From the Jolie-Pitt baby pics and Mariah Carey's wedding pics to the latest Lindsay Lohan hot story, magazines like Us and People are paying increasingly more for a crack at top billing with the public.

But with the bids for pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s forthcoming bundles of joy rising to a reported $15 million, how much is too much to pay for a one-shot headline deal?

While Brad and Angelina have a great reputation for donating the proceeds from photo shoots to worthy charities, there is still the question of whether a magazine shelling out exorbitant amounts of money is a positive or negative attribute to our culture and our relationship with celebrities.

Same goes for the sale of Lindsay Lohan’s public coming out. Not long after Lindsay was caught getting cozy with gal-pal Samantha Ronson, the word was that OK! magazine made a $1 million offer for exclusive rights on the star’s first public announcement of her current gay status.

Between the Headlines

There are two sides to the finances on these hot stories. The first is that people undeniably want the latest news, photos and celebrity interviews, so what better way to get them than in a structured business transaction? The mags come out happy, the stars come out happy, and in more and more cases, charitable organizations are coming out the true winners.

Not to mention these high-priced interviews and photo shoots have an integrity that you don’t often get in much of today’s celebrity coverage, where any reporter can slam a camera lens into a celeb’s face and bait them with invasive questions.

With a formal Q and A, we get the opportunity to idolize our favorite celebrities again, rather than leer at the dirty sides of their lives. Celebs should be grateful for the opportunity to get some positive coverage to balance out the flashed-anatomy shots and caught-on-camera tantrums that circulate in the tabloids, and the public should be happy for the healthy escapism that comes in taking an interest in the glamorous celebrity lifestyle.

The downside of these purchased interviews, however, is the bidding war that most often ensues. With magazines driving each other up and celebs holding out for the highest offer, the battles can becomes as ugly as the aforementioned media attacks celebs already endure.

Sometimes it’s no wonder that the paps break their way into a celeb’s personal space – no magazine can afford to pay millions of dollars for their stories, yet they have to have something to run at press time. Even if it’s nothing more than an accidental crotch shot.

The point is this:

If you’re a star and you’ve got something you want to willingly share with the world (before a photographer comes in and takes it), why not approach a reputable magazine yourself, rather than wait around for the highest bidder? You’ll still come away with money, but you can take a little more control over your own press coverage and possibly establish a respectable relationship with the press.

And if you’re a magazine, why not take a stand? If the price gets uncomfortably high for a story or a picture, step away from the bidding war and focus on creating a quality mag that stars will want to come to in the future. There are lots of hot stories out there beyond the latest baby pics and raunchy rumor, and these are the stories the public will chase once the latest headline becomes yesterday’s news.

We have to think that if every celebrity story comes with a price, and stars and the media look at their relationship with the public as nothing more than dollars and cents, then it’s the public who are losing out.

In our dream Hollywood, filled with celebrities we can idolize and adore rather than revile and poke fun at due to the latest smutty story, we’d like to see a solid commitment of respect and accommodation between magazine and celebrities. In the end, when fair prices mean more quality stories and less need for underhanded paparazzi ruining the glamour of celebrity, such a scenario pays off for everyone.