FIELD PROJECT

People Magazine



People Magazine

People magazine is one of the most popular celebrities magazine to date. “It broke a site record with 51.7 million page views on the day after the Oscars, beating the previous record set just a month before from the Golden Globes” according to Wikipedia. This magazine is successful both in printed form and on the web, but which is better, paper or pixels?

Description

It is all about celebrities. This current issue, in both the online and printed versions, features a detailed account of the Royal Wedding.  Most of it is speculation and where they believe the couple will spend their honeymoon. It also features the Prince's favorite recipes (made by the Royal Chef.) The online version has a separate section completely devoted to the couple, noting their whereabouts, including an article featuring the new Princess and her jaunt to the grocery store .

A few of the other main topics of the magazine version involve celebrities who are dealing with personal issues. One article is about Catherine Zeta-Jones and her struggle with husband Michael Douglass's cancer, as well as her long-term battle with bipolar II disorder. Another headliner features a Disney celebrity who went into rehab because of anorexia and self-destructive behavior. Each of the articles that feature celebrity interviews are in a Q & A format, with first-hand answers from the sources themselves, lending more credibility to the writers (People Magzine, 2010).

Organization is one of the main differences between the two versions. The printed version is not organized very well at all, and the content page is confusing and almost no help because only some of the stories are listed with page numbers, the other stories you just have to find on your own (Annie, 2009). The online version is much better with easy tabs and sections that will get you to who or what you are looking for. There's a mix of long and short articles throughout the printed version. Overall most of the articles are quick, easy to read, and almost always have a photo or two.  Another big difference is how up-to-date the online version is; updates happen hourly compared to the magazine, where as soon as it is printed it is obsolete. This is so incredibly, crucially important to give constant updates, so that everyone can view the fashion face-off.

Many different products are advertised, with most of them being food or cosmetic products. There were ads for Digornio pizza, V8, and Splenda, as well as ads for clothing and beauty products, all directed primarily towards women (People Magzine, 2010).  There are a lot of ads. Almost every other page contains some sort of advertisement that goes for the online and printed version.

Both versions are in color. They are mostly made up of photos of famous people like George Clooney, Brad pitt, Jennifer Aniston and whoever else is popular at the time.  The online version has the same stories as the print and more. The focus has the same emphases on celebrities and what ...