#2 - SUPERMARKET TABLOIDS

 Last Second Shopping

    Whenever I think of supermarket tabloids, I think of the many times when I would be at the grocery store with my mom or dad and, while they were busy checking out, I was busy trying to catch up on whatever celebrity gossip graced the front page of People Magazine. I can remember my preteen self being so invested in the relationship status of my favorite stars or what new scandal was trending in the entertainment industry. While most people would say that the stories in magazines like Us Weekly or Cosmopolitan are fake or garbage, it is obvious that these magazines are doing something right to continue to make people want to come back and read their stories. 

    One reason that I think supermarket tabloids have had so much success is the same reason so many candy companies continue to have skyrocketed sales: product placement. Most of these tabloids are placed conveniently right next to the cash register in grocery or retail stores. While shopping, so many people are often focused on what they need to grab next that they do not typically stop and let their eyes linger on what else is around them. When people get to the checkout line and are waiting to pay, they slowly start to become aware of the products that are placed around them. They start to read the stories or flip through the pages and begin processing whether or not they should buy the product. When I worked as a cashier at a grocery store, anytime someone bought a magazine close to the register, it was also a last second choice for them to grab it and add it in with their other items.

 

    With the massive amount of technology available to us today, many people have begun referring to print journalism as a dying career or dying art. With internet articles becoming the norm, companies all over the world are having to make the transition into online journalism, and tabloid companies are no different. In the past few years, I have seen many companies that would typically be supermarket tabloids make a very smooth transition into being primarily web-based. One thing that I think is highly working in these companies' favor is social media. Most of their target audiences are people who have multiple social medias, making it the perfect place for marketing. I have personally seen many magazines use snapchat stories to post their articles and grab people's attention.

    Being a 2000s kid, supermarket tabloids were a staple of my childhood and, even though they may not all look the same, I believe that they are continuing to be a strong presence in many other people's childhood and adulthood. In the years to come, it will be interesting to see if these tabloids will stay in stores or if the changing of business will cause them to go fully online. For right now, however, I think their marketing and sale pitches are genius and are causing people to constantly look and read, which is the main goal in any "gossip" journalism. 



    

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