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Is Your Love of Pop Culture Killing Journalism?
alternet.org — "You're the problem," a male friend told me sternly a few weeks ago. Because I, and people like me, read pop culture stories -- celebrity ones in particular. And because that's what more media are covering instead of what they "should" be (i.e. politics, the economy and international affairs). Hence, society is going to hell in a hand basket.
MrBabyMan- 104 diggs
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- thesupergeek, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1It's simple. Don't be taken in by everything you read.
- geekchic, on 06/01/2008, -0/+6I am one of the dying breed (it seems) of people who are much more interested in serious news than.... oh look, fluffy bunnies!
- WiseWeasel, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Don't blame me, I bury all the pop culture stories I come across, but they slip through sometimes... Just doin' my part to keep journalists focused. Problem is that half the news (at least) on politics, economy and international affairs are just marketing propaganda, so we've got some slim pickings there too...
- chicofaraby, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3The utter lack of journalism in the corporate media doesn't mean it's dying. It just means that real journalism doesn't meet the needs of corporate media owners. Journalism is out there, it's moved to books and the web.
Corporate media of all forms seems to be intent on making itself irrelevant. The newspaper industry and the music industry are leading the charge over the cliff. Movies and television are following as fast as they can. - 808ethan, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Journalism is just being ground by the wheels of corporations just like every other media.
We used to have more focused and specialized media. Like the original Star Trek. How many girls liked that show? But it was great, not lukewarm, but great. Then corporations work there magical spell known as 'a million people just barely liking our show makes more money than 100,000 loving it to death'. So you get more and more changes added so more demographics will like it until you get crap that everyone kinda likes.
Crap journalism appeals to more people. Thats not new. The vanishing of smaller companies that don't play to the masses is new. - chicoer2001, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Look at the front page of Digg. How much serious stuff in there on it?
- wracker92, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Do we really need a half-hour of "Entertainment Tonight" beamed into our living rooms every day?
- 3tcp, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1It isn't a problem until it starts getting called 'news' and eating up time on cnn that would be better devoted to other things. A story about genocide in darfur shouldn't be given equal attention as and sandwiched in between stories about american idol and oprah's weight problems
- orientis, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1She makes some valid points, but I find this hard to swallow: "Pop culture is popular not because it's dumb, but because it's usually about the crucial questions of life and society, told with interesting characters and a constantly updating, suspenseful storyline"
Friends. Dealing with crucial questions of life and society? Or dumb?
The Simple Life. Dealing with crucial questions of life and society? Or dumb?
Tom Cruise. Dealing with crucial questions of life and society? Or dumb?
That statement is just a little too glib for my elitist tastes. - BoonTobias, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1*cough*stop submitting ******cough*
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