 Lindsey & Paris The sight of Paris Hilton going to jail created a frenzy of news media coverage for two full days. Hilton was the number three story on cable TV. It was the eighth most heavily covered story on network TV news. However, this celebrity faux news did not make the top ten stories covered in American newspapers. There was similar television media coverage after the death of Anna Nicole Smith. For days nearly half of cable news coverage was devoted to her story, making it by far the most heavily covered story for a week on cable.
Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith are not exceptions. There are plenty of celebrity stories for the media and the paparazzi to exploit for faux news. They can choose stories involving the personal issues of Lindsey Lohan, Nicole Richie, and Britney Spears or the new legal issues of O.J. Simpson. There seems to be an endless supply of celebrity news for the media to report.
 Anna Nicole Smith The media creates and distributes celebrity faux news because it can be packaged to appear to be sensational. It involves a celebrity that we know and therefore it appears to touch us in a personal way. For the television media it means ratings at a bargain basement price. The panel discussions, the speculation, and the experts are cheap. The same issue can appear on a cable channel all day or all week.
What does the American public think of all this celebrity faux news? The Pew Research Center for People and the Press completed a new national survey in July 2007. Here are its findings: "An overwhelming majority of the public (87%) says celebrity scandals receive too much news coverage. This criticism generally holds across most major demographic and political groups. Virtually no one thinks there is too little coverage of celebrity scandals."
Who is to blame for the excess celebrity coverage? The Pew Survey states that "a majority of the public point to the media. Fully 54% of those who say celebrity news is over-covered also believe news organizations are to blame for giving these stories so much coverage.  Britany Spears This media obsession with the faux news of the sometimes troubled personal lives of celebrities is taking media attention and focus away from important national and international news stories and events in 2007. It is contributing to the "dumbing down" of American society.  Naughty Paris James William Smith has worked in Senior management positions for some of the largest Financial Services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. He has always been interested in writing and listening to different viewpoints on interesting topics.
Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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