media guardian story

OK! To launch German edition
Ben Dowell Guardian Unlimited Friday November 16 2007
OK! Magazine is launching a German-language version of the title - its 14th international edition in just three years.
OK! Magazine: will appear in 16 countries with the launch of the German edition it will debut in the first half of 2008 in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland.
The magazine will be launched by a new company, OK! Verlag GmbH - a joint venture between OK!'s publisher Northern & Shell and the Klambt Group, one of Germany's oldest publishing companies.
"The German celebrity magazine market is showing very strong growth at the moment and having a German edition has long been an ambition of ours," said Christian Toksvig, the Northern & Shell international operations director.
"Klambt has successfully launched a new title this category in 2006 and has the necessary local know how to make the OK! Launch work."
Lars Rose, a managing partner of the Klambt Group which publishes more than 50 magazine titles in German, said: "OK! Is a proven concept worldwide and we're confident it will appeal to German readers and advertisers."
OK! Magazine is thought to have more than 30 million readers worldwide and, with the addition of the German edition, will now appear in 16 countries.
OK's most high-profile exclusives have included the weddings of David and Victoria Beckham, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher and, most recently, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker.
OK! Magazine is branching out worldwide allowing it to have a much larger readership and circulation. Having it global also increases chances of influencing the audience but only if they are passive and this could be in less literate countries. Overall this story is significant because this shows that the media conglomerates are taking over, all over the world. Even though OK! Magazine is known to publish exclusive interviews a lot of this can be misinterpreted and this will be broadcasted around the world. There is nothing wrong with OK! Doing this but it can lead to a hegemonic society.