wat annoys me

i fully agree with you, i have seen some stories the same in mags and yet they are supposed to be exclusive to that one mag. I saw the photos started reading and thinking this story rings a bell, and i look in another mag and there is the exact same story but told by another family member so annoying because you have read them all before.

What really annoys me in the magazine is when there are stories about how obese people is. It's just the same layout all the way through. They talk about how slim they used to be - something bad happens in their life - the comfort eat - they moan about how big they are... And then guess what? The comfort eat even more! I mean the only time when those people try a diet for real is when they go to the doctor and the doctor says that obesity can lead to death... No offense but it really is quite pathetic and really is a boring story to read. I mean there are other ways on how to kill depression than 'comfort eating'. It only makes you obese and besides being depressed you just become angry and upset about your weight. Come on you have to agree...

Thanks Sakura for your comments. Do you hate weight loss stories in general or would you like them to be told in another way? We simply tell it as the reader tells them to us but is there an alternative way you'd like to see them presented or is it just the subject matter that bores you?

Jo,

Editor

I also find weight loss stories a little tiresome but my main gripe with stories of this nature is that the message these tales seem to be giving out seems to be that weight loss = happiness. People can be happy and confident inspite of their size, whatever that size may be, and if someone tries to slim down to make themselves feel happier or fulfilled this can often lead to further depression when the target weight has been reached, and life is no different. I feel that a way to handle this subject more responsibly would be to emphasise that a positive change in mood was achieved through a greater confidence gained through hard work, an improved outlook on life, or unrelated incidents such as discovery of a new hobby/passion or love etc.

Hi Loopy, We at that's life! share your frustration on the very rare occasions that one of our stories appears in another magazine. We make it very clear when we sign up every story that it must be entirely exclusive, and this is also clearly stated on the contract. As a result, on the rare occasions that someone breaks their contract, we are extremely disappointed, and that person is not paid for their story. I can assure you that we will continue to work hard to ensure that all of our stories are exclusive to our readers. Tiffany Sherlock, Features Editor

Its because these people like to air their dirty linen in public and get paid for it which is very sad.

Its fine to have an opinion if you can back it up and say what you think may be the solution to the problem that you have with it.

People who do put the same article in several magazines, I think some will always slip through the net. As I dont know how it works, but perhaps they need to sign a declaration, which they may do when they publish a story, that this is exclusive to this magazine and then if they get found out that they have breached that, the magazine is in its rights to recover any payment that may have been made to them, but I am just guessing here as i dont know how it works in this situation.

Although it is our choice to buy the magazines, so we cant really moan lol.

i agree dont moan about the magazine if your buying it if you dont like it dont buy it.

This angers me too but I don't think it's entirely down to the person involved, but the mags themselves. I did a story a few years ago, and had to sign a disclaimer that I wouldn't deal with another magazine for a set period of time. However, have been told that it's the mags themselves who will pass these stories on if they get a good 'reading'. Copyright becomes theirs? I firmly believe that as several weeks after publication, I received a follow-up 'royalty'(?) cheque where a magazine had published the basics of the story without my knowledge and someone had responded to it. The way it worked, is the article had become the copyright of the media company that had several magazines under it's 'umbrella' so they could all use it. 

that's life! does not sell any story on to other publications without getting the reader's permission first. If the reader wants the story to appear somewhere else AFTER our mag, then they are able to negotiate a new agreement with that particular publication.

 

Ed 

This is ridiculous, so what if you have seen a photo in different magazine's like three times, i'm sure if you wanted your photo up or wanted any cash for it, you'd do the same. And how is it affecting you, it isn't. There's no need to stir a big argument, because you are annoyed about the same photo going in different magazines, your just wasting precious minutes of your life.