2 - Tabloid Media

 

Tabloid Media & Britney Spears 

My name is Brittany, I grew up in the 90s and Early 2000s so of course I was a Britney fan and witnessed the rise and fall of Britney Spears and the extensive tabloid media coverage of her, which ultimately led to the Britney we know today. 

Tabloids are an eye catching type of media, full of dramatic celebrity photos and gossip, not the place for deep hard hitting journalism. I’ve never bought a tabloid but I definitely looked at them, usually just skimming through and tossing to the side because I don’t care about most of the celebrities they talk about anyways. 

But when it comes to Britney, I care. She’s like a nostalgic part of my childhood and we literally watched the media build her up only to break her down, especially tabloid media and online celebrity bloggers like, Perez Hilton.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about this topic and here’s why we could blame Tabloid Media for the demise of my favorite pop star:

The Britney Economy - Tabloid media coverage of Britney was BIG business in the early 2000s. Everyone from paparazzi, her record label, tabloid publications and even Britney’s family and ex husband got paid from the coverage of Britney Spears life and capturing her every move. This article written by entrepreneur.com breaks down how much everyone made in 2008. 

“A Britney photo garners anywhere from $250 (for a run-of-the-mill shot of her at Starbucks) to $100,000 or more…..All told, Britney probably makes up a full 20 percent of the paparazzi business.”

“ If it seems like every time you see a newsstand, Britney is on the cover of another magazine, that's only because.she is. A celebrity tabloid with Britney Spears on the cover sells 1.28 million newsstand copies, some 33 percent more than the average. Between January 2006 and July 2007, Britney was a cover subject of People, Us Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style, OK!, or Star a total of 175 times in just 78 weeks. During that period, newsstand sales of issues with her on the cover amounted to a staggering $360 million.” entrepreneur.com

Stigmatized Mental Health- in 2007 Britney Spears had a major breakdown in the public eye, which included a custody battle, her shaving her head, constant partying and erratic behavior. In 2008 she was placed into conservatorship by her father. Here’s where ethics become questionable, these are some of the 100s of covers/headlines about Britney during her lowest point. Ethically speaking, mental health issues should be taken seriously and handled with care just as any illness. In this case her struggles with mental health were made public spectacle, while her photos were sold to the highest bidder. 

Britney has since talked a lot about her mental health struggles and has written a memoir titled Woman where she talked about her experiences growing up in show business, previous relationships and the impact being “hounded by the paparazzi” had on her mental health. 

Forbes

I mentioned “celebrity blogger” Perez Hilton briefly, he played a huge role in the break down of Britney Spears, his online tabloid blog followed many celebrities but none as much as Britney. He has spoken in recent interviews about his “regret” and concern for Britney Spears. 

But a simple search of Britney on PerezHilton.com shows that he or a team associated with his brand is still profiting off of Britney in 2024. 

We are still witnessing some of Britney’s struggles as she recently was released from her conservatorship in 2023. As a fan I’m wishing her the best! This was an interesting topic to dive into and would love to learn more about how Tabloid Media has impacted other celebrities over the years. 

In conclusion, if Britney can make it through 2007 you can make it through whatever you’re going through.