Thank you Frank Boisvert!
Introduction- Most printed media forms have found their way to the internet. Whether it be for extra features, games, or for the same exact information you find in the printed versions, it's all online. Entertainment Weekly is no exception. One of the most popular media magazines to write about the entertainment world could never have survived if it passed up our most popular tool for accessing entertainment. But is there a difference between the EW world online and in print?
Describe- Entertainment Weekly (or EW) is a magazine that focuses on entertainment that people love to hear such as celebrities, what is new in movies and TV shows. It puts all this information into a weekly magazine that is jammed full with loads of information from the latest music to the latest movies coming out in cinema to much, much more.
The magazine itself is not as organized as most, but it does contain a table of contents and that makes it somewhat organized by means of you being able to find a certain story you are interested in and skip the ones you do not care for. The articles themselves are rather short with many to a page. Usually the main story is a two page spread. There is really no section specificity but when it describes a topic like movies or music there are a few that are clumped together.
This magazine not only carries a lot of photos but the photos are actually "catching" to the eye. When looking in the magazine I instantly noticed the colors and interesting photos it contained. This magazine is in color so its very "eye popping". The magazine itself has more of a glossy look with more of a newspaper type of structure. The articles are similar to a newspapers articles.
The difference between the online version and the actual hand held version is slim to none. Both show the same stories but the magazine itself carries more photos and to me is more interesting looking than the online version. The online version has a more black and white type main page with 4 or 5 little pictures where as the magazine is jammed pack with color and pictures.
I would say there is a decent amount of ads to make it not too much advertising. The ads are every few pages and usually are not the typical boring ads but something funny or clever. I ran into a few about the Sundance Film Festival, Sony, the TV show House, and advertising for their own magazine.
The online version is definitely faster at posting stories but the magazine version comes out weekly so it is not too far behind. They both tend to have similar features like information on the latest movies etc.. The both have a similar focus and that is informing the US on the latest media and entertainment.
Analyze- This magazine is one of the more popular because of its weekly issues, keeping the readers more willing to purchase because it is more up to date than the monthly magazines.
This magazine seems to focus more on the entertainment aspect as a whole such as celebrities, movies, TV and music and does not focus at all on politics or religion. It's not so much scandalous gossip as it is information. Instead of talking about who slept with whom and who is going to jail, they're talking about who the "Wonder Woman" role is going to, sequels to TV shows and movies like 300, and even some information about the newest games like Uncharted 3.
Two big strengths that the EW has in print are its weekly subscription keeping readers more and more informed on the latest media or gossip. Its sense of color and picture quality of the magazine version is what makes it eye popping to the viewers. Online there is a page full of articles with eye catching titles making it easier to intrigue readers. There are plenty of ads with great deals there, as well, to persuade readers to subscribe to the magazine- an excellent way to get people to read their magazine more often and make them more money.
Two weaknesses could be the lack of photos on the online site and the price that it costs each week to purchase. A subscription can be cheap but if you just wanted to buy it every week you would be spending a lot of your money. Another weakness is that they focus more on one topic per issue making it the main spread in the middle of the magazine and some articles shorter that could be even more interesting than the main story. A weakness for online could be that it is hard to read some of the stories online because they use a smaller font then most sites.
Interpret- I would say the primary target audience would be anyone who is interested in the media or anyone who is interested in celebrity gossip. The age group itself I would say would be from 16-35.
As I am looking at the ads they seem to not really connect with the stories. Some of the ads are for soda brands or cigarette brands and that has little to no connection with movie information or celebrity information.
Most of the stories are not stereotypical or offensive. The intended information is just to inform the reader. There is really no opinionated articles in the magazine.
Evaluate- I personally like the magazine form better just because I am not a huge reader of online material and sitting at a computer reading hurts my eyes. The thought of having a physical copy is much better than the online version. The magazine version is more informational and easier to comprehend than the online version too because of its easy access of the table of contents and photographs.
I believe the magazine better serves the audience because I personally didn't even know the EW website existed until I did this report. The magazine is at check stands and book stores so it is easier to be seen by the people who are going to purchase it.
Engage- I don't really do anything beyond reading Entertainment Weekly. I wasn't even aware they have a Twitter before surfing their page. I'm not interested in following because I'm not severely interested in what they say. I honestly don't read the publication often- only when I'm sitting in an office or see a title that catches my eye. I'm not a fan of celebrity gossip or the latest entertainment news. Sometimes it is funny or surprising, but it isn't something I try to keep up with. if I want new music, books or movies I'll go to iTunes or Amazon and browse. I like to hear about new movies by going to the movies. Most of my information doesn't come from publications such as EW- it comes from word of mouth.
Conclusions- I believe I have learned that I truly do love the original medium that entertainment comes in. As much as I love the internet, I don't believe that is where everything should end up. I don't want out whole world to be digital. The layout, the feel, the look and the experience of reading is so much more enjoyable in actual print. I've learned that we can't avoid our advancement to digital copies of books, newspapers and magazines- it is a part of the world we live in. It is pretty astonishing how far we have come, but that doesn't mean we have to toss out all of our old ways. Maybe one day we won't have a choice. Hopefully by then, if it ever comes to that point, they will have found a way to make the internet reading of EW and other publications as enjoyable as reading the print versions.
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