The evaluation of Story – the star magazine

The evaluation of Story – the star magazine

 

I chose for evaluation a Hungarian magazine which is entitled Story – the star magazine. It is a weekly magazine; it comes out every Thursday. The editor in chief is Vivien Kökény-Szalay and the publisher is the Central Médiacsoport Zrt. The title does not say too much to the readers, however, the front page shows a lot about the content and the quality of the magazine.

            The title is always written in white with red background. Usually there are at least three, but rather four or five photos of Hungarian celebrities on the front page with captions often quoted by them. The front page is crowded and it tries to give as much information as it can. The editors put happy, tragic and divisive lead stories on it, which could draw people’s attention at first sight. Occasionally one of the stories seems more important and essential than others; it is marked by larger pictures and characters. Moreover, the magazine is obtainable sometimes with a CD, a fashionable scarf or makeup, and this information is indicated on the top of the page. The CDs are created for the magazine by Hungarian musicians. The price is 225 HUF; however, it is more expensive if we choose a copy with a plus service, as the mentioned CDs or accessories.

            The magazine always consists of fifty pages. On the first page we can see the table of context and some pictures of celebrities with the page number with a larger font size. In addition, there is a “Picture and story” about a special, happy moment from a star’s life in a few words. The articles are always organised in sections, such as “In focus”, “Stardust”, “Coulisse”, “Stars’ weekdays”, “Party”, “Love stories”, “What happened to them?” and “Blue blood”. It is important for the editors to report fresh and new stories. They always try to bring out the affected people and it is not rare that they publish deep interviews.

            In the middle of the magazine there is a separate section, called “Female extra”. The main topics are family, health and kitchen, including the typical issues in which women are interested. For example, we can read about the latest and most successful diets and ideas about how to live a healthy and sporty life. Furthermore, we can learn useful tips about how to utilize several natural materials in cooking and cleaning. The editors use a friendly tone to address the readers. For instance, in the latest copy there were typical examples of unfaithful man types from celebrities’ lives. If we read the article, we could feel that the stars are not different from us. It could happen with a beautiful diva as well that her husband is cheating on her. As a part of this extra section we always see our weekly horoscopes and a one-sided crossword.

            In this magazine advertisements do not play the major role. We can find some commercials about other magazines, television shows or fashion items; however, a maximum five or six pages from the fifty contain advertisements. It occurs to publicize something like a mobile service only on half of the page next to shorter articles.

            According to my observations, the target audience of this publication is definitely women between twenty and sixty or even older. However, it is not impossible that also men read it, if they are curious about what is happening in the world of well-known people. The magazine’s content shows famous people, not only today’s celebrities, but also avowed artists. Among the diverse stories everybody could find a point of interest.