The News Media

Previously, I sarcastically pointed to two articles in the CNN world (one from CNN itself, and one on CNN's Sports Illustrated site) addressing the celebrity impact of the Asian tsunamis. (To be fair, both articles were written by the AP, just published on the CNN sites.) In all seriousness, though, what do these articles say about American news agencies? What do they say about American culture? The tsunamis hit on Saturday evening (US time), and the CNN article on the impact on celebrity vacations was published on the site shortly after midnight Wednesday (US Time), roughly 2.5 days later. That timing suggests that some editor at AP tasked one or more writers almost immediately to the celebrity angle of the tragedy.

South Asia is facing a humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly 80,000 already presumed dead and a death toll that could climb over 100,000. The survivors face disease, famine, and dehydration, which could claim as many lives as the water did. In planning how to cover this, a respected news agency like the AP decides the celebrity angle is one of the first things to cover? How did that meeting go? "100 thousand dead. OK. Anyone famous? Get on that, now! Maybe some movie star got nailed, or a model. What, we got a swimsuit model? Get that out, quick! No, take your time on that whole aid thing. We got a swimsuit model to talk about! Priorities, people!" And another respected news organization, CNN, decides these stories are worth headlines on their web sites, right up there with the aid and relief efforts.

Are we so obsessed with celebrity that coverage of how some famous people's vacations were disrupted is as newsworthy as the deaths of 100,000 people?