It’s Monday morning. America is getting ready to sharply escalate the war in Afghanistan. The health care system careens toward collapse, with legislation pending that may well make problems worse. The global economy may be in much worse shape than most people had imagined.
Yet what’s the Story of the Day? It’s the minor car accident of a celebrity golfer who — this makes “journalists” really angry — chooses to exercise his constitutional rights by not talking with the police until he’s good and ready, if ever.
Journalists bemoan the fact that the public doesn’t take them seriously anymore. Then they turn around and show why.
But the same public turns around and demands this kind of tripe. Bad journalism sells (look at popular FOX news is).
If a network, newspaper, etc. decided to de-emphasize celebrity and lifestyle news in favour of more hard news, covered in an in-depth manner, what would its chances be of surviving?
I would rather be a greeter at Walmart than send journalists off to cover a celebrity’s private life in this way.