All About People

I’ve read People Magazine before. It’s so easy to skim through magazines like People, US, and Cosmo without really analyzing what you're reading. I was truly intrigued when I took a closer look at what is contained within People.

Most stories in the magazine were around 150 words. Theses pieces were anecdotes or stories to describe current events surrounding celebrities, they took the form of short profiles, news stories, updates, and reviews. There were also more developed stories that were a blend of profile and news. In this issue, these stories followed starlets down the aisle in under 500 words. Also included within the magazine were a few harder news pieces that got a little longer in the their word counts. They were still about people, but they followed harder news lines, went more in-depth, and didn't necessarily have to be about celebrities. 

One aspect of the magazine I noticed – that may seem rather obvious – is that it was about people.  In other magazines, news stories may focus on events or trends, but this magazine was heavily focused on people – mostly celebrities – and their stories.

Another facet of People that struck me was the diction used within the magazine. The magazine has its own style when it comes to diction, employing words that reference fashion, sex, or pop culture when describing many of their somewhat commonplace pictures of celebrities. They include play on words such as “aww-inspiring” when talking about things like celebrity’s babies. This diction is something that makes the magazine unique and fun to read.