TMZ

The objective of this week’s blog post is to bring this blog full-circle by critiquing one final gossip blog, TMZ.com, while also mentioning additional research and theories in relation to entertainment media.

According to their website, TMZ.com (Thirty Mile Zone) was launched in 2005 and ‘altered the entertainment news landscape by changing the way the public gets its news.’ TMZ is both an entertainment blog and syndicated television show, focusing on the style, content, and collection of gossip. Research by Petersen (2010), analyzes TMZ’s success over the competition, including Entertainment Tonight and PerezHilton.com. The blog, like many others, boasts that it is “the Internet’s premiere address for entertainment news… Frequently referenced by various media, TMZ is one of the most-cited entertainment news sources, utilized by national network and local newsgathering organizations across the country.” In 2006, Time magazine named TMZ one of the ‘coolest websites.’ Newsweek named TMZ the ‘Breakout Blog of 2007.’

Google Search: ‘TMZ’ and you will find ‘Celebrity Gossip’, ‘Entertainment News’, and the tagline: ‘Get All the Latest Gossip at TMZ – Thirty Mile Zone.’ But since when has ‘gossip’ elicited positive connotations; and is it something which we would like to associate with? A great deal of communication research exists surround the behavior of gossip. Researchers have generally defined gossip as the evaluative conversation among individuals regarding the personal affairs of non-present third parties (Eder & Enke, 1991; Sabini & Silver, 1982). The study of gossip and the motivations that drive this type of social communication have been researched from several different perspectives (Lewis & Martinez, 2008). According to Mills (2010), “Gossip appears to be experienced as an integral part of sensemaking and social exchange and not as a phenomenon that can be fully understood in isolation to the formal and other types of informal communication that contribute to these processes.”

Research by Erin Meyers, visiting instructor in the Film and Media Culture Department at Middlebury College, examines celebrity gossip blogs within the history of American-based celebrity gossip media. She argues that, “Celebrity gossip blogs represent a resurgence of the commentary-laden style typical of the earlier columnists that underscores the notion that celebrities are made meaningful for audiences by and through gossip.” She compares the styles of original print-based gossip columnists, Walter Winchell and Louella Parson, to that of contemporary celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton. She explains that, “While the technology of the Internet does have an impact on the ways media audiences consume and engage with celebrity, this project traces the historical role of text-based gossip in shaping the ideological force of celebrity images.”

All in all, entertainment blogs are a growing media forum which, despite much criticism, are unlikely to change their celebrity-bashing ways. Whether or not you as an audience decide to engage in reading, or posting, about the gossip is a matter of personal choice and your right to free speech.

                                                     

References

Eder, D., & Enke, J.L. (1991). The structure of gossip: Opportunities and constraints on collective expression among adolescents. American Sociological Review, 56, 4, 494-508.

Meyers, E. (2009). Walter, Louella, and Perez: A Historical Perspective on the Celebrity and Gossip in 'Old' and 'New' Media. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1.

Mills, C. (2010). Experiencing Gossip: The Foundations for a Theory of Embedded Organizational Gossip. Group & Organization Management, 35(2), 213-240.

Petersen, A. (2010). Smut Goes Corporate TMZ and the Conglomerate, Convergent Face of Celebrity Gossip. Television & New Media, 11(1), 62-81.

Sabini, J., & and Silver, M. (1982). Moralities of everyday life. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

SocialliteLife, TheSuperficial and Dlisted

As a follow-up to last week’s post on the scrutinizing of celebrity’s weight and skin tone on entertainment blogs, which were discussed by Lewis and Martinez (2008), I decided to visit three sites (excluding PerezHilton.com) which their research mentioned: http://socialitelife.com/, www.thesuperficial.com, and www.dlisted.com. I had never heard of these blogs before, so I was interested to compare my own opinions to those of the researchers.

According to Lewis and Martinez (2008), “A Socialite's Life (www.socialitelife.buzznet.com) debuted in August 2003 and is updated every weekday. The site is a ‘blend of gossip, Hollywood, fashion, entertainment, media, and snarky comments that leaves readers wanting more.’ According to their site, the site averages over 3,000,000 visitors a month, and over 9,000,000 page views a month.” Visiting the site for the first time, one of the first posts that caught my attention was the notification of the recent revamping of the site: Welcome To The New SocialiteLife.com! The blog claims to have undergone a complete makeover. One of the criticisms Lewis and Martinez had made about the site was the lack of room for counter-arguments. However, now the site says, “We’ve also improved our comments system so you’ll be able to chime in, trash talk or defend any of the people we hold up for ridicule on these here pages… With our new look comes a new perspective from our editors as well, looking to really give you more diverse content and being able to offer you certain features (and snark) that you can only get with Socialite Life.”

Pulling up the second gossip site, TheSuperficial.com, the format, content and advertisements look all too familiar. This site also claims the title of the “leading celebrity gossip blog” and “the perfect place to reach a massive audience of the culturally obsessed” (http://www.thesuperficial.com/advertise). Lewis and Martinez (2008) say that, “Generally, the topical subjects of the content in these gossip blogs has appeared to mirror that of print gossip magazines, namely and among other things the emphasis on fashion trends, relationship break-ups, celebrities’ cosmetic surgery (both suspected and confirmed), movie or television spoilers, and beauty ideals as they are embodied by celebrities.” I agree with this statement, as the majority of content I read focuses around these subjects.

And yet a third popular gossip site, Dlisted.co, includes the following legal disclaimer:

“Dlisted.com contains published rumors, speculation, assumptions, opinions as well as factual information. Information on this site may or may not be true and not meant to be taken as fact. Dlisted.com makes no warranty as to the validity of any claims.”

This statement is the site’s attempt to avoid any litigation issues that may arise. According to Lewis and Martinez (2008), “Most of these sites manage to avoid litigation because stars, their primary subject of interest, tend to be reluctant to take small-scale sites to court over rumors mainly because court action guarantees more publicity.” However, for sites such as PerezHilton.com, the title of “the world’s most popular gossip site” has come along with the pressures of legal scrutiny.

Why Celebrity Bloggers are the New Beauty Police

Rather than focusing on a specific blog this week, I’d like to discuss the findings of a research article which focuses on the affects of celebrity gossip blogs, as nontraditional media, on society’s beauty ideals. Lewis and Martinez (2008) analyzed four popular celebrity blogs (Socialitelife.com, TheSuperficial.com, Dlisted.com, and PerezHilton.com) and uncovered two common themes relating to ideal beauty standards – ideal skin tone, for Caucasians, and weight.

This study is unique in that, “the majority of research examining the exposure to images of ideal standards of beauty has focused on traditional media such as television and print magazines (Harrison, 2001; Harrison & Cantor, 1997). However, few studies have examined how ideal standards of beauty are encoded and promoted in celebrity gossip blogs, an increasingly popular media source” (Lewis & Martinez, 2008, p. 1). Researchers agree that media plays an important role in promoting social standards and values, particularly media’s influence over young women’s body images.

Levine, Slomack, and Striegel-Moore (1996) outlined seven ways in which the media potentially contribute to eating disorders (as cited in Lewis & Martinez, 2008):
1. The media accentuate the importance of physical beauty.
2. The media present a restricted definition of beauty.
3. The media define thinness as a "gold standard" of beauty.
4. The media associate thinness with success.
5. The media conveys a general repugnance toward fat in general, and fat women in particular.
6. In accordance with its negative portrayals of fat individuals, media content places a strong emphasis on the importance of diets and fashion.
7. The media influences expectations of gender roles by setting unrealistic standards of beauty and success.

Blogs are a relatively new type of media, and gossip websites/blogs are reaching an increasingly large number of readers. “These sites, which offer a mix of gossip, news, pictures and video, are much more risqué than anything published by traditional printed publications. The popularity of these sites is in part, due to their expressed lack of pandering to political correctness. No celebrity is safe from attack, and unflattering photos, scandals and rumor comprise its primary content” (Lewis & Martinez, 2008, p. 6).

Results of the Lewis and Martinez (2008) study found that despite gossip blogs’ intentions to entertain audiences by critiquing celebrities’ weight and skin color, the absence of counterarguments and the politically incorrect format lead to the perpetuation of unrealistic beauty ideals. “We found that four of the most popular celebrity gossip blogs featured recurring themes revolving around strict definitions regarding which weight and skin tone (for Caucasians) are essential for achieving beauty ideals. The messages of these beauty ideals set forth by the bloggers reach a larger audience than traditional print celebrity gossip magazines as the blogs link to other celebrity gossip blogs and create a network of like-minded celebrity gossip bloggers addressing similar images, topics, and events.”

Lewis, N., & Martinez, L. (2008). Why Celebrity Bloggers are the New Beauty Police.

Conference Papers – National Communication Association, 1.

Barstool

Following up on last week’s post on PerezHilton.com, Hilton recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show vowing to change his ways, and stop bullying the rich and famous. According to Telegraph.co.uk, Hilton told DeGeneres, “I'm going to do things differently on my website than I have in the past. I'm not going to call people nasty nicknames. I'm not going to go the mean route. I'm going to force myself to be funnier or smarter.” Whether the traffic of his blog will go down is uncertain, however, he claims to not care, because he is growing and challenging himself to be better at what he does, and hoping that his fans will stick with him.

I’d like to focus this blog entry on a regionalized blog, Barstool Sports. Barstool Sports began as a media outlet tailored specifically to an audience in the Boston, Massachusetts area. As popularity grew, the site expanded and a New York edition was created. The blog’s mantra, “By the common man, for the common man,” is fitting considering the testosterone driven nature of the website. However, a second spin-off blog, Stool La La, is targeted to the female audience.

Content of both blogs, Barstool Boston and Barstool New York, is for the most part the same. Themes centralize around sports, attractive women, YouTube clips, and basically anything else the hosts find entertaining (typically, at the expense of others). The obvious difference between the two blogs is the rivalry east-coast sports teams which they follow. Posts are generally geared toward their local audiences, including the “Smokeshow of the Day” galleries. Both blogs feature a local “Smokeshow” of the day – a pretty girl whose Facebook photos have been searched through and uploaded into galleries. Anyone can be nominated simply by e-mailing a name and Facebook profile link to the sites hosts. A harmless exhibition and chance at fifteen-minutes of fame, or degrading display of scantily-clad young girls? That’s for you to decide.

While on this topic, I’d like to mention a similar type of blog, BroBible.com. On BroBible visitors can also nominate a “Girl to Bring Home to Mom.” The site advertises, “Every Wednesday, we're introducing you to a new dream girl, like Siobhan, who's so hot and cool that all your fellow Bros would be jealous if you landed her, but also so sweet and adorable that you wouldn't hesitate to show her off to Mom. Want to nominate a Girl to Bring Home to Mom? Ask her first! We're only looking for girls who actually want to be featured as a BroBible Girl to Bring Home to Mom. So get her permission, then email us at matt [at] brobible [dot] com with your nominations.” The difference from Barstool being that BroBible actually includes bio about the girl and asks her permission before publicizing her personal information.

If you’ve had enough of the “bro” blogs, I’d like to wind things up by mentioning Stool La La. A subdivision of Barstool Sports, Stool La La, is Barstool’s female equivalent. Although still in its fledgling stages, the site puts forth tremendous effort in keeping up with the boys, sort of speak. Posts tend to vary from the typical celebrity and pop culture topics, to anything entertaining or humorous that Jenna or Abby, the blogs authors, come across. I enjoy the variety and witty captions that this site contains. And speaking of keeping up with the boys, Stool La La has its own version of Smokeshow, called “Guess Those Abs.” Hey, if the boys want to play that game, so can us girls.

Perez Hilton

I'm going to contrast the modest style of the Monkey See site by critiquing one of the more controversial celebrity blogs – PerezHilton.com. Perez Hilton, the self proclaimed “Queen of all Media,” is not ashamed to call his blog Hollywood’s most-hated website. Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (a.k.a. Perez) gained notoriety from his over-the-top blog, which focuses on gossip about musicians, actors and celebrities. His signature style includes posting tabloid photographs over which he has added captions and scribbled crude drawings (e.g., Girl, Interrupted!). His eccentrics have garnered some negative attention, particularly the role he’s played in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media.

The aesthetics of PerezHilton.com scream all things media, as well as borderline egocentrism. The headline banner at the top of the page, which varies slightly from day-to-day, boosts a caricature image of Perez’s face.  The background wallpaper of the site also changes on a daily basis, and features advertisements for upcoming Perez appearances. The actual blog appears in the direct center of the page and is flanked by banners containing a hodgepodge of advertisements. The cluster of ads is better left ignored, unless you’re looking for biographical, contact information or conditions of use, which are imbedded within the left column under “Fo’ One One.” This left-hand column is reserved for Perez-centered promotions, for example, PerezTV, PerezMobile, links to follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and more.

Contrasting from the visual overload of background graphics and advertisements, the blog itself is highly organized and refreshingly current. Approximately two or more posts are added an hour, keeping the blog’s visitors up-to-date on celebrity gossip. Content ranges from Hollywood movie deals to political controversies. There’s nothing Perez won’t speak his mind about, particularly, his opinionated stance on gay/lesbian rights. For example, he posted this story about University of Michigan student, Chris Armstrong, speaking out on CNN. This is particularly pertinent given the recent tragedy and controversy surrounding the death of bullied Rutgers student Tyler Clementi.

A positive feature of the site is its convenience for forwarding an individual post. My friends and I enjoy sharing funny, shocking or interesting things we find online. PerezHilton.com makes this easy by including a “Permalink” at the bottom of each post. This link will take you to a site where that post is permanently archived with a specific URL. Also, by scrolling across the title of any blog post you have access to the direct link to that story. I often will copy and paste the URL of one of these “Permalinks” in an e-mail, or on a Facebook wall, to share with my friends. If that seems like too many steps, there are also links at the bottom of each post which will forward the story directly to your Twitter or Facebook account for you.

An additional feature of the site is the hyperlinks made available within each post that will direct you to related stories previously posted on the blog. For example, the above mentioned Lindsay Lohan story (Girl, Interrupted!) states, “Sources from the Betty Ford Center are revealing that Lindsay Lohan is not only receiving treatment for her drug additions, but also her need to be constantly connected to her email and Twitter.” Clicking the hyperlink attached to her name brings you to the Archive for the ‘Lindsay Lohan’ Category. This page contains only posts relevant to the actress. This feature is helpful to the extreme pop culture addict who needs to know all they can about a particular person, movie or issue.

Monkey See

I must admit, although I am a fan and frequent visitor of pop culture blogs (including PerezHilton.com and StoolLaLa.com) this is my first shot at blog authorship myself. I’ve never been one to keep any type of journal – though I have made multiple attempts, only resulting in a sad collection of empty diaries. I do, however, believe I have something to offer as far as critique and evaluation of the plethora of entertainment blogs circulating the Internet today. 

I’d like to begin my discussing one of the more upstanding, if you will, pop culture websites: NPR’s Monkey See (http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/). My first impression upon entering the site is that the layout is organized, uncluttered and user-friendly. In typical blog fashion, the most recent posts appear first, while older posts follow. Surprisingly though, for such a well-know media outlet as NPR, there appear to be only two to three new blog posts a day. For me personally, this won’t cut it. While on the Internet at work I’ll keep a tab open all day on my browser, specifically for my pop culture fix. With only two or three updates a day, we’re talking very little slack time for me to take my mind off work. That being said, the blog host, Linda Holmes, has her work cut out for her. But not without help from other NPR staff members, including Steven Thompson with NPR Music and Trey Graham, Movies Editor.

A unique feature of Monkey See is the Pop Culture Happy Hour. Blog editor, Linda Holmes, sits down with NPR staff members and special guests to discuss current pop culture events. The dialogue runs for approximately an hour and can be played directly on your computer media player. This type of podcast is fitting of a radio station website, but also interesting in that the audience can opt to listen to the day’s pop culture exclusives rather than scroll through blog entries.

A second element is the use of blog categories. Although not unique to most pop blogs, I appreciate the organization NPR’s blog uses in categorizing its content. A post’s category appears underneath the story headline. As well, general blog categories are listed in the right-side column of the website. This feature is helpful when looking to reference a particular story for any form of media. Along the same column is an area for the Top 5 Most Popular Monkey See news stories, contact and social media information – including links to follow them on Twitter, and of course, the ever present advertising banner. However, the site does not flood the visitor with obnoxious ads or quick time commercials. The message of the website is intentionally informative and self-sponsoring, including multiple links to additional NPR sites. 

I briefly mentioned the general nature, or spin, of the content in Monkey See’s blog posts. Keeping in mind this is a blog (therefore the editors are free to offer their subjective opinions on the news) the overall feel of the site is nonjudgmental. This is a refreshing change considering the abundance of celebrity-bashing websites and blogs that fill the Internet. I am not exempt from those who subscribe to the juicer tabloid authors, but I take it only for what it is - entertainment. 

Welcome!

My blog focuses on the emerging popularity of online entertainment media (i.e., gossip/pop culture websites). I highlight a different entertainment source each week and discuss its key features and content. I hope you find my blog interesting, educational, and above all, entertaining!