The presence and absence of Catholic religion in the November 2010 editions of Elle UK and Elle Spain

The presence and absence of Catholic religion in the November 2010 editions of Elle UK and Elle Spain - Olivia Ball

In order for Elle magazine to fulfill the same benefits in countries with varying languages, values and cultures, it must tailor a large percent of their content to make it culture specific. This essay explores the differences between the media content of the November 2010 editions of Elle UK and Elle Spain and analyzes the reasoning for these differences by focusing on the absence and presence of the Catholic Church.

It relies heavily on Hallin and Mancini's Liberal Model and Polarized Pluralist models, which explain the historic influence the Catholic Church has had on Spain's media and the freedom the UK has had regarding media. This essay focuses on the issues approach to marriage, aging and style. It demonstrates that Spain encourages marriage, embraces aging and has a more traditional and sensual style while the UK demonstrates a more modern view of marriage, is anti-aging and demonstrates an aggressive and highly sexual style in some of its editorials.




However while Elle UK has more freedom to express themselves and play with the traditional ideas of what feminine means due to the less influence religion has had on media throughout press history and their more liberal stance, Elle Spain is gradually becoming more liberal and pushing social boundaries, which is demonstrated by the sultry look of cover girl Irina Shyak. As a result Spain’s tendency to become more liberal and have more space for freedom of expression is demonstrating a shift from the Polarized Pluralist Model toward the Liberal Model.