It’s absurd that celebrity gossip/news is being defended and rationalized to have some indirect value to our society. I could careless if you have a habit for reading pop culture stories, but claiming that it has nothing to do with the decay of journalism because it has some value is just an excuse for your habit. I find it a bit ironic that the article appears on AlterNet.
Talking about patterns in pop culture is at least as useful a vehicle for social criticism than pure politics. It is politics. It’s also democratic. 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. And just like with Emily Gould’s piece, pop culture pieces tend to get the big readership.
Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International says there are very few news networks in relevant places around the world because it is cheaper to cover celebrity gossip despite increased demand for more international news.
2008.06.01 at 9:31 pm
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