Writing health information
Norma
decrease, but articles about smoking and health are still less than 1% of
health articles in 13 women's magazine. Nutrition articles are about 10%.
No news on mascara and health (in this article). If you smoke and/or eat,
don't write. And if your specialty is hyperbole, you're losing your niche.
http://www.acsh.org/publications/reports/wms_0399.html
Norma
--
Late has four meanings. Slow. Far along in the day. Far along in any period
of time. In the recent past. It may be used as an adjective and adverb in
all four senses. Last is the old superlative of late. A Dictionary of
contemporary American Usage, 1957. I think this word has too many
responsibilities. nb
Chris McLaughlin
> Blatant hyperbole in medical articles (is this redundant) is on the
> decrease,
Articles in popular women's magazines aren't really MEDICAL articles.
Although there's slant and spin aplenty there, too.
> but articles about smoking and health are still less than 1% of
> health articles in 13 women's magazine.
You make the incorrect assumption that the purpose of lady magazines
is to educate. It's not: it's to sell products. Cigarettes are
products. Diet industry is full of products, and one big reason women
smoke is to keep weight off. So cigarette smoking is linked to
clothing sales, too.
The hyperbole has shifted into the business sector, where only gee
whiz reporting is allowed.
Chris.tine
Geno
"Chris McLaughlin" <cmcl...@mcw.edu> wrote in message
news:1ff54e91.02032...@posting.google.com...
Your very good friend Wayne Lutz made this same observation with regard to
Men's magazines a short while back. The purpose of the articles is to sell
products which are either advertised in other areas of the rag, directly
across the page, or even manufactured by the publisher of the magazine.
Many, if not most of the *health* articles are written by young hacks who go
to google, find bits and pieces of info and then piece it together to make
enough qualifying words for the article. Much of the info is incorrect from
even a biological foundation, and much is purposely slanted for commercial
purposes.
I subscribed to both Men's Health and Men's Fitness through one annual cycle
before letting both drop. (But my subscriptions helped my granddaughter get
a band uniform).
Health is my middle name.
--Geno H Royer
Norma
"Chris McLaughlin" <cmcl...@mcw.edu> wrote in message
news:1ff54e91.02032...@posting.google.com...
> "Norma" <bru...@osu.edu> wrote:
>
> is to educate. It's not: it's to sell products. Cigarettes are
> products. Diet industry is full of products, and one big reason women
> smoke is to keep weight off. So cigarette smoking is linked to
> clothing sales, too.
It wasn't my assumption, nor that of the authors of the article I linked
(who also have a slant). All magazines are about the sale of products to a
particular demographic, not about the number of subscribers or readers. The
Grandmothers of the ladies household magazines essentially began in the 19th
cent. as product catalogs with a little copy thrown in like poetry and
household hints in to keep the customers happy. My grandmother began
subscribing to Ladies Home Journal in 1888 when she was about 12 years old.
I think it was a sneaky way to read fiction, which wasn't allowed in their
home. But I have some of them--what fun to read. And the advertisements
are a hoot. But, sigh, the paper dolls are all long gone.
Norma
Alan Hope
programme, like this one from Norma, calling from misc.writing:
>Late has four meanings. Slow. Far along in the day. Far along in any period
>of time. In the recent past. It may be used as an adjective and adverb in
>all four senses. Last is the old superlative of late. A Dictionary of
>contemporary American Usage, 1957. I think this word has too many
>responsibilities. nb
I think they forgot one. What about "now-deceased"?
--
AH
ActiveVerb
of the major business magazines and the research process wasn't much different
than when I later wrote many of the big business and computer magazines. I'd
read articles and interview sources.
The closer truth, I think, is that that the health information consumers need
doesn't change enough to justify all these articles. I mean, we all know to eat
more vegetables and less red meat, exercise, etc. So the magazines have to find
new ways to slice and dice the same information to capture people's interest.
But that's really no different than major magazines do on many topics. I never
had a single instance, in fact, where a health article was "slanted for
commercial purposes" (I am not even sure what you mean by this.)
Liza
Chris McLaughlin
> And the advertisements
> are a hoot. But, sigh, the paper dolls are all long gone.
The advertisements are still a hoot--or would be if some of them
weren't so pathetic.
But they're best in the fashion magazines, where the real-life "paper
dolls" strut their stuff.
Take one of these magazines and tear out every page that has a
photograph of a woman who looks like a drug addict, ill, or unhappy
and see how many pages you have left. . .
Sigh.
Chris.tine
Chris McLaughlin
> Many, if not most of the *health* articles are written by young hacks who go
> to google, find bits and pieces of info and then piece it together to make
> enough qualifying words for the article. Much of the info is incorrect from
> even a biological foundation, and much is purposely slanted for commercial
> purposes.
I don't know about the "young hacks," though I suspect you could lump
most working writers into this category if you wanted to, and if you
stretched your definition of "young."
And even the scientific community doesn't have good evidence about a
lot of the products and claims. So you can't really blame the "hacks"
for not knowing what the docs don't either.
Everybody already knows what they need to know about most of general
health: eat wholesome, delicious, fresh food in moderation when you
are hungry; drink a little if you can and if you want to; exercise
almost every day--and walking will do it; don't smoke; enjoy life and
friendships; do good work but don't do too much of it; avoid toxic
people and environments.
So the real trick is getting people to change their behavior, not give
'em different information.
Chris
Chris
Norma
> photograph of a woman who looks like a drug addict, ill, or unhappy
> and see how many pages you have left. . .
>
> Sigh.
>
> Chris.tine
Then take those pages, tear into strips and weave, over under over under
etc. Photocopy at Kinko's and sell your abstract art for hundreds! No
anorexic, vacant eyed, morose woman needs to go to waiste-land before her
time.
Norma