Introduction

I am a sucker for reading the Mail online. I read it every day, four times a day.  Not for the breaking news, but purely for the tabloids. When ‘googling’ the success of the Mail online I was stunned to see that they have more than 50 million readers every month, rivaling The New York Times. As much as I love my daily fix of the Mail online, I can’t help wonder why it is so popular. In one week, there main headlines were that Harper Beckham went to the park, Rob Kardashian had a fight with his sister and someone (unsure who) from ‘TOWIE’ took a picture in her underwear. The popularity of the website seems to me that it comes from the most mundane stories.

This gave me an idea, I want to find Mail online archives and find whether mundane celebrity stories have always been a key aspect of their website, or whether this was a good way to keep up with brainless people like I.

I've decided to go backwards with my selection of articles, the first one being chosen from this year.

1st April - 2013 She's his little water baby: Kelsey Grammer kisses his daughter Faith as they enjoy a dip in the pool in Miami

Kelsey Grammer

I chose to read this article to evaluate whether it was giving us some breaking news or something, but no it gave us exactly what the title says, pictures of Kelsey Grammer with his baby, swimming in a pool. The article gives small amounts of information; what I gathered, was that Kelsey is 58, his daughter Faith is 8 months old, and his new wife was wearing "a sheer blue and white striped shirt, white shorts and a pair of sandals".

This piece of news did not give any news, it didn't drastically change political opinions nor did it identify any severe weather warnings. What I read and saw, was a man perfectly capable of swimming, with his children. I can see the point of publishing news of Brad Pitt topless in a pool with his baby, as can many other women. But I fail to see the need of seeing Kelsey Grammer seemingly having a lovely time in Miami.

Link to article

2nd February 2012 - How's the marathon training going? James 'Arg' Argent gorges on battered sausage and chips with lashings of ketchup

For those of you who watch TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex, I don't understand why we need to abbreviate it either) then you'll more than likely be aware of one of their key stars James 'Arg' Argent. I'm not an avid follower/fan of James, but what I've gathered is that he is trying to shed some pounds. Well thanks to the Mail online, I'm sure he'll be getting some concerned calls of his personal trainer.

The fact that 'Arg' was eating chips and a battered sausage whilst walking does not seem at all interesting (in fact my life has remained exactly the same since I read it) however, small aspects of his meal seemed to be focused upon and evaluated in depth. His meal was "doused in lashings of tomato ketchup" and he "had three wooden forks sticking out of his polystyrene container which he chose to ignore", if I rearranged a few nouns, the article looks like it is reporting a severe crime, but no, we need to know what condiments 'Arg' chose to have with his battered sausage and chips.

If you would like to see pictures of 'Arg's' dinner then please visit:
Link to article

28th February 2011 - Isn't it a bit cold for bare legs? Suri Cruise braves the snow in a flimsy dress as she goes for cupcakes with mother Katie.

Children of celebrities are a whole topic worthy of a blog itself. First of all, their names, Brooklyn, Fifi Trixibelle, Apple, Sage Moonblood, Blanket, I'll stop now, the list could go on a while. Second of all, children as young as a day old gain more press than their millionaire parents. There is no doubt that some of these children are very cute, but that is where the interest behind them ends, they can't perform, they can't give speeches, and they can't sing, so why are they famous?

This article shows four year-old Suri Cruise prancing around in a snowy Vancouver, "wearing pink boots and a bright pink jacket, but didn't appear to be staying warm in her thin dress." The article goes onto discuss Suri's mother, and once again we are then drawn back into what they eat, in this case cupcakes.

I read the tabloids; however, I do not understand the amount children are in the press. It is worrying that when they start school, the norm to them is being followed by hundreds of cameras when walking down the street, will they struggle? Or will others become envious? We will never know, but we more than likely will know what kind of cake Suri Cruise likes to eat.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, parents of Suri

Link to article

22nd March 2010 - Its a hard life! Yawning Kim Kardashian basks in the Miami sun on luxury yacht

Kim Kardashian

Every day, without a doubt, at least one member of the Kardashian family will appear in the Mail Online. I know who they are, I would recognize them, I know they are 'celebrities', but I always find myself wondering what exactly they are famous for. It seems that they are famous purely for being famous; they do not seem to have one exact niche that activated their career. 

In 2013, the Kardashian's seem to be taking over every aspect of the business world, having dug a bit deeper I found that they have a whole empire including a clothing line, perfume, weight loss products, books and a skin care line. On top of their empire, they have also been starring in their own reality television shows since 2007, so it comes as no surprise that they are supposedly worth over £65 million. 

The article I found from 2010, wasn't breaking any news, it was just photographs of Kim Kardashian yawning whilst lounging about on an obnoxiously large yacht. So it seems that they were famous for no reason at all three years ago, yet they're worth an obscene amount of money. 

I tried to discover the reasoning's behind their fame, and it seems to me that it stemmed from one thing, Kim Kardashian's sex tape. Before the release of the tape, they were modest girls owning a boutique whilst Kim was styling celebrities, but once Vivid Entertainment sold the tape, the family shot to fame, and have remained their ever since. 

Link to article

So, I delved back three years into the Mail online to discover whether the obsession with celebrities has been there for a while. People have the aspiration to be just like a celebrity, because in the tabloids there life seems perfect, so their day-to-day activities needs to be documented, people need to know when they buy milk or cheese. It does lead to the question that if the obsession is already so evident, what will happen in 10 years? Will there be a camera attached to every single celebrity? Or will people become less infatuated, causing the entertainment industry to suffer? These are all questions that can't be answered, but for the time being we will all sleep comfortably knowing that James 'Arg' Argent has had his dinner and Kim Kardashian is having a lovely time in Miami.