World Inside The World: An Analysis of People.com

For the past eleven years, there is one magazine that I read every week cover-to-cover. While in recent years it has received a bad rep as a gossip magazine, I love reading People, because it reports entertainment news, but also focuses on real life stories. When deciding on a website to analyze for my first assignment in New Media Culture, I decided to analyze People.com, the magazine’s website, which I frequently visit.                                  

The first noteworthy aspect of People.com’s website is the layout and design. The use of bright colors is appealing and tends to lead your eye across each page. There are many sub-sites including: News, Photos, Style, Red Carpet, Video, Celebs, and Magazine. These sub-sites are very visible as their headings are white font on a black background. Each sub-site has a very similar layout to the homepage. The background of the whole site is white, with black font, which is very clear and simplistic. Aesthetically, although a lot of information is presented, the layout allows the website to not be too overwhelming and busy. While it is very organized,  the search option on the homepage is very useful if you are looking for specific information. Today’s top ten stories are boxed towards the left of the homepage, while on the lower left side there are small pictures and headlines of the “Top Five Most Read Stories This Week”. This section stands out because of the yellow background and bright pink headline.

There is a subscription button towards the bottom of the homepage and to the right of that, there is a link to People En Espanõl’s website. There is one advertisement on the very top of the homepage for “The Bourne Ultimatum” DVD and this same advertisement is also on the right side of the homepage. While the topic of the advertisement changes as you click on to different sections of People’s website, the placement of the advertisement stays the same. There are also several sponsored links towards the bottom of the page.  I actually never noticed the sponsored links because their small font allows them to be almost hidden amongst the news.

After looking at the layout of the website, I immediately looked at the three main stories under the heading “The News Now”. All three stories involve the tragic and untimely death of Heath Ledger. While it is not surprising that People is covering his death, it is interesting to note what each article is about and whether they are such newsworthy topics: “Mary-Kate Calls Heath’s Death ‘Tragic’ “, “Ledger’s Rep: No Plans For A Public Service”, and “Heath Ledger’s Family Pours Out Grief”. These stories, like most of the stories on People’s site, appeal to those interested in entertainment/celebrity news. With such a personal tragedy like this one, it is difficult to see these articles considered breaking news, as it is not the public’s business to know where his service will be or how his family is grieving. I find myself constantly conflicted when I come across articles like this,  because while I do not support the ways in which this information is obtained, it is hard not to be curious when we are saturated with stories like this in the media. Not only is Heath Ledger’s death constantly reported on People.com, but it is in nearly every newspaper across the United States, on CNN, and all over the blogs. It becomes impossible then not to care about this kind of news, because we are surrounded by it.

Another important aspect of People.com is the multitude of pictures. In the center of the homepage, there is a photo gallery called “Star Tracks”, which features sixteen pictures of the day. Britney Spears is the first photo visible on the homepage  while Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham, and Hayden Panettiere are also included in the gallery. Interestingly, the majority of these celebrities are considered “Young Hollywood” and appeal more towards teenagers and women in their 20’s, who also make up the core audience of the site. While more older women and men may tend to read the magazine, People’s website caters more towards younger women. In fact, in my last co-op, where I worked in public relations, 4 out of 5 of my fellow colleagues admitted to visiting the website several times a week. Worth noting, their ages ranged from 22-31 years old, the core age of the website audience.

The theme of People.com’s website is celebrity gossip, which is partially a shame, because the magazine is more than just that. While I do agree, the magazine has changed in order to compete with other celebrity weeklies, it is interesting to see just how different it is from its website. An exciting feature of People  is its emphasis on not just celebrities, but average human beings that balance jobs and families. Inspiring  stories after tragedies such as 9/11 have still stayed with me to this day. In fact, several weeks after the initial tragedy, I was comforted by the images and stories featured in a special issue of People, that focused on themes of hope, healing, and overcoming. Whether they report on incredible weight loss, dealing with and overcoming rare disorders, or the everyday heroes among us, there truly are some inspirational articles in the magazine. Yet, it is hard to recall when I have visited People.com and there was an average everyday person, as breaking news. In fact, the one instance I can remember was the day of the Virginia Tech tragedy. The news of the day was about the horrific campus shooting, but I am willing to bet that Britney Spears’ picture was nearby! It can also be argued that a reasonable person would know not to visit People’s website if they were looking for a more rational view on a current events story. People.com has become a more popular media source as it continues to focus on celebrity culture. Its website is visually pleasing with bright colors, videos, and lots of photographs. While one would think this was distracting,  the site is very organized and easy to use.  I just wish they would not shy away from also focusing on the non-celebrity aspects that have kept me reading their magazine for so many years.

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