Media Med 6 Comparitive Essay

'Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise.'
The celebs on Sunday magazine was created five years ago as a slip out magazine to the tabloid the Daily Mirror to provide a topical and entertaining read on everything celebrity to a readership of young women. The producers of the magazine are using the cult of celebrity effect to pull in readers that want to know all about celebrities’ daily lives through their use of exclusives and interviews that act as headlines grabbers to the potential target market.
They emphasise on the amount of “everything celebrity” when readers find out about every aspect of celebrities lives both personally and professionally as they have sold the right to the magazine which highlights the current debate in society about whether jade goody was right to publicise her last couple of weeks before her death, while some thought that it was a good thing to do because she was making money for her children in the only way she knew how and raising awareness of cervical cancer at the same time many felt she should have kept it a personal affair with just her family.
This is connected to the overall debate that has been happening for years as to whether celebrities have a right to privacy considering the limelight that is on them 24-7 but all the financial incentives they have by showing the public all the features of their lives means that members of the public have very little sympathy for them. This issue was once raised when Catharine zeta Jones sold her wedding to the magazine OK a tradition that should be a personal occasion considered by the majority of the nation

The target markets that Celebs on Sunday are trying to reach through the use of the cult of celebrity are young aspiraitional c1, c2 and d females who have an interest in style and fashion and read the magazine for escapism in to celebrities’ lives to get away from their stresses of life. The fashion department's aim is to apply the principles of a glossy magazine such as smash hits in the past with a sophisticated look to attract higher classed audience as well as their prime current target market.
Celebs on Sunday online is the version on the internet that readers can assess for free which is partly the reason why magazines sales are decreasing every year which is becoming a big issue in the trades industry. It highlights how far technology has come since its early stages because the internet has developed in so many ways that it has become virtually impossible for the print industry to keep up. Also an issue that is raised with this subject is the current economic climate as people are becoming more tight with their money due to the credit crunch they would rather get read about celebrity news or fashion tips on the internet for free rather than having to pay the substantial amount of money for it.


Another issue that could be raise out of the public’s tendency to get their news from the internet as opposed to going to the shop and buying it is the increasing level of obesity in the country that is affecting almost half on the nation’s population, some of the magazines older readers don’t want to get up and go to shops whether by using transport of walking and alternatively use the magazines online version as a short cut to finding out what they want to know. The longer they do this the less active they will be and therefore harm themselves by not being as active as possible when they are growing up causing further obesity.

Each week the online version includes celebrity stories, star photographs, interviews, health and beauty tips and fashion features, it could be argued that they are using all these features to indoctrinate messages into young girl’s minds that they need these things to be complete in life and to find a boy/ man. The level of emphasis on the online site on beauty and fashion could suggest that they are trying to promote the idea to put pressure on girls to look good rather than using their brains which is becoming a big topic in society.
The front cover of the magazine displays has a picture of Kara tointon, she is represented as a figure that women should look up to through the usage of camera positioning making her look powerful and seem like she is looking down on you. The use of kara tointon (dawn in easterners) as a front page focus is used to persuade audiences that they would want to be like her, Kara is a woman that could be considered quite skinny which suggests that producers of the magazine are using her as a role model of how to look in the future which is promoting a more size zero look than anything else.

The increasing level of girl’s obesity of becoming size zero models is a big topic of discussion in society which is highlighted here by the magazines apparent ideology forced upon towards its audience by signifying that looking more thin is the way to be if you want to make it big in the showbiz industry. The colours used by the online version and the print copy are yellow and white which are two traditionally bright colours. They have used these colours to represent the main image of Kara tointon as being cheery so in effect they are trying to portray that the colours they use reflect her personality, it also reflects the good harmless nature of an ideology that the magazine wants to promote.
They have worked with photographers that have shot for famous institutions such as Nylon and Teen Vogue which shows how professional they are when it comes to meeting audience expectations of it being a glossy magazine, while the online version promotes a wide range of TV shows on the side of its screen promoting the TV industry this can be linked to business globalization because a massive share of the media industry is being promoting through use of other forms of media like indeed this magazine.