The Spectrum

Issue date: 3/30/06 Section: Perspectives

Media Credit: The Spectrum/ Rachelle Murphy How much of this information do you believe?

Tabloids are prevalent in every supermarket and drug store across the nation. You will hear many say how they hate gossiping then while flipping through on the grocery line, turn around and ask, "Did you see how fat Britney got?"

Tabloid headlines are often called ridiculous by consumers. Titles such as "Mother gives birth to two headed alien baby" and "Bigfoot sighted eating Burger King." seem to constantly surround us. Today, most tabloids have to do with celebrities and their lives.

Headlines on the cover Star magazine such as, "Angelina scared of gaining weight during pregnancy" and "Britney is pregnant again- and leaves Kevin," commonly seem to dominate the covers of most tabloids. It is titles such as these that tend to draw in readers.

"The covers and titles always attract me to read the tabloids. I enjoy reading the covers even if they are not true," said Alessandra Giuffre, freshman, Valley Cottage, N.Y.

There are always stories on the news and in the newspapers about another celebrity being run off the road by the paparazzi. This frequent occurrence has caused celebrities to endorse a new law in California, which helps protect celebrities from over- zealous paparazzi.

Pictures taken by paparazzi still grace the pages of tabloids. Even though there are laws in place, the paparazzi will do anything for money Paparazzi get paid thousands of dollars in order to take any picture that they can. The more incriminating the photo, the more money they will receive. These pictures are then used to add a tinge of reality to the story the tabloid is printing. They help fuel and keep a sense of reality to the stories.

"No, I do not think they [tabloids] write the truth. Some things are believable because the things they make up relate to people's lives," said Jillian Delape, freshman, Bellmore, N.Y.

"I know that I shouldn't believe half of the things written in the tabloids, but I do sometimes. It really depends on who the celebrity is," added Giuffre.

Celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Ashlee Simpson are targets of the tabloids. In the April 2006 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, Lindsay Lohan admitted that half of the stories that are about her in the tabloids are true. Ashlee Simpson also admitted in the Jan. 2006 edition of Cosmopolitan that the tabloid stories about her are sometimes true.

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