1. The subject I am reviwing is Entertainment Weekly. The source of my information is my own personal experience.
2. My thesis statement will state how Entertainment Weekly, for enjoyment purposes, is a well rounded magazine.
3. The criteria are:
Organization: this magazine has a well developed Table of Content, it is very similar in structure every week, and has clearly labeled page numbers.
Content: TV, movie, music and book reviews every week. Plus it has additional articles and week to week editiorials.
Advertisments: While it is no fun to have any ads at all, realistically all magaiznes need them. And EW at least has ads that appeal to their audience. Usually they are car ads or graphic art for known proucts, like Gain (now with Febreeze).
Relevance: The movies, TV shows, music and books are all brand new releases. The articles they focus on are for new rising stars or stars in new movies. They have Stephen King writing an editorial, and spoliers for popular shows every week.
4. Counter arguements: this magazine is a fluff piece, there is no hard hitting articles about wars or the economy. But in times like we have, it is nice to read through a well designed magazine purely for enjoyment. While they do only offer one opinion on movies, they show other reviewers opinions in a graph showing other scores a movie recieved. The magazine does focus on more popular TV shows, but that is because thats what people are watching. They may majorly review the movies people are lining up to see, but they do offer reviews for indie films as well.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Template B
The four relevant criteria to base a good magazine of this kind is organization, content, advertisements, and relevance.
The organization of a magazine is important to enjoyment. It must have a good table of content with clearly marked page numbers. It drives me insane to read a magazine where there are multiple pages right next to each other with no page numbers. I hate having to count to find the page I want. The organization from article to article must also be set up so there is a comfortable flow to how the magazine is read.
The content is also important. For EW, the content is superficial and fun. But every week they must come up with more than just reviews. While the reviews are important, the articles about specific TV shows or movie stars are emmensly interesting to read. It is a great treat when you expect to get one thing from a magazine and get a lot extra. Different opinions, that are well written, are necesary for the magazine of this type to be good.
The advertisements have to relate to the audience. intrusive, multiple page ads are just annoying. In a magazine like EW, editorial type ads wouldn't fit. A magazine like EW should be more about content than selling you stuff.
And finally, the magazine must be relevant. It must know more about the culture than the reader. It isn't interesting to read what you already know, but it also can't only tell you what you don't. There has to be a mix between well known information everyone knows, and off beat info that is intriguing to learn from this magazine.
The organization of a magazine is important to enjoyment. It must have a good table of content with clearly marked page numbers. It drives me insane to read a magazine where there are multiple pages right next to each other with no page numbers. I hate having to count to find the page I want. The organization from article to article must also be set up so there is a comfortable flow to how the magazine is read.
The content is also important. For EW, the content is superficial and fun. But every week they must come up with more than just reviews. While the reviews are important, the articles about specific TV shows or movie stars are emmensly interesting to read. It is a great treat when you expect to get one thing from a magazine and get a lot extra. Different opinions, that are well written, are necesary for the magazine of this type to be good.
The advertisements have to relate to the audience. intrusive, multiple page ads are just annoying. In a magazine like EW, editorial type ads wouldn't fit. A magazine like EW should be more about content than selling you stuff.
And finally, the magazine must be relevant. It must know more about the culture than the reader. It isn't interesting to read what you already know, but it also can't only tell you what you don't. There has to be a mix between well known information everyone knows, and off beat info that is intriguing to learn from this magazine.
Readers
The specific audience for my review is the readers of Entertainment Weekly (EW). These readers are looking for a magazine that gives different viewpoints about TV shows, movies, books, and even video games. They are interested in hearing about the entertainment world, from a realatively non-gossip view. One thing that is almost entirely absent from Entertainment Weekly is celebrity gossip, which is not a value held by readers of EW. The readers are more interested in plot lones and the acting abilities of actors, than who is dating who. While the last page does feature a "bullseye," where the writers humorously place culturally significant events from the week around a bullseye, this is not for gossip but more for a quick overview of what happened recently in the entertainment industry. The magazine is focused more on superficial topics than political ones, so a political viewpoint one way or the other doesn't much matter while reading EW. The political views don't effect the enjoyment level. They value a well written opinion above all else.
The friends of a reader of EW is probably interested in the same things. I know my best friends read EW and we discuss it every week. It would hurt a reader of EW to have no idea what happened in our culture in the week. Some allusions made in articles wouldn't make sense to someone who doesn't know what happened. So to keep up with EW, readers have to keep up with American culture.
They consider learning more about TV shows, movies and music to be the best benefits. There are pages of movie reviews, a whole section dedicated to music and tons of TV show reviews. Every week there is even reviews for books. There is a weekly section dedicated to spoliers of popular TV shows. My favorite page is the one where they tell you where you can purchase something worn in a TV show or music video. The movie reviews are in depth with out giving away too much. They base their reviews on an A+ to F- scale, giving the reader a better read than a four star system. They even include an overview of the grades given by mulitple reviewers so you can see an average score given to new movies. With so many different opinions given, a reader is better able to know what to expect when they pay ten dollars to go see a movie. This magazine is more of a fluff magazine. They are no life changing articles, so reading EW doesn't change who you are. The most it can effect is your decisions on what TV show to tune into or what movie to pay to go see.
The friends of a reader of EW is probably interested in the same things. I know my best friends read EW and we discuss it every week. It would hurt a reader of EW to have no idea what happened in our culture in the week. Some allusions made in articles wouldn't make sense to someone who doesn't know what happened. So to keep up with EW, readers have to keep up with American culture.
They consider learning more about TV shows, movies and music to be the best benefits. There are pages of movie reviews, a whole section dedicated to music and tons of TV show reviews. Every week there is even reviews for books. There is a weekly section dedicated to spoliers of popular TV shows. My favorite page is the one where they tell you where you can purchase something worn in a TV show or music video. The movie reviews are in depth with out giving away too much. They base their reviews on an A+ to F- scale, giving the reader a better read than a four star system. They even include an overview of the grades given by mulitple reviewers so you can see an average score given to new movies. With so many different opinions given, a reader is better able to know what to expect when they pay ten dollars to go see a movie. This magazine is more of a fluff magazine. They are no life changing articles, so reading EW doesn't change who you are. The most it can effect is your decisions on what TV show to tune into or what movie to pay to go see.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
