Today we saw what is wrong in media and society and met the people who can lead the charge to fix it, but won’t.
That was my takeaway from visiting Hearst Italia, a company that owns several of the top magazines in the world, including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire, and several others. Maybe it was the wrong takeaway, but that was my honest opinion. I also have no interest in working in the magazine industry, but can recognize the intrigue for my peers who have those aspirations.
We met with folks who have editorial positions in the three aforementioned publications, and two women who have roles in advertising. One oversees international advertising and one works with Italian clients.
They went over their roles, the goals of the publications, their career paths, and current trends in the industry.
Lisa Mancini, the Cosmopolitan fashion editor, took questions after she explained her role in the publication. Essentially, she is in charge of traveling the world to book models/photographers/makeup artists for fashion shoots that are included in the magazine.
One student asked about the trend of the mainstream modeling industry and how women are represented in magazines. There is a slight push in the U.S. to have models who are of all body types to show inclusivity and reflect the greater society, not portray one strict anorexic figure. She asked if the magazine still pushes stereotypes, and asked if the U.S. trend was being recognized in Europe. She asked it to the woman who has the power and ability to cast whatever model she wants, and has a voice in the editorial world that can influence decision making.
She said the magazine still uses stereotypes on the front covers. She said millennial typically say, “Who cares?” about stereotypes being reflected in magazines. The trend in the industry, at least in Europe, is to stick with the stereotypes.
“Maybe, who knows, maybe that trend will fade away,” she said.
Another one of the panelists came to her defense and said they have feature stories on the inside that showcase diversity and inclusivity. Someone else pointed to a cover of a fit, 110 pound woman as an example of a non-traditional model who is not anorexic.
I asked this student if her question was answered, or if they dodged it.
She answered with a simple, “No,” and a group of us discussed the problems we saw in the discussion.
The topic kind of came up on our ensuing tour of the building. On the tour the same person who pointed out the athletic cover model said, “Look, she’s not thin.”
That struck the wrong chord with most of our group.
I think what she meant to say was, “She’s not the traditional anorexic model.”
Fashion and the magazine world are cruel industries that lack ethics and decency. A few of the people we met on our tour put on a face that said they were journalists, then proceeded to say how advertising impacts what they cover in each magazine.
There are magazines and publications out there that do real journalism and cover important issues objectively. What we saw today was not an example of that.
The industry is what it is. The people we met were hospitable and welcoming, just like every other media visit on this trip. There was nothing wrong with them, as they did a fantastic job of opening their doors to us and bringing us in for a great learning experience. The industry that they serve, however, has serious issues that are slowly being addressed in the states, but clearly are not in Europe.
Our visit to Hearst Italia was enlightening for several reasons; most of them probably weren’t intended reasons. It was our final stop on our tour around Italian media, and I’m glad we got to see a variety of different areas during our visit.
It was also the favorite stop for several people on the trip. I really did enjoy many of the aspects of the magazine. We learned about graphic design, layout, editorial decisions and photography. I learned a lot and definitely can see how it was attractive to several people on the trip. Again, I enjoyed it and the hospitable people that worked there, but have problems with the industry itself.
I have to write a course reflection paper eventually that I’ll also publish on this site that will recap all of my work and what I learned on the trip from our media visits.
Jan Getz started the class with Helen Fallon years ago. Jan has hookups all over the world and did an incredible job getting us connected with media professionals across the board for a trip that was out of this world.
Our time together is coming to an end. We had our final dinner as a group this evening and will leave at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow to head to the airport.
I was told before I left for Italy that everyone who has left the U.S. before about the life-changing experience I would have traveling abroad. They were right.
I had the time of my life in Italy and I’m disappointed to see this trip come to an end.
With that being said, I’m excited for Sheetz, carbonated soda, and real American coffee.
I’ll see you in America!