Week 2: Current Event

HGTV Magazine

     According to the Huffington Post, there have been recent posts on the internet revealing a bias against women's magazines. These magazines have been said to be lacking "serious journalism." This Huffington Post article reveals that this is not true. The article talks about how women's magazines are seen in a lesser light than magazines printed mainly for men. This just goes to show that it is still a man's world and that women are still having to work twice as hard to prove they are equal to men. This fight for women's magazines to gain equal recognition is not over and will continue to go on until they feel like this battle has been successful. The link also provides a video of Bonnie Fuller, Editor in Chief of HollywoodLife.com, in which she states her frustration about not getting the recognition she feels women's magazines deserve.

     After reading this article, I found it fitting to ask one of my coworkers, who previously worked at InStyle magazine, her opinion on this issue. Here were the main parts of our conversation:

 "What do you think the implications of this article are on our company and our industry?"
       
     "It sort of degrades/berates magazines as a whole. Why is it that a magazine that is about women is not taken as seriously as a magazine that is about men? Cosmo and GQ are equally raunchy, yet GQ is better known for their high quality journalism and Cosmo is well known about sex. Industry wide, it doesn't seem to matter if Glamour gets the first interview with President Obama because it's primarily a women's magazine, and seeing how women make up a powerful demographic that both purchases and reads magazines, it's almost as if they are saying they're not smart enough to read such high quality writing, even though its out there."

"What is your personal take on these biases against women's magazines?"

     "I think it's kind of awful. I've read some amazing pieces in Marie Claire and Oprah, yet they don't get the same attention as they would in something like Esquire or Vanity Fair. There is amazing writing in women's magazines and it is such a shame that it is overlooked because the main focus here is more or less fashion and beauty. It's ridiculous."

"Do you feel like these biases have a greater effect on HGTV Magazine or InStyle Magazine?"

     "This, to some extent, really has no effect either on HGTV or InStyle because neither of them have long-form journalism or even stories that would hint at changing the world...no offense."

"How do you feel women's magazines can combat what males think of them?"

     " I think a lot of change would come from rebranding. If they make a push to say well here's this amazing article about how rape kits go unchecked and here's the impact it had that would make people sit up and listen. But it's not going to happen.To rebrand would be financial suicide when they are marketing how awesome these pairs of pants are or something of the like. Women's magazines would have to make their stories a priority and push them as opposed to '40 Ways to Please Him in Bed' in order for the rest of the magazine world to care."

As you can see, this was a great talk and very eye-opening for me. I think it's said that these magazines produce great article but because they are n a women's magazine, it is not taken as seriously.

Schuster, A (2013, June 24) Bonnie Fuller on Women's Magazine Bias: Female Editors-in -Chiefs Have 'Thrown Up Their Hands' Retrieved June 25, 2013 from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/bonnie-fuller-womens-magazine-bias_n_3492433.html?utm_hp_ref=media