1980s , Whitney Houston was also featured on the cover of the magazine .   News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988 and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications -LRB- later Primedia -RRB- in 1991 . Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003 . Seventeen remains popular on newsstands today despite greater competition .   In 2010 , writer Jamie Keiles conducted `` The Seventeen Magazine Project '' , an experiment in which she followed the advice of Seventeen magazine for thirty days .   In 2012 , in response to reader protests against the magazine 's airbrushing its models ' photos , Seventeen '' ended its practice of using digital photo manipulation to enhance published photographs . -LRB- See more below under Controversy -RRB- .   In August 2016 , Michelle Tan was fired from her position as Editor in Chief while she was on maternity leave . It was announced shortly thereafter that Michele Promaulayko , who was appointed Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan , would also serve as Seventeen 's editorial director . Starting with their Dec/Jan 2017 issue , the magazine was to start publishing only six issues a year instead of ten , to focus on their online presence to appeal to the Generation Z market .