Us Vs. In Touch: The Gossip Rags Battle

Battle Of The Gossip Rags: Us Vs. In Touch

by Phyllis Fine , Friday, May 16, 2008
WHO NEEDS PRINT CELEB gossip anymore? After all, you can get updates on Jessica Simpson's activities all over the Web, seemingly by the hour.

And it's not as if these mags provide any kind of fresh spin or deep analysis that's lacking online. Here's what In Touch considers an exclusive scoop: "My weekend was good," says John Mayer, quoted after his first liaison with Jennifer Aniston.

Seems like gossip rags now exist primarily as a market for the paparazzi -- a theory suggested by the many remarkably similar photos in the May 12 issues of Us and In Touch. Both mags show Natalie Portman walking with her surgical-cone-wearing dog, before- and during-pregnancy head shots of Nicole Kidman, and -- hey, you can't have too many pix of Danny DeVito shopping for new eyeglasses, can you?

So are there any differences at all between the two mags, which I qualified for this gossip-off because of their identical cover stories? (People is often cited as Us' direct competitor, but People is in a different class. That's not just because of its no. 1 status in 2007 ad dollars -- as tracked by PIB, more than triple that of Us -- but because People acknowledges humans beyond the Hollywood axis.)

The J&J show: Both Us and IT feature stories about Jen and John's hot weekend together in Miami, with varying details about how they first hooked up, but the same overall theme: Is the ladies' man compatible with the world's most-famous jiltee?

The difference comes down to whether you like your voyeurism with an up-close, you-are-there vibe, or a focus on celeb perks.

IT provides blurry shots of the couple lying by the pool together -- both in bathing suits -- with details like "At one point, John and Jen's heads touched." Ugh! There's something so heavy-breathingly pathetic about viewing from this vantage point.

I prefer Us' focus on the services you get in a $3,000-a-night suite. As a former travel editor suffering from luxury hotel deprivation, I sigh for details like the couples' massage at Jen's Miami resort.

Us also gets clarity points for including all the lurid details in John's statement about Angelina Jolie; IT's incomplete quote may be PG-rated (no mention of blow jobs), but doesn't make much sense. (If you're wondering, it all has to do with Brad's presumed lack of a fantasy object because he's got the real thing.)

"Real" journalism? Us does a better, more even-handed job of parsing a "scandal" in a piece on the Miley Cyrus photo brouhaha. There's a sophisticated take on whether or not posing semi-nude was a calculated move; a disingenuous putdown of Vanity Fair, where the photos ran; and a sidebar on other "Young Stars Who Grinned and Bared" for an edifying touch of historical context.

IT's all about overblown headlines -- "Divorce Shocker: What Star Found Out"-- with no follow-through. What Star (Jones, natch) actually found out: nothing much, it seems. She's not even quoted in the story, which relies on lots of innuendo on whether or not hubby Al Reynolds is really gay ("I don't want to spoil my image of him," says his mother). In fact, IT has another story ("Lindsay Moves In With Her Girlfriend") where the subtext is, everybody's saying yes, she's really gay while at the same time denying it. Weird, and sadly not very gay-friendly.

Fashion Police: This Us feature, in which style experts sometimes too cutely rag on stars' rags (hey! It's catching!) adds a bit of welcome snark to the generally worshipful tone of most gossip mags. In IT, "Who Wore It Better?" does criticize fashion mistakes, but much more respectfully.

Most titillating tidbits: IT and Us both major in short items -- photo captions, really, in which sources invariably trot out the tritest quotes they can think of ("They're really sad. They were very in love," about a breakup). Within this format appear some odd and funny bits: In Us, Julia Roberts and Matthew McConaughey admit they don't wear deodorant; in IT, Kelly Ripa explains how wearing a pair of padded panties for a shapelier rear view feels "like I am sitting in a very cozy chair!"

Is this the end of civilization as we know it because trees are being killed for this crap: "Finally, Nicole's Bump Is Showing!" in IT.

Bottom Line: I rank Us higher because of its slightly less-sleazy approach to putting celebs under a microscrope.


MAG STATS

In Touch Weekly
Published By: Bauer Publishing Co.
Frequency: Weekly
Web site

Us Weekly
Published By: Wenner Media
Frequency: Weekly
Web site

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Phyllis Fine is columns editor for MediaPost.

Magazine Rack for Friday, May 16, 2008:
http://blogs.mediapost.com/magazine_rack/?p=496

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Web 2.0 Marketing Fair in Japan

Digital River to Exhibit at Web 2.0 Marketing Fair in Japan

Web 2.0 Marketing Fair

MINNEAPOLIS-- May 13, 2008 --Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, announced that the company will exhibit at the Web 2.0 Marketing Fair. The event is being held May 14 - 16, 2008, at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan.

At the event, Digital River will host a booth, featuring its global e-commerce and e-marketing technology, tools and services. The booth is located at East 4-29.

The Web 2.0 Marketing Fair is the largest web-related tradeshow in Japan. The event will showcase state-of-the-art products and solutions from more than 1,600 exhibitors. The event expects to draw more than 125,000 industry professionals. More information about The Web 2.0 Marketing Fair can be found at http://www.web20-expo.jp/en/.

About Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds and manages online businesses for software publishers, consumer technology manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company's comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud prevention, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.

Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in major U.S. cities as well as Cologne, Germany; London, England; Shannon, Ireland; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Stockholm, Sweden; Taipei, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and Shanghai, China. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com or call 952-253-1234.

Digital River is a registered trademark of Digital River, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks, registrations or copyrights of their respective owners.

Contacts

Digital River, Inc.
Media Contact:
Heather Morris, 952-253-8828
Public Relations Specialist
publicrelations@digitalriver.com
or
Investor Relations Contact:
Ed Merritt, 952-540-3362
Group Vice President, Investor Relations
investorrelations@digitalriver.com

Deep Brain Stimulation Study Offers Hope for Severe Depression Patients

Results of Brodmann Area 25 Deep Brain Stimulation Pilot Study Offer Hope for Patients with Severe Depression

Study findings presented today at American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- May 05, 2008 --St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) today announced pilot study results from the first multi-center study investigating deep brain stimulation (DBS) of Brodmann Area 25 for major depressive disorder.

Results of the study, which were presented today at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in Washington, D.C., found that 6 months after the procedure, 56 percent of the patients experienced at least a 40 percent decrease in depressive symptoms. Patient's symptoms were measured using a standardized test called the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

Results were presented by Sidney Kennedy, M.D., psychiatrist-in-chief with the University Health Network in Toronto. "Severe depression destroys a person's ability to be productive and have a normal quality of life," said Dr. Kennedy. "The results from this study are very promising, and we are hopeful that our research will lead to a therapy that can help these patients."

Prior to beginning the study, all patients were classified as having severe depression after multiple treatments - such as medications, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy - had failed to provide sustained relief from depression. Each study patient had tried a minimum of 12 depression medications over his or her lifetime.

DBS was targeted at an area of the brain known as Brodmann Area 25, which appears to become overactive when people are profoundly sad and depressed. Conducted at three leading Canadian academic medical centers, the study expands and supports the groundbreaking research of Helen Mayberg, M.D., and Andres Lozano, M.D., which was published in Neuron in March 2005.

On average, the 20 study participants had suffered from depression for more than 20 years; they were disabled and unable to work at the time of enrollment. The study also found that:

    * At their most recent psychiatric evaluation, 78 percent of the patients experienced at least a 40 percent decrease in depressive symptoms.
    * Three of the study patients are considered to be in remission.
    * Eight patients have re-engaged in life activities such as work, school, relationships and travel.

In the study, DBS was delivered through the St. Jude Medical Libra® Deep Brain Stimulation System, which delivers mild electrical current from a device implanted near the collarbone; the device is connected to small electrical leads placed at specific targets in the brain.

"These results are important as they help establish the body of evidence that will continue to move depression research forward," said Chris Chavez, president of the St. Jude Medical ANS Division. "We are committed to leading the development of products that can make life better for patients suffering from this debilitating condition."

Based on the results of this research, St. Jude Medical announced the BROADENT (BROdmann Area 25 DEep brain Neuromodulation) study in February 2008, to further investigate the use of DBS for major depressive disorder. A controlled, multi-center, blinded clinical study, BROADEN is being conducted in the U.S. under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

St. Jude Medical owns the intellectual property rights and has various patents issued and pending for the use of neurostimulation at Brodmann Area 25. For more information about this clinical trial, call toll-free 866-787-4332 or visit www.BROADENstudy.com.

According to the National Advisory Mental Health Council, of the 21 million adult Americans who suffer from depression, approximately 4 million live with severe depression that does not respond to medications, psychotherapy and, in certain cases, electroconvulsive therapy.

About St. Jude Medical

St. Jude Medical is dedicated to making life better for cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide through excellence in medical device technology and services. The Company has five major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiac surgery, cardiology and neuromodulation. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., St. Jude Medical employs more than 12,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit www.sjm.com.

About the ANS Division of St. Jude Medical

The ANS Division (Advanced Neuromodulation Systems) became a part of St. Jude Medical in 2005. The ANS Division is an innovative technology leader dedicated to the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of implantable neuromodulation systems to improve the quality of life for people suffering from disabling chronic pain and other nervous system disorders (www.ans-medical.com).

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include the expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including potential clinical successes, anticipated regulatory approvals and future product launches, and projected revenues, margins, earnings, and market shares. The statements made by the Company are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include market conditions and other factors beyond the Company's control and the risk factors and other cautionary statements described in the Company's filings with the SEC, including those described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 27, 2008 (see Item 1A on pages 13-20, and page 20 of Exhibit 13 to the Company's Form 10-K). The Company does not intend to update these statements and undertakes no duty to any person to provide any such update under any circumstance.

Contacts

St. Jude Medical, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Angela Craig, 651-481-7789
or
Media Relations:
Kathleen Janasz, 651-415-7042
Mobile: 612-743-8995
or
Denise Landry, 972-309-8085