| Product: |
Chat |
| Date: |
10.04.08 (90 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Lots of real life, puzzles and competitions and readers contributions
Disadvantages: Not the cheapest out of the lot and cheeeesy!
-stands- My name is X, I am 26 years old and I am an addict. I got my first fix only five months or so ago now but I quickly became hooked and now I buy them from my regular supplier a few times a week. Luckily it's fairly cheep and the enjoyment long-lasting. Still...an addiction remains an addiction.
The quick-witted reader -ahem- will have gathered by now that I wasn't of course referring to drug abuse or alcoholism but that my weekly fix consist of purchasing the whole range of 'real life' magazines available on newsagents' shelves at the moment. It's a cheap thrill, I admit, but those are often the best, right?
Out of the whole range I'd have to say Chat ranks as my favourite. It's a weekly glossy with an average length of between sixty and seventy pages and though of course the mag mainly consists of real life stories and events, the contents are quite varied.
The first two pages are devoted to the section 'Chat To Us' which offers ordinary readers the opportunity to send in their pictures and share them with the world. Naturally any picture that will be considered should have a minimum appeal for a neutral reader, be it humourous, endearing or just plain silly.
It's not the most exciting part of the magazine. Let's face it, once you've seen a dozen pictures of complete strangers in various outfits and states of undress - yes, really, I'm looking at a picture of a naked 69-year-old right now with modesty barely covered - you've seen them all. But the good thing about these mags is that payments are offered for just about any contribution, ranging from telling your story or supplying a newsworthy article to sending in pictures, money-saving tips, readers' letters and so on.
And just in case anyone's wondering if these payments do actually materialize...I once sent in a little crossword I'd compiled myself which was printed and I got the £20 cheque duly in the post within the agreed time frame of 4-6 weeks.
Anyway, onwards and upwards...after the introductory pages the majority of the magazine is devoted to - as mentioned before - real life articles...this could literally be anything, from heart-warming 'I met my childhood sweetheart again after 30 years and married him' to near-death experiences, child abuse, killings and cancer battles. Not everything is as suitable for the fainthearted but the most gruesome stories have a clear rating so you can skip the page of you want to.
Other separate sections which crop up in between these articles are the 'Quick Chats', interesting stories or fait-divers which aren't bulky enough to be moulded into full-length articles; a fashion page in 'This Week's Trend'; the money-saving tips mentioned before in 'Blimey! That's Clever' - I have to interject at this point that, yes, I agree, the titles are often corny at best, cringeworthy at worst -; lists of the best products at bargain prices in 'Cor! What a Bargain' - see what I mean? -; cutesy cutesy baby pictures in 'Ahhh! Don't you just love 'em..?'; a haunted review, spooky story and weekly spell in Oooooooooo...spooky! - tobe honest, I'd never noticed these before, but it is getting slightly ridiculous - and soap and travel news in 'On The Telly' and 'Your Holiday' respectively.
I personally quite like the haunted section as I'm a big fan of anything paranormal and this section also ties in perfectly with their sister magazine 'Chat It's Fate', of which - you guessed it - I am also a monthly peruser.
One big bonus with Chat, I find, is that it's so comprehensive. There really is something in it for everyone. Another plus is the space devoted to the actual readers, by which I mean not just the people elected to tell their story but the people writing in with their problems and opinions. None of the other real life mags offer as much opportunity for the weekly reader to interact.
There is a psychic agony aunt page with a woman called Ruth for those of us who are more paranormally inclined; a section with articles and readers' letters on health; Private Dick who offers advice against cheaters and love rats - another favoured word in this type of magazine - and also your more traditional agony aunt Denise who offers, according to the header at least, 'no-nonsense advice'. It has to be said this is perhaps an overstatement as she's certainly no more 'no-nonsense' than your average Dear Deirdre, but of course it ties in well with Chat's sensationalist slant.
Last but not least there is of course the horoscope page, although I'm personally not too sure about this Bernard Fitzwalter.
And I might as well admit to another addiction while I'm at it...I can't help but fill out all the puzzles and crosswords every week and send off the answers, in the hope I might win one of the more substantial prizes on offer one day. Which is not to say another twenty or so wouldn't also be nice. There are mostly cash prizes to be won, from smaller amounts to a few grand, and holidays, both British and foreign.
In conclusion I would say this magazine basically does what it says on the tin...reality TV in paper format. Intrusive? Yes. Not the highest level of literary entertainment? Certainly not. But like a car crash, you just can't help but look. You wonder who's involved, what happened and what the outcome will be and you just get swept away by it all.
I wouldn't personally want the entire British population to read private events from my life, but ultimately that's for everyone to decide for themselves, so if they choose to share, why would we not read it and enjoy reading it, perhaps even learn from it and sympathize. And it makes a nice difference from the umpteenth celebrity on a rehab stint and pictures of size zero models and actresses with each turn of a page.
So if you're quite nosy and like to read about what happens in other people's lives and don't mind a bit of cheese to boot, you might as well give it a try. At a cost lower than a lot of other magazines you might be saving a few pennies too.
Why not five stars? Well, not every article is as interesting - which is nigh on impossible when catering for such a large audience - and though what I said about the price is true, some magazines in the same range such as Real People and That's Life are slightly cheaper.
Other than that I wouldn't go without it!
IPC Media, 78p, available from most newsagents and relevant retailers.
New issue available every Thursday.
Summary: My personal favourite of the range of real life magazines out at the moment
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