News stations reporting gossip??

[buzz]

I think that the major news stations in America are becoming way too much like gossip magazines for teenage girls. I was in the airport when I saw that there was a breaking news story on CNN. The breaking news turned out to be that Paris Hilton, a stuck up, rich celebrity, was just sentenced back to prison for her DUI. I don't think that that even qualifies as news. I really could not care any less about her.

 

My point is that most major news stations are reporting on celebrity gossip instead of reporting the actual news. What do yall think? Do you think that news stations should report about celebrity gossip such as Paris Hilton's Arrest?

[Matt]

It's public interest. What they want covering, gets covered. Simple.

 

For example. Madeline McCann. Nothing really made her abduction more striking than others besides the fact she's a child. Being a child, it tugged at people's heart strings. There's nothing that makes this investigation more important than the others, it's just public interest which gets it on the news.

 

Paris Hilton? Well, yeah, I hate her too, but it's public interest again.

[The Original Luna]

It seems like gossip to me whenever the Iraq war pops in the news, but I know they just want to give public news. But If they want gossip, they could always look in a Gossip Magazine.

[Mike.]

If you want real news, go to some site like bbc.com. CNN is usually good for the most part, but it, like other news stations, really only broadcast what the public wants. Now, I hate Paris just like the next guy, but it was breaking news to see her go back to jail. Everybody was like, "Haha, Paris you're an idiot." the first time. But when she got put BACK in jail, everyone was like, "OWNAGE. YOU JUST GOT PWNED SISTA'."

 

I think it was good for that judge to stick up for the law and put her back in jail.

[Ellie_Penguin]

The news will report gossip as long as people give it attention. However, I now see that most people hate the whole gossip thing, specially the one about Paris Hilton. All the time, I see that the breaking news have something to do with a celebrity being caught doing something wrong. Then I go to the websites and I see that people get killed, or that a dangerous criminal has escaped and so on and it upsets me that the news would rather see Paris Hilton crying than warning the community about a huge threat.

[Samuel]

It's a sad fact that what's going to be discussed more is Paris Hilton's jail fiasco over some Iraqi bombings. When you hear of, say, 50 people dieing in Iraq, you might feel inclined to switch off - we hear it every day.

 

People are more interested in celebrity gossip, on the whole. And for them to gain market share, they have to report what people want to hear. It's a shame, but that's what happens.

 

And, I hate to admit it, but as many US sources are reporting - British news agencies are dominating (this rather toungue-in-cheek review from a major review source says so), and at recent awards, the only winners for news and international news were British.

 

I love the BBC. :) I'm planning to go into university studying a Multimedia Journalism (Hons) degree, and maybe that could gain me a place with the Beeb. They're the biggest worldwide (BBC World reaches millions of homes worldwide), with correspondents everywhere. They produce compelling, worldwide news that is told in a professional way that has been lacking in recent years with other mainstream providers.

 

Chances are, that you'll see a lot more of BBC News in the US; they're relaunching their news services, and they've got massive plans for you lot. :P

 

I rarely vist American news sources. Occasionally Washington Post can give me more indepth information on Congress and other Washington matters, but the BBC provides excellent coverage for any part of the world.

 

A few weeks ago, a school down the road from mine was evacuated after a gun scare nearby. It was on the website within 15 minutes of it occuring. Considering that someone had to phone up, tell them what happened, and write an article and publish it; that's pretty good, no?

 

People want what interests them. So, to do that, you have to provide excellent coverage all-round, but giving priority to 'real news'. Madeline McCann is hardly a massive story, but people want to know about it, they're stirred by it. Hence, it's always the top story in Britain - and Portugal, even - when there's new developments.

 

But if you do want news-news, and it's not Neopets related, Sam <3 bbcnews.com.

[Ellie_Penguin]

Thing is when you have delicate news such as the Madeleine case, it is very hard not to keep it going so people won't "forget". Now, no offense because I hope that girl appears and her parents get punished for negligence, right now they're pretty much coming up with more stories about stuff that are not actually revelant enough to make it to the front page. The girl hasn't appeared, they don't know who is the suspect, pretty much they don't know anything yet they're giving it priority over other important news. I mean, next time I see the Madeiline case on the front news, I want to see an actually news about that poor little girl. I want to see that they found her alive or that they found the suspect or that they know who took her and where the suspect is. I don't want to see news about her parents' making a new trip. We all know they're going to go everywhere and talk to high-authorities about the dissapearance, but there are other important news about Iraq, about soldiers getting killed. About tragedies that we should all need to learn about. I'm surprised they haven't made the news about the woman who was left on the floor to death, make it to the front page.

 

So if you get what I mean, they need give every important news a chance. So now the Madeiline case doesn't have anything developing yet, they need to focus on other stuff and come back to that case when they have a suspect or something.