2008 Woodie Awards
U.S. fixes on celebrities, forgets real news
Why must we focus on the strange lives of so many crazy headliners?
Zach Blom
Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Editorials
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Brangelina and Madonna just adopted African orphans. Anna Nicole has retired to that Playboy mansion in the sky. Oh, and Britney shaved her head.
But this isn't news to you. You already know, of course.
In fact, you probably are so in tune with these celebrities that you know how Brad dumped Jennifer to be with Angelina. You likely remember Anna Nicole's reality show, her TrimSpa makeover, and her son's death. And surely you recall the scandalously revealing paparazzi photos of Britney's undercarriage from a few months back that confirm, now that she has a new haircut, that the carpet matches the drapes.
Yet this is not the only kind of news in the world. Even as these celebrity headlines spread fervently across the nation by the Internet and word-of-mouth, wars are being fought, people are starving to death, and real life heroes are saving lives.
But in America, the events that shape the world take a back seat to the people we ascribe to be "important." On The New York Times Web site, as of Monday, Feb. 19, the number one search conducted is for Anna Nicole Smith. Britney Spears comes in at 15, and she will likely move to the top in the next few days as her bald head makes waves. Iraq is listed as No. 5, global warming as No. 13, and the war on terror as No. 29.
Although the celebrity spotlight is evident on the Times site, it is not specific to so-called "liberal" publications. Indeed, FoxNews.com-on the conservative side of the news spectrum-also lists celebrity stories as some of the most-read articles on the site. The story titled "Brazen Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq Leaves 2 GIs Dead, 17 Wounded" is followed immediately by "Britney Shears: Pop Princess Shaves Her Head and Gets New Tattoos."
So if these stories dominate every news source, here's the obvious question: how-in the name of all that is holy!-is this news?
The real sad part is that the Spears story received more hits than the Iraq article.
And Americans wonder why the rest of the world sees us as unconcerned with anything occurring outside of our borders. Wait, check that, Americans are too self-centered to wonder what the majority of the world thinks of us.
But this isn't news to you. You already know, of course.
In fact, you probably are so in tune with these celebrities that you know how Brad dumped Jennifer to be with Angelina. You likely remember Anna Nicole's reality show, her TrimSpa makeover, and her son's death. And surely you recall the scandalously revealing paparazzi photos of Britney's undercarriage from a few months back that confirm, now that she has a new haircut, that the carpet matches the drapes.
Yet this is not the only kind of news in the world. Even as these celebrity headlines spread fervently across the nation by the Internet and word-of-mouth, wars are being fought, people are starving to death, and real life heroes are saving lives.
But in America, the events that shape the world take a back seat to the people we ascribe to be "important." On The New York Times Web site, as of Monday, Feb. 19, the number one search conducted is for Anna Nicole Smith. Britney Spears comes in at 15, and she will likely move to the top in the next few days as her bald head makes waves. Iraq is listed as No. 5, global warming as No. 13, and the war on terror as No. 29.
Although the celebrity spotlight is evident on the Times site, it is not specific to so-called "liberal" publications. Indeed, FoxNews.com-on the conservative side of the news spectrum-also lists celebrity stories as some of the most-read articles on the site. The story titled "Brazen Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq Leaves 2 GIs Dead, 17 Wounded" is followed immediately by "Britney Shears: Pop Princess Shaves Her Head and Gets New Tattoos."
So if these stories dominate every news source, here's the obvious question: how-in the name of all that is holy!-is this news?
The real sad part is that the Spears story received more hits than the Iraq article.
And Americans wonder why the rest of the world sees us as unconcerned with anything occurring outside of our borders. Wait, check that, Americans are too self-centered to wonder what the majority of the world thinks of us.
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