I am addicted to celebrity gossip! I go on 3 specific sites religiously, a few times a day. I can go without Myspace and Facebook a whole lot longer than I can go without my gossip. How did I get so bad? Am I addicted? Do I have a problem? Well if the answer is yes then WE are all in trouble.
There is no denying that it is a guilty pleasure that is sweeping the nation. It has officially become mainstream in the media to report on all the juicy details of CELEBS. It has progressively taken over has become acceptable and even necessary in today's media. Sure, there are newsworthy events such as Ana Nicole’s sudden death. But the coverage from stations such as CNN was obscene.
Paris Hilton even made to it our "nothing but the news" CNN more than once. She was on Larry King talking about her minute stay in jail and denying things we've seen her do in pictures. Okay some of these salacious scandals are simply so big that for CNN not to cover them would mean a major blow with the ratings, but how do you explain a CNN reporter asking Angelina Joliet if she was pregnant? They have gone from reputable to tabloid, officially.
Who is to blame? We point the finger at the media, claiming they shove the coverage in our faces. They blame the audience claiming that we force them to show this because we want to see this. The only reason I even watched was to get the gossip so it actually worked.
I believe we are all to blame. We need to realize this is not healthy. We should not be intruding so ridiculously in the lives of PEOPLE. We should manage our gossip appetite and focus on real issues. That will show the media that they do not need to have gossip mixed with news to get ratings. Also, the media needs to stop reporting on every aspect of celebrity and they should focus on the news. There is more than enough important and relevant news happening to keep us busy.
Our thirst for gossip will never be cured but we should make a conscious effort to at least work on it. Where do you see us going with this hunger for gossip? What do you think it will take for us to really take a step back? Maybe another Princess Di?
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