Hip Hop Weekly
Publisher: Hip Hop Global Media
Format: Weekly
Reader’s Annotation: News, gossip, and feature articles about all aspects of the hip hop world.
Content Summary: Hip Hop Weekly is, much like US Weekly or People, essentially a tabloid magazine. It starts by featuring pictures of hip hop celebrities at concerts and out in the world, then goes into a few pages of short gossip articles. After that is a column called “Cynthia’s Corner,” which is a rundown of the events going on in the hip hop world. There is some gossip on celebrity couples, and a weekly interview column from Big Boy, a popular hip hop radio DJ. There is a style section, for both men and women, as well as the ubiquitous “pictures of women in dresses” section. Then, there are longer feature articles – in this issue, there is an article about a feud between Drake and Jay Z. There are television and movie sections, featuring information about projects and some features on actors and actresses. Then there is a long music section, followed by a bit more gossip, and end-of-magazine features such as horoscopes. There is a final page interview, in this case with actor Mekhi Phifer, who was promoting the film Divergent.
Critical Evaluation: While at first I was put off by the amount of gossip in the magazine and an extremely offensive ad in the first few pages – for alcohol, that featured two women in bras making out and suggested men should celebrate their birthdays every day – the more I read the magazine, the more I realized that it was a fairly traditional weekly celebrity magazine, but one that focused on hip hop culture instead of general pop culture. It is a very diverse magazine, and will appeal to many teens, both male and female. The information about films, television, music festivals, and up-and-coming music is valuable for those who have an interest in it, and others will be able to keep up-to-date with their favorite celebrities and artists.
Challenge Issues: Some risqué photos of women
Challenge Defense: In the case of any challenge, these are the steps I would take:
1. Be familiar with the library’s selection policy.
An example: http://crowellpubliclibrary.org/forms/CollectionDev11_12.pdf
2. Have a copy of ALA’s Library Bill of Rights on hand: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
3. Have reviews on hand from trusted sources such as Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, VOYA, and The Horn Book and be familiar with the work.
4. Prepare a rationale, which includes bibliographic information, intended audience, summary of the work and educational value, purpose of the work, potential problems and how they will be handled, and alternative titles. This is used most often in school library settings.
5. When confronted with a challenge, try the “tea and sympathy” approach first, and make sure to listen carefully to the complaint. Make sure to speak with empathy and compassion when speaking, and go over the items above as necessary.
6. As a last resort, present a library reconsideration form.
Example: http://www.cuyahogafallslibrary.org/files/reconsideration_of_materials_form.pdf
Why This Magazine: It is important to provide material for all people who come to the library, so just because this is not a magazine for me is not a reason not to provide it to the many young people who will enjoy it and will feel more at home in the library when they see themselves reflected on the cover of a magazine.
Publisher: Hip Hop Global Media
Format: Weekly
Reader’s Annotation: News, gossip, and feature articles about all aspects of the hip hop world.
Content Summary: Hip Hop Weekly is, much like US Weekly or People, essentially a tabloid magazine. It starts by featuring pictures of hip hop celebrities at concerts and out in the world, then goes into a few pages of short gossip articles. After that is a column called “Cynthia’s Corner,” which is a rundown of the events going on in the hip hop world. There is some gossip on celebrity couples, and a weekly interview column from Big Boy, a popular hip hop radio DJ. There is a style section, for both men and women, as well as the ubiquitous “pictures of women in dresses” section. Then, there are longer feature articles – in this issue, there is an article about a feud between Drake and Jay Z. There are television and movie sections, featuring information about projects and some features on actors and actresses. Then there is a long music section, followed by a bit more gossip, and end-of-magazine features such as horoscopes. There is a final page interview, in this case with actor Mekhi Phifer, who was promoting the film Divergent.
Critical Evaluation: While at first I was put off by the amount of gossip in the magazine and an extremely offensive ad in the first few pages – for alcohol, that featured two women in bras making out and suggested men should celebrate their birthdays every day – the more I read the magazine, the more I realized that it was a fairly traditional weekly celebrity magazine, but one that focused on hip hop culture instead of general pop culture. It is a very diverse magazine, and will appeal to many teens, both male and female. The information about films, television, music festivals, and up-and-coming music is valuable for those who have an interest in it, and others will be able to keep up-to-date with their favorite celebrities and artists.
Challenge Issues: Some risqué photos of women
Challenge Defense: In the case of any challenge, these are the steps I would take:
1. Be familiar with the library’s selection policy.
An example: http://crowellpubliclibrary.org/forms/CollectionDev11_12.pdf
2. Have a copy of ALA’s Library Bill of Rights on hand: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
3. Have reviews on hand from trusted sources such as Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, VOYA, and The Horn Book and be familiar with the work.
4. Prepare a rationale, which includes bibliographic information, intended audience, summary of the work and educational value, purpose of the work, potential problems and how they will be handled, and alternative titles. This is used most often in school library settings.
5. When confronted with a challenge, try the “tea and sympathy” approach first, and make sure to listen carefully to the complaint. Make sure to speak with empathy and compassion when speaking, and go over the items above as necessary.
6. As a last resort, present a library reconsideration form.
Example: http://www.cuyahogafallslibrary.org/files/reconsideration_of_materials_form.pdf
Why This Magazine: It is important to provide material for all people who come to the library, so just because this is not a magazine for me is not a reason not to provide it to the many young people who will enjoy it and will feel more at home in the library when they see themselves reflected on the cover of a magazine.