Monday, December 31, 2018

Emily Ratajkowski, lying clickbait stories drive blog traffic in 2018

For the third year in a row, the most popular stories on Tech-media-tainment were those about online content promoters using lying clickbait.
Seven of the top 20 posts last year were about clickbait tactics, including the use of sexy women like the incomparable Emily Ratajkowski. (The hot photos on her Instagram feed have attracted 21.1 million followers.)
Readers also were drawn to posts about controversial magazine covers and year-ahead predictions.
Also, four top posts were related to the adult film industry. Those few posts were enough for Google-owned Blogger to restrict the type of ads shown on Tech-media-tainment. It now classifies the website as having “sexual content” even though I’m just reporting on news and trends.
Here’s a list of the top 20 articles on Tech-media-tainment based on page views for 2018.
  1. Fake Old West photos, fake teachers and other lying clickbait (Jan. 25, 2018)
  2. Presenting Photoshopped fakes as the real deal: clickbait edition (Jan. 24, 2018)
  3. Emily Ratajkowski and other clickbait cuties (Jan. 26, 2018)
  4. Fake historical photos, deceptive pictures and other lying clickbait tactics (April 3, 2018)
  5. Clickbait exposés dominate most popular posts of 2017 (Dec. 25, 2017)
  6. New year, same clickbait tactics (Jan. 23, 2018)
  7. The most controversial magazine covers of 2018 (Dec. 22, 2018)
  8. Augmented reality: Is there a porn app for that? (July 30, 2018)
  9. Top 20 celebrities predicted to die in 2018 (Jan. 1, 2018)
  10. Bitcoin boom and bust, Magic Leap glasses flop and other 2018 tech predictions (Dec. 23, 2017)
  11. Psychic predictions for 2018 (Dec. 24, 2017)
  12. Snubbed by magazines, Melania Trump is embraced by pornographers (Feb. 26, 2018)
  13. Post-apocalyptic scenarios explored in X-rated movies (Sept. 3, 2018)
  14. The 10 hottest women of the LFL (Aug. 19, 2018)
  15. Comprehensive list of post-apocalyptic TV shows (Jan. 21, 2018)
  16. Blockchain: Is there a porn app for that? (Jan. 20, 2018)
  17. President Trump depicted as crying baby, nutjob, Neanderthal on latest magazine covers (Jan. 19, 2018)
  18. Notable nude magazine covers in 2017 (Dec. 17, 2017)
  19. Fake news! Lying clickbait exposed! (June 23, 2018)
  20. Trump Hair Cotton Candy and other unusual items at the Sweets & Snacks Expo (May 26, 2018)
Photo: Emily Ratajkowski from her Instagram feed.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Newest physical hall of fame is for mascots

The U.S. has lots of halls of fame for athletes and musicians, but now there’s one for sports team mascots.
The likes of Benny the Bull from the Chicago Bulls and Mr. Met from the New York Mets are being honored at the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Indiana. The $18 million, 25,000-square-foot, three-story state-of-the-art facility opened on Dec. 26.
The Mascot Hall of Fame is as much an interactive children’s museum as it is a shrine to zany, entertaining team mascots.
In the future, the facility might expand to honor corporate brand mascots, such as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes icon Tony the Tiger and the giggling Pillsbury Doughboy.
(See articles by Post-Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.)

Photos from Mascot Hall of Fame.

Related resource:

Halls of Fame in North America


Sunday, December 23, 2018

2018 magazine covers in review

This concludes my annual review of magazine covers, including trends and controversies.

Here is a listing of articles in this year’s series:

Magazines bash Facebook, Amazon and Google in cover treatments (Dec. 12, 2018)

Make-unders and no-makeup magazine covers gain ground (Dec. 13, 2018)

Lindsay Lohan as trashy Disney princesses (Dec. 14, 2018)

Magazines that printed their last issues in 2018 (Dec. 15, 2018)

Notable new magazines in 2018: Fangoria, HelloGiggles and Grow by Facebook (Dec. 16, 2018)

Bare-naked ladies: Nude magazine covers in 2018 (Dec. 17, 2018)

The most divisive Vogue magazine covers of 2018 (Dec. 18, 2018)

The most controversial magazine covers of 2018 (Dec. 22, 2018)

Related reading:

2017 magazine covers in review (Dec. 19, 2017)

Photos: Stylist magazine cover with creepy humanoid robot Sophia (see article by the Daily Mail); covers for Elle Russia and Maxim.



Saturday, December 22, 2018

The most controversial magazine covers of 2018

It was a banner year for controversial magazine covers, with a couple even stoking international conflict.

The Turkish government took offense with French news magazine Le Point for its May 24 cover story, which labeled Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “dictator.”
French President Emmanuel Macron even waded into a debate over the issue, criticizing those who attacked kiosks selling the magazine.
The cover featured a stern portrait of Erdogan with the cover line: “The dictator. How far will Erdogan go?” It accused the leader of locking up opponents, judges and journalists.
(See articles by the Stockholm Center for Freedom, conservative Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Safak, German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Bloomberg.)


Jewish groups and Israeli media were triggered by the Nov. 29 issue of Hungarian business magazine Figyelo. Critics called the magazine cover anti-Semitic.
The cover illustration showed Andras Heisler, head of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, surrounded by falling banknotes. The group condemned the magazine, saying the cover “revives centuries-old stereotypes against our community.”
The American Jewish Committee issued a statement saying, “Jews with money is a familiar, disgraceful anti-Semitic trope.”
(See articles by the Times of Israel, Israel National News, the Jewish Chronicle and the Jerusalem Post.)


Amnesty International’s Dutch arm landed in hot water this month for the cover of its “Glamoria” magazine. It tried to draw attention to the Mediterranean refugee crisis with a glossy cover that would present a “sharp contrast between the luxurious lifestyle portrayed in magazines and the terrible situation of people in the camps,” the human-rights group said. Its cover showed a half-naked fashion model lounging on a bed of orange life jackets.
Critics called the cover tasteless and said it sexualized refugees. Amnesty International Netherlands apologized and removed the cover.
(See articles by NPR and India-based Nation News.)


Time magazine caught flak for its July 2 cover. The cover’s photo illustration showed President Donald Trump towering over a crying child along with the headline “Welcome to America.” It was supposed to illustrate a story on the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents after they are apprehended at the U.S. border. However, the child on the cover was never separated from her mother.
The cover played into Trump’s criticism of the mainstream media and what he calls “fake news.”
(See articles by the Washington Post, CNN, Fox News and Vox.)


Time magazine also was accused of stretching the truth with its Sept. 24 cover story that purported to show how little public-school teachers make.
The cover showed teacher Hope Brown in a classroom with the quote “I have a master’s degree, 16 years of experience, work two extra jobs and donate blood plasma to pay the bills. I’m a teacher in America.”
Reason magazine did some fact-checking on the story. Its assessment: “The polite term for this sort of journalism is b.s.”


Bloomberg Businessweek published a widely discredited cover story in its Oct. 8 issue. The cover text touted “The Big Hack: How China used a tiny chip to infiltrate America’s top companies.” It featured a photo of a tiny chip balanced on a fingertip. But the chip shown was not the spy chip in question and should have said it was a photo illustration.
The allegations in the article itself have been thoroughly debunked by experts and the companies named. Amazon.com, Apple and Super Micro called on Bloomberg to retract the story.
(See articles by BuzzFeed, the Verge, STH, 9to5Mac, Techdirt and Reuters.)


Forbes magazine faced a backlash online for its Aug. 31 cover story on “America’s Women Billionaires.” The cover labeled reality-TV star Kylie Jenner a “self-made” almost-billionaire.
Critics noted that the 21-year-old was born into wealth. One Twitter user said calling Kylie Jenner a “self-made billionaire” is “like claiming you made soup from scratch because you opened a can and reheated.”
(See articles by the Daily Mail, CNN and Fox Business.)


The October issue of Cosmopolitan magazine’s U.K. edition caused a firestorm by featuring plus-size model Tess Holliday as its cover model.
“Good Morning Britain” host Piers Morgan called the cover “dangerous and misguided”. He said Cosmopolitan was “celebrating morbid obesity” by promoting the 300-pound woman to its readers.
The magazine responded that it was trying to promote body positivity.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, the Independent, Mirror and People.)


The June issue of National Geographic initially was praised for raising awareness about plastic polluting the world’s oceans. The cover showed a submerged plastic bag that looked like an iceberg.
But the publication was slammed as hypocritical for shipping the magazine to subscribers wrapped in two plastic bags in some countries.
(See articles by the Indian Express and CNN News18.)


Model Paris Jackson, who is bisexual, apologized for appearing on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in Singapore, a country where sex between men is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Jamie Tabberer, an editor at Gay Star News, started the debate when he criticized the September cover. He said Jackson’s appearance on it was incompatible with her pledge to support gay rights. “The hypocrisy is absurd,” he said.
(See articles by the New York Times, USA Today, the Straits Times, Teen Vogue and Allure.)


GQ stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy in November by naming tennis great Serena Williams as its 2018 “Woman” of the Year. Fans found the use of quotation marks troubling.
Critics said the use of quotation marks around “woman” appeared to call into question her gender or her femininity.
(See articles by the New York Times, Vox, Today, USA Today and Vice.)


South African magazine Move was criticized as racist for its Nov. 28 cover story on the interracial relationship between singer, actress and dancer Kelly Khumalo and rapper Chad da Don.
The magazine cover featured a picture of the couple with the text “Kelly Khumalo madly in love with umlungu.” Umlungu literally means “white scum” and is used to derogatively refer to white people in South Africa.
(See articles by Ghafla and Briefly.)


Grihalakshmi, a women’s magazine published in India, tried to raise awareness about the the need for mothers to be able to breastfeed in public. It chose to portray model Gilu Joseph breastfeeding an infant on the cover of its March issue.
Conservative readers criticized the subject matter of the cover. Others pointed out that Joseph is not a mother and is just pretending to breastfeed an infant.
(See articles by India Today, the Telegraph, BBC, Newsweek and SBS News.)


Texas Monthly magazine was accused of pay-for-play with its February cover featuring the CEO of Austin-based dating site Bumble.
The Columbia Journalism Review reported that Bumble had agreed to spend $25,000 to $30,000 on social media promotion for the magazine if the dating site’s CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, was featured on the cover.
(See articles by Columbia Journalism Review and Statesman.)


Men’s Journal magazine departed from its usual cover format that features famous men with one of three haircuts with its September issue. That issue’s cover included a photo of Donald Trump’s alleged former mistress Karen McDougal.
McDougal reportedly received the cover treatment as part of a deal with American Media Inc., the Trump-connected company that owns the National Enquirer as well as Men’s Journal. AMI bought the rights to McDougal’s story about her extramarital affair with Trump then buried it in a “catch-and-kill” deal before the 2016 election.
AMI spun its “hush money” payout to McDougal into a payment to appear on the cover of the men’s magazine.
(See articles by the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Mail and Raw Story.)

Update (late addition):

On Dec. 30, French newspaper Le Monde apologized for a magazine cover that provoked outrage by drawing a visual parallel between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
(See articles by the U.K. Telegraph, France 24, the Daily Mail and Fox News.)

Related articles:

The most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2017 (Dec. 16, 2017)

The most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2017 (Dec. 16, 2017)

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The most divisive Vogue magazine covers of 2018

Fashion magazine Vogue frequently stirs up controversy with its cover choices. Its magazines in 2018 were no exception.

The June cover of Vogue Arabia featuring a Saudi princess behind the wheel of a convertible drew widespread criticism.
The issue claimed to be “a celebration of the trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia,” including cover subject Princess Hayfa Bint Abdullah Al Saud. Saudi Arabia had recently lifted its ban on female drivers.
Critics called the magazine tone deaf, noting that at least 11 activists had been arrested in Saudi Arabia in the previous two weeks, most of whom were women who fought for the right to drive.
(See articles by NPR, CNN and Time.)

Vogue Italia was slammed for using “black face” with its cover image of model Gigi Hadid for its May 2018 issue.
Hadid and Vogue Italia later apologized for the photo shoot. Hadid said her skin was bronzed for the session, but also darkened in post-production.
(See articles by People, CBS News, the Daily Mail and Page Six.)


The February issue of British Vogue was mocked for featuring two white actresses, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, with the cover line “Why we need to talk about race.”
British Vogue has faced criticism for its lack of racial diversity within its covers.
(See articles by the Independent and AJC.)


The March issue of Vogue India was criticized for featuring reality-television star Kim Kardashian West on the cover instead of a South Asia woman.
She also was lambasted for cultural appropriation in the photo shoot. Kardashian West wore a lehenga, a traditional Indian skirt typically worn to formal events or on special occasions.
(See articles by Insider, Fashionista, Indian Express and the Daily Mail.)


Reality-TV star Kylie Jenner stirred up controversy on social media with her appearance on the cover of the September issue of Vogue Australia.
Her makeup artist, Ariel Tejada, implied that Jenner was makeup-free, except for moisturizer, on the cover. People took to social media to call B.S. on that claim.
(See articles by Insider and Dankanator.)


Readers complained about the cover selection for the first issue of Vogue Czechoslovakia. They called the cover ugly and said it wasted Czech beauty Karolina Kurkova by photographing her back.
(See article by the Fashion Spot.)


Finally, in May, readers ridiculed the cover of U.S. Vogue’s Met Gala Special Edition. They knocked Katy Perry’s outfit and said other celebrities at the show had much better ensembles. But no one dared to complain about Rihanna, who shared the cover. (See article by the Fashion Spot.)


Monday, December 17, 2018

Bare-naked ladies: Nude magazine covers in 2018

Photographing naked celebrities is a staple of the magazine business. And there was no shortage of magazines peddling flesh in 2018.

Supermodel Heidi Klum, 45, showed off her impressive naked body on the May-June cover of Maxim and the July cover of Ocean Drive.


Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski, 27, appeared topless on the March cover of Vanity Fair Spain.


Supermodel Miranda Kerr posed topless on the December cover of Maxim Russia.


Actress Zoe Kravitz, 30, posed nude for the November cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The shot was a recreation of a photo that her mother, Lisa Bonet, did for the magazine 30 years earlier while pregnant with Zoe. (See articles by Rolling Stone, Maxim and Teen Vogue.)


Actress and dancer Jenna Dewan, 38, posed naked for the September cover of Women’s Health.


Singer Rita Ora, 28, posed in the buff for the autumn cover of U.K. music magazine Clash. (See article by the Daily Mail.)


No stranger to baring it all, reality-television star Kim Kardashian, 38, posed topless for the October cover of Richardson magazine.


Actress Lily-Rose Depp, 19, posed topless on the winter cover for V magazine.


Model Bella Hadid, 22, posed topless on the beach for the July cover of Vogue Mexico.


British fashion model Adwoa Aboah, 26, posed wearing only panties on the April cover of Allure.


Model Jasmine Sanders, 27, appeared naked on the cover of Treats! Magazine in November.


The May-June issue of Playboy featured Playmate of the Year Nina Daniele naked (except for black evening gloves, stockings and stiletto heels) in a martini glass.


Finally, ESPN’s annual Body Issue featured 10 different covers with naked athletes. Among them were soccer star Megan Rapinoe and basketball legend Sue Bird, the first time a same-sex couple has appeared on the cover.


Nude magazine covers in previous years:

Notable nude magazine covers in 2017 (Dec. 17, 2017)

Best nude magazine covers of 2016 (Jan. 17, 2017)

Live nude girls! Top 20 naked celebrity magazine covers of 2015 (Jan. 17, 2016)

Nude, nude, nude: The most talked-about naked celebrity magazine covers of 2014 (Jan. 17, 2015)

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Notable new magazines in 2018: Fangoria, HelloGiggles and Grow by Facebook

Yesterday I discussed some of the magazines that ended their print runs in 2018. Today I’ll look at a few notable new magazines that debuted this year.
Dallas-based Cinestate relaunched famed horror movie magazine Fangoria in October. The publication was in print from 1979 through late 2016. (See articles by the Washington Post, MovieWeb and Fandom.)
Millennial-focused website HelloGiggles launched a print magazine for its readers in April. (See article by Adweek.)
Social media giant Facebook debuted a print magazine called Grow by Facebook in June. The quarterly magazine is aimed at business leaders. (See articles by PressGazette, CNN and Juan Senor of Innovation Media Consulting.)



Saturday, December 15, 2018

Magazines that printed their last issues in 2018

In the world of magazines, titles come and go.
Magazines that printed their final issues in 2018 include women’s titles Glamour and Seventeen, conservative journal The Weekly Standard and regional publications Montana Magazine and Vermont Life.
Publisher Conde Nast announced in November that it was ending regular print publication of Glamour. The monthly magazine began in 1939 and is moving to an online format. It might still publish occasional print issues centered on its annual Women of the Year award or topics like power and money. (See articles by the New York Times, HuffPost and Variety.)
Also in November, publisher Hearst announced that its young women’s magazine Seventeen was switching to a digital format. The magazine, which started in 1944, might still do “special stand-alone issues” in the future. (See articles by Folio and WWD.)
Clarity Media Group announced on Friday that it is shutting down The Weekly Standard, which launched in 1995. (See articles by Politico, Vox and CNN.)
Lee Enterprises announced in September that it was shutting down Montana Magazine, which was founded in 1970. (See articles by the Associated Press and Montana Standard.)
The state of Vermont announced in May that it was closing its Vermont Life quarterly magazine, which began in 1946. (See article by Burlington Free Press.)
The final covers for those magazines are included with this post.