Media to blame for celeb scandal coverage

[Dirt McGirt]

NEW YORK - Celebrities behaving badly? If you don’t care, you have company.

The vast majority of Americans believe there is too much news coverage of celebrity scandals, and most blame the media for the attention paid to the stars’ trials and tribulations, a new survey has found.

Nearly nine out of 10 adults said celebrity scandals receive “too much” news coverage, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Only 2 percent said the subject receives “too little” coverage, and 8 percent said scandals get the “right amount” of press.

The survey also found that 54 percent of those who say celebrity news coverage is excessive blame news organizations. Around one-third of those surveyed found the public at fault for paying attention and 12 percent said the public and the media both are to blame.
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Full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20113176/?GT1=10252

 

[Diuretic]

I can only hope, I can only hope....

 

[Dirt McGirt]

I think the results are more of a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, the TV ratings don't match up with the results of the MSNBC poll. You can find good news coverage on C-Span or other outlets and people still don't tune in.

 

[Truthmatters]

We have a corporate owned media which is trying to dumb us down.

Good thing enough Americans refuse to dumb.

 

[Gem]

I think its easy for everyone involved; the media, the celebrity, and the public all get what they want out of it.

The media gets an easy story that they can run on for weeks at a time. They don't have to worry about sending reporters to dangerous war zones...they don't have to worry about whether or not they're coverage of a scandal is going to piss off the wrong political party who will, in turn, make life difficult for them. They don't have to get upset because the people they support and who they give money to are doing bad things and they have to cover it...instead they can do fake stories that don't require serious investigative work or thought.

And to make matters even better, the people they are covering, the celebrities, love them for it. They love being in the spotlight because its good for their career....because now more than ever, you can be famous simply for being in the news for nothing....for just attending parties held by people who actually do something, however unimportant. Celebrities curse and swear at paparazzi...as they turn the right way and make sure the cameras get them at a good angle, making it easy for them - they send out messages to Barbara Walters from prison, they do morning tv spots where they talk about how even though they were pregnant they would "do their time." They make sure that they are on the cover of whatever magazine as often as possible...and the media loves them for it as much as they love the media.

And then you have us, the American public, who by and large, are simply tired. We work very long hours for jobs that often pay us just enough to get by. We have mortgages, car payments, college loans (ours and our childrens), credit card bills, cell phone bills, gas prices, family issues, work politics, kids driving you crazy, the yard needing mowed, what you're going to eat for dinner, and when you're going to find the time to exercise....at the end of the day - most Americans just want to sit down and NOT think. And what could be better for that than learning about the latest saga in the life of a 20-something socialite who even though she has every single convenience, still can't manage to get her shit together. She's chasing down her personal assistants mother on the PCH while drunk and high just minutes after rehab - and people think - hey, my boss may be an asshole, and I may never be able to pay back all my college loans and my kids...but jesus, at least I'm not that screwed up. OR, how pathetic...that girl has everything handed to her on a silver platter...and she can't cope, what a loser. Either way, you're still making yourself feel a bit better about you...without a whole lot of thought or energy.

The American people don't want to learn about the latest government scandal, they don't want to hear about the war (can't they just be fought in secret so we don't even have to think about it at all!?!?!), they don't want to think about immigration, health care, taxes, education...all these issues are better served to yell about briefly over a beer at a barbeque and then forget about it on the drive home just in time to catch "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" on the tv.

And this is just how the media, the government, and corporate America wants us....so we keep buying everything they're dishing out. And until we decide that its worth it to be exhausted - but also angry, pissed off, and a bit terrified about how screwed up our government is....nothing is going to change.