The Morass of Media

Today I sat down with an apparently simple task in mind:  to determine what percentage of a teen magazine is content.  We all know that those magazines don't have any content, right?  Although these magazines do have their fair share of advertisements (not any more than Time, though), the amount of space dedicated to content is surprisingly high.  I'd share a few examples of the content with you but, uh, it wasn't exactly memorable stuff (to me, anyway).  Lots of pictures of stars from boy bands and TV shows with comments written in with faux pencil, things like, "Zach is really into girls who wear tight jeans."  Is that content?  If you consider the audience and the purpose of the magazine, yes (sadly).  In trying to determine the percentage of content, my partner and I realized that sometimes there is a fine line between just what is advertising and what is content.  If we hear that "Zach digs pimped out Mercedes SUV's," is that a plug for a product, or is it simply a statement about the kinds of things that Zach likes and his fans are "into"?  And the troubling conclusion that we came to is that readers of teen magazines are so immersed in the cult of consumerism that it is difficult to say just what is content and what is advertising in their magazines.  The people written about in the articles aren't so much human beings as they are products to be consumed and promoted--Hillary Duff, Paris Hilton, and, of course Justin Bieber.  And if all of the "articles" (and I use that term  lightly!) in these magazines deal with products that are promoted, is any of this stuff really content?  Hard to say