Upper-class women reading celebrity news : audience reception study on celebrity news viewed through the lens of class

Abstract

This research attempts to understand the reception of celebrity news magazines among upper class women in the U.S. The ultimate goal of this research is to identify cultural repertoires about the consumption and use of celebrity news. These repertoires are compared to ones found in Joke Hermes (1995) study on British tabloid readers. Qualitative research methods provide the framework for this study and in-depth interviews were conducted in order to collect detailed data. Data was collected from the interviews and analyzed for common themes and repertoires. I found most of the subjects read celebrity news with resistance to its dominant message. In fact, most readers negotiated the text and imprinted their own meanings onto it. Celebrity news permeates nearly all media outlets and has seen a recent surge of popularity and press time over the past ten years. Understanding what attracts readers to celebrity news is useful information for media scholars and professionals. A more intimate understanding of how women use celebrity news also helps to illuminate how being a celebrity newsreader affects women's lives.