Yesterday I was in line at Walgreens and started reading the different magazine titles. Some of them had Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe split on the cover. Or Nicole Richie's battle with an eating diorder that she sweers she doesn't have. Or something about Paris Hilton. If I picked up the magazines, I'm sure that the content would be more things about movie stars, reality stars or tv stars then I have ever need to know. Which I guess it is okay because they are gossip magazines and thats just what they do.
But is it really? I guess that they are needed to lighten the mood a little bit. I mean, there are tons of news magazines. There are fashion magazines and magazines for any hobby you can think of. Gossip magazines job is to write about celebrities. But instead of writing about Brad and Angelina's status, why don't they write about all of the good they do in Africa. Sure, once in a while they write about that. But would it ever make the cover over Vince supposedly purposing to Jennifer on a private beach in the South of France. Probably not.
But I think the saddest thing about having gossip magazines is that so many people get the majority of news from them. If you asked one of my friends about the Presidents latest state of the union, they'd give you a blank stare. If you asked them who Lindsey Lohan just broke up with, they'd not only tell you that but also every man she has dated in the past five years. Thats just how society is these days.
Since gossip magazines aren't going to stop printing the stories about Britany, Christina and Madonna any time soon, I think there are some things that they can do. Maybe in between who died of a drug overdose lately say how many solders where killed in Iraq over the weekend. Maybe in between the acusations of eating disorders they can remind readers that they can sponser children in third-world countries. Maybe in between the latest on a celebritiy relationship, they can offer uplifting messages to their readers. Maybe that would lose them readers, but it could gain them respect.
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Gossip magazines are among the most useless inventions we have ever come up with. That and fashion magazines. How many fashion magazines can you really have, really? Yet there must be at least twenty different versions in my local bookstore.
Anyway, readership is more important than gaining respect.
"You are narrow-minded because you disagree with me."