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Rag Mags = Respected Journalism?
If you ever stand in line at the Supermarket or pay to read some of the high-end rag mags, then you've seen what's transpired recently on the covers of Star Magazine and In Touch (as well as a myriad of other high-watermark journalism).
You had to have been living in a cave if you hadn't seen the "bulge pictures" of Britney Spears. The over-sized potato sacks she wore to "cover the impending bloom of life." You noticed the no-longer-dyed hair and her sported "pooch" just below the waist. And you sat there and read the headlines and looked at the magazine name and said to yourself, "Those damn rag mags -- what a waste of space."
Yet here we stand, mere hours after Britney Spears announced on her own website that yes, indeed, for sure, totally -- she was pregnant and was having a baby.
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Everything the rag mags told us, was absolutely true.
Which got LAist to wondering... Really, these people over at these magazines have been doing this for so long, isn't it possible that about 75% of what they print is true?
When they said that Brad and Jennifer were having problems, no one believed them. When they mentioned Nick and Jessica's marriage woes - people scoffed. When they snapped pictures of Jennifer Garner hanging out a little too close with her Alias co-star Michael Vartan, people still obsessing over their Felicity DVDs screamed that there was "no way" that such a sweet girl would be cheating on her husband.
Uh huh.
Maybe the rag mags should be given more credit than not. Sure, their desire to fill the pages with illegally obtained, annoyingly stalker-esque pictures as snapped by our favorite paparazzi isn't the most positive way to garner goodwill between the public, the stars and those inbetween. But you gotta admit -- they've sure got a way of presenting us with the good, juicy details.
That's why, effective immediately, LAist would like to lend credibility to the following subjects, as we believe that the rag mags are onto something. We would like to tell you that alien abductions are happening and that they often hang with the President. We would like to confirm that Chad Lowe wears the dress in the relationship with his wife, Hilary Swank. We would like to enthusiastically announce that Nick and Jessica are over, Reese and Ryan are getting separated, the Earth is mere months from being swallowed up by monster tsunamis and overblown volcanos, that your toddler is going to swallow that toy they're playing with, and that no matter what anyone thinks -- Bruce Willis will be Ashton's best man at his upcoming nuptuals (which will, by the way take place in Hawaii).
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Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
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