The News Conundrum — Do we give people what they want, or what they need?
Unless you have been in a coma this week, you’ve been unable to avoid the news of the untimely
death of Anna Nicole Smith and the media frenzy that would make a school of piranha look sedate by comparison. We’ve seen pictures of her fridge, discussions of the corpse and morbid analysis of the woman’s unusual family life.
Many of you will find this obvious, but this is as frivolous as celebrity coverage gets. This woman was a minor, C-class celebrity, whose talents were limited to a large bosom and the willingness to let us watch her emotional demise on reality television. This was not the demise of an elder statesman, nor an especially talented artist, nor anyone of note. It’s a sad story, and while America is at war, there are lots of those going around.
But celebrity sells, and so we’ve seen this story flogged to death. I guess there’s no reason to take hallucinogens when you get to watch CNBC actually try to assess the potential economic impact of her death during the run down of the New York Stock Exchange. Not E! the entertainment channel — but CNBC, the one with Maria Bartiromo and people talking about financial markets. Surreal doesn’t cover it.
Now, why is this happening? Have we lost our minds. Well, yes, but let’s dig in to the story. I had to quiz a close friend of mine who’s in the national media business. I said, "Are you guys feeling a little ashamed right now? How can you slime America with this kind of mindless garbage?" He clued me in on the economic reality of this kind of story.
"Eric, we ran a story on the 2008 budget the same day. It went from committee to subcommittee and there are all sorts of important changes. But right next to it, the Anna Nicole Smith story got 12 million hits on our website in one hour. For every story we do that matters, we have to ring the cash register too. "
We’ve heard this argument before — "We’re giving the public what it wants." And you know, I believe them. The fact is, the story about the budget is right there, for the taking. Next to the stories about the creation of Iraq war intelligence. And the next cure for diabetes. And the future. And all kinds of interesting stuff. But Jennifer Aniston’s putative nosejob will get more hits.
These are the economics of media in a world of six billion channels for six billion people. As we go forward, there are so many choices that people can choose to only be fed the tastiest, least meaningful tidbits of information. And it’s their right to do so. But collectively we have lots of decisions to make that will require an informed people. And perhaps if we are overwhelmed with coverage ever time a C-list celebrity dies, this is a threat to our future.
I’m not certain about any answers here. Thoughts?
-Garland