Hilary Weaver is a vital contributor to Vanity Fair’s celebrity news. She is a consistent contributor, posting news about pop culture almost daily. Unlike many other news bloggers reporting about pop culture, Weaver’s article titles are more straightforward. Some of her article titles include “Neither the Obamas nor Trump Will Attend Prince Harry’s Wedding,” “Sally Kohn Says Everyone Can Unlearn Hate,” and “Cynthia Nixon Tells Wendy Williams She’s Not a ‘Celebrity’ Candidate.” I can infer that because she works for such a well-known, well-respected magazine, she shies away from using “clickbait” type of titles. Her articles are primarily short pieces that are written to inform and report on the latest news in the pop culture world, and that are catered to younger audiences.
Weaver appeals to logos a lot throughout many of her pieces. Many of her articles rely on factual information and the accounts of other sources. In an article called “Who Is Brave Enough to Have Adele Officiate Their Wedding?” which is about Adele officiating Comedian Alan Carr’s wedding with Paul Drayton, Weaver essentially incorporates quotes from Carr to report the news. For example, Carr talked about how the idea was brought about saying, “She’s known me and Paul for ages and she said, ‘I want to do your special day. Let me do everything.’” The author also informs readers about how Carr’s big wedding day was planned. In an article called “The Tame Dewan-Tatum Divorce Story Continues,” about the split of Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, Weaver retrieves much of her information from the account of a source from Page Six. This source, for example, revealed that “she is troubled by his success.” Weaver also includes facts about the individuals relationship, such as how and when they met, which was in 2006 on the movie set of “Set Up.”
Weaver also heavily appeals to ethos in her articles, primarily through photos and videos of social media posts. In the article, “March for Our Lives: What to Watch for, and What Comes Next,” Weaver provides photos from Josh Billinson’s twitter account, who revealed the lineup of stars who were performing at the march. Instead of just listing who was performing, Weaver included tweets from this verified account to establish credibility. In the article about Adele officiating Carr and Drayton’s wedding, the author includes photos from the day, straight from Adele’s instagram account, verifying that the events indicated actually happened. This form of ethos further reflects the intended audience, which is young adults. Social media is a huge platform for this demographic, so Weaver strategically uses it to establish credibility.
Weaver further caters to this specific audience through her diction and tone. The wording of her pieces are generic and informal. She uses many contractions and refrains from using elegant-like words. The tone of her articles are didactic, but in a conversational way. The diction has a lot to do with the conversational feel of the pieces, especially because informative reports are typically formal. For example, in the article, “Aziz Ansari Makes a Very Visible Return to Public Life,” Weaver writes “The Master of None creator, lying low since being accused of sexual misconduct in January, sat courtside at a Knicks game Monday night.” This statement is informative, but the “lying low” part is typically used in everyday language. Although she does not include her opinion or outlook on the stories being reported (since the purpose is primarily to inform), she does insert comical, sarcastic side notes here and there. In the article “Neither the Obamas nor Trump Will Attend Prince Harry’s Wedding” the author notes that the Obamas are still close with Prince Harry mentioning that “In 2016, they sent a cheeky video to Harry (oh, and his grandmother) before the Invictus Games that showed just how chummy they are.” The sidenote in the parentheses was witty and added a nice light-hearted feel to the piece. Hilary Weaver is evidently a dedicated writer for Vanity Fair, keeping up with the fast-changing pop culture world and reporting on it. She strategically writes for young audiences, who follow this type of news the most. Using understandable diction, with a conversational tone helps garner an audience like this. Appealing to logos and establishing credibility facilitates the main purpose of her articles, which is to report or to inform. Her sense of humor adds a nice balance to all the facts and information, which make her pieces overall more enjoyable to read.