MTV Did It Again

For those who thought reality television was SO last year, this is going to prove you wrong. After ‘Laguna Beach’ and ‘The Hills’, here comes ‘The City’. Fewer words, more drama, more glamour, MTV has found the perfect combination to hook us all again.

Whitney Port from ‘The Hills’, the Teen Vogue intern and Lauren Conrad’s co-star takes a new job with designer Diane von Furstenberg in the big Apple. ‘The City’ is set to be a spinoff of ‘The Hills’ in New York. Rumours say Port cannot hold her own TV series, but what has been know has ‘the worse kept secret of reality TV’ has already attracted crowds of onlookers and explosive reactions on gossip blogs.

MTV says about ‘The City’:


“Surrounded by all new friends, pursuing a fresh love life and starting to work in the upper echelon of the fashion industry is a lot to navigate for a new girl in the big city… especially one who has everything to lose. In a city full of people with their own agendas, Whitney will have to quickly decide who she can trust and who to stay away from.”

In between ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Ugly Betty’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, ‘The City’ stands as a reality check on the fake perceptions of the fashion industry. But how real is it? There have been critics that the show has been scripted and Diane von Furstenberg can only get a strong interest in the publicity of a primetime MTV show.

Whitney cuts down the rumors and describes her experience:

“I am thrilled and honored to be in New York City, not only working for one of the most renowned fashion designers, Diane Von Furstenberg, but to be able to mature as a young woman both professionally and personally”.

Speaking as an ex Tatler intern, my experience of a fashion magazine seems extremely different. 'The City' presents a list of glamorous parties, daily dates, beautiful 'friends', amazing wardrobes, and stunning apartments. Truth is, reality is quite different. At Tatler, I started doing the post and jobs no one else would do. Running clothes from press offices to photoshoots, rapping up 'send back' packages or researching the library was most of my daily tasks. However, meeting various people from the fashion industry and getting an insight of a successful publishing house was the best part of what experienced.

Crictics say that some of the scenes in 'The City' and 'The Hills' were reproduced and edited in studios to be more dramatic. The problem is, a number of aspirational younsters see the show as a lifestyle bible. Others see it as another form of doing fiction TV. I believe the show should be viewed as light entertainment rather than reality. But what better way to talk about the subject than experiencing it for myself? Next summer, I am about to intern at Teen Vogue New York. I guess we'll see if the fantasy becomes reality.

‘The City’ premieres on December 29^th at 10 pm on MTV.

Image Courtesy to Celebrity Gossip Online.

Bright Future For Journalists

‘In the next two years, we are going to redefine journalism. I think it is one of the most exciting time to be a journalist.’

Neil McIntosh, head of the Guardian Online for nine years, is optimistic. Launched in 1999, the guardian.co.uk has become the world’s leading online newspaper with more than 25 million unique users last month.

McIntosh participated in the diversification of the paper with the digital revolution. Along with the media’s transformation, the Guardian is moving its offices to a new multimedia building in Kings Cross.

The content of online journalism has changed a lot since its creation. Audio broadcasting has become extremely popular with more than 1.5 million views a month. The Guardian produces its own videos, controlling in this way the information it moderates.

40% of its audience is American. McIntosh says that ‘the Bushy era and elections’ boosted the sales overseas, The Guardian represents an alternative option to the foreign media.

One of the most successful areas in the website is the comment feature which has gone from 1.5 million to 10 million users in two and a half years.

McIntosh says about the death of newspapers: ‘We are all getting ready for a tough year; the next two years will certainly be grim and there will be lost jobs, however the regression will mainly hit regional papers.’

To the allegations that the audience is slowly replacing journalists, McIntosh responds that the public’s trust towards journalists is still there. In the digital era, the borders between audience and the media blur, but the revolution in journalism is going online.

McIntosh, who just landed a job at The Wall Street Journal Europe website, says: ‘‘Murdock is pretty webby, this is an occasion to build up something.’ He also added: ‘We are going bloggers' hunting at the start of year’. Aspiring journalists, watch out.

Picture credit to Sophie Borazanian.

Senior Dating

A new kind of online dating has seen the light: senior dating.Turns out that baby boomers and older people go to the Internet when it comes to find love. Anne D’Innocenzio from MSNBC researched the subject. She talked to Mary Bellis Waller, a 64 New Yorker looking for a partner online.

Picture Courtesy to MSNBC online.

MISS LSE 2008

MISS LSE @ MOVIDA

Hi, Elle here, your one and only source into the hottest

events of young London's elite.

Last night the London School of Economics organized

the inaugural MISS LSE event, hosted at hot Mayfair

club Movida in partner with Breast Cancer Research UK.

The competition, which was set up to be one of the most

anticipated student event of the year, was brought up by

Christian Emile's 121 Etertainment and Rodolfo Graziani.

London's best DJ Kevin O'Learly managed the music and

the entrance was restricted by guest list for the young and

glamourous. Looks like the new queen B will enter the

Miss London University contest... watch out UCL!

You know you love me, xoxo.

Elle.

Image Courtesy to Tilllate.com.