to think OK magazine has plumbed new depths of shitness?

[DirtyMartini]

The cover fom this past week's issue caught my eye in the shops yesterday and it's been stewing in a corner of my mind. I think it's a new low. (Which is saying something, cos OK were the ones that published a black-edged "memorial" issue for Jade Goody the week before she died.)

SO what they have done is put a photo of Amanda Holden in one corner looking pale and serious, with a strapline saying that she is devastated at losing her baby.

Above that is same size pap photo of V Beckham with approximate headline "Victoria's joy: it's a girl!"

Above that is same size posed photo of K Katona plus random man, broad grins, saying "We're madly in love and I'm pregnant!" (NB this is not actually true , because what they have done is quote something out of context to pull in readers ... so, TOTALLY unnecessary "headline" by anyone's terms, as article inside is not about pregnancy in any way)

Beside all of them is massive main photo of Kym Marsh, smiling and radiantly pregnant, with several straplines mentioning eg "my baby girl would have died without doctor's help" and "I'll never have another baby".

I know it is a piece-of-shit rag, but this juxtaposition of not one but THREE other headlines about successful pregnancies seems actually quite cruel. Not just to Amanda Holden, who I'm sure is not in any state to even fucking take notice of what OK shitzine is saying, but also to anyone reading it who has lost a baby.

I know people will say "it's only OK, ignore" but I do think it is worth getting pissed off about (if only in passing, because I am lucky enough not to have any relevant personal experience). The gossip mag culture is so destructive and so everywhere. RRRRRAAAHHHHH

ok, vent over. Shake it out, shake it out. But AIBU to think it's piss poor?

I do pick it up and flick through at work as there is always a copy lying around in the staff room when I'm on my tea break. It's SHIT, both in terms of the vapid content and the vultureness of it all. I have also clocked the ludicrous paraphrasing to boost sales.

Pile of unmitigated arse.

There is a new one out today with John James and Josie from BB on the front, with the strap being our big fat gypsy wedding. Now last I heard they had split up and were calling each other everything under the sun, so I am assuming it is a spoof.

I feel very strongly about these 'celeb' magazines. I absolutely detest them, they have no respect and no boundaries anymore.

Sad to say though, it's the fault of the public who buys/reads them. They are creating the demand for these scummy publications. :(

I remember when John Travolta and Kelly Preston lost their son, Jett, very suddenly and the press were all over them. Even if I were interested in celeb gossip, I wouldn't want to see pictures of this couple in a distraught state. Who would need pictures anyway?

I know that the media defends its vile position by stating that those who court the media must live with it, but I think there's a point at which the descent of decency has reached quite low enough... and I think we've gone past that now.

I don't think we have journalism anymore... just tabloid litter that shames us as a nation.

YANBU but remember, no-one ever lost money underestimating the taste of the British public.

Car crash journalism sells. If you don't like it, don't buy it. A letter to the editor can be cathartic (and interesting to see if it's published) but we have a free press and this is one of the less likeable results of that.

I think what is more interesting is how this gloves-off intentionally cruel and bitchy style of journalism has developed over the past 20 years or so. Sure, there have always been gossipy celeb mags/columns, but the level and sheer volume of printed (and online) vitriol now is simply boggling.

What sort of message is it sending our DC?

I used to work there and I left as I started to feel soiled by it all (sounds melodramatic I know, but I was there when Kerry was repeatedly on the cover and winning 'Mum of the Year' yet we knew she was taking all sorts while pregnant). It was around the same time as Victoria Beckham was denying she'd had a tit job yet we'd get pap pics where you could clearly see the scars (which we'd airbrush out).

In recent years I've noticed the coverlines are starting to bear absolutely no resemblance to the content of the magazine.

And when ANY gossip mag writes 'sources say' that means 'We've extrapolated from the imeges and what we'd like to happen'. As LeQueen says, its mostly utter shite.

Weirdly enough they're a really nice bunch of people, lovely to work with.

YABU to buy/read it. It's a piece of poo!

Gah. I DO NOT BUY IT OR READ IT, not for a good long while now ... as I said earlier. It is possible to notice these things on display without actually picking them up. They are everywhere.

Having said that, I'm not going to write to the editor. I don't think there is much point. I'm willing to take time to do that sort of thing in certain circs but here ... I don't think it would make a difference, so I'll stick to just not buying it and continuing to descry its shitness to whoever will listen.

Thanks for filling me in.

Media types say people want it as they buy it but I wonder how many people would care if they just stopped producing magazines like this.

MadameOvary I suspect you're right about reading the DM sleb twaddle online.

Not me though, obviously

But seriously, having once known a minor sleb and seen how the media operated around them and their family, I know for a fact that it's mostly twaddle.

hacks write any ole shite,dullards buy it. if folk didnt buy it,it wouldn't be produced there is obviously a market for this dribble

schlocky rubbish about graspy attention seeking schlebs