What's Annoying Me This Week
Blind hypocrisy in the morning news. Well, that would cover most of the broadcast, so let me be more specific: Obsessive media attention on the subject of obsessive media attention. Now, I happen to listen to NPR's "On the Media" every week and love looking at the news from the angle of the media approach, but that show is purposely self-analytical and informative. (And available as a podcast, if you care.) I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about an interview I stumbled on while surfing channels at the gym yesterday. It was on one of the morning network shows, and I don't blame myself for not remembering which since they are practically interchangeable (and will be more so when Katie Couric, who at least is memorable to me, checks out.)
The interview was with another member of the press - specifically celebrity press, a reporter/columnist/editor from People or US Weekly or something I don't read. The topic was: the latest celebrity spawn, the child of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. As I tuned in, the interiewee was commenting on how remarkable that the couple managed to leave their house, drive to the hospital/medical facility/birthing center where the baby was born, and come home - all without the paparazzi catching them. The host (Katie C.? Maybe she's not as memorable as I think she is) agreed, and there was a few seconds of chatter along the lines of "Oh, how terrible to have to live like that." And then Katie C./Whoever asked, so what's the deal with this "silent birth" we've heard rumors about?
Hmmm. So let's agree that it's sad that they have no privacy, and then in the next breath, let's dish about the intimate details of their child's delivery. Yes, that makes perfect sense.
Am I the only one that sees the irony in this?
(Yes, I know that most of these celebrities play the media as much as the media plays them, and that they benefit from all of the attention, and so it's also hypocritical of them to demand privacy for some parts of their personal lives and flaunt others (Tom jumping on a couch, anyone?) But I wish mainstream media would stop pandering to it. They want privacy? Stop talking about them! Ignore them! Maybe they'll go away.)
The interview was with another member of the press - specifically celebrity press, a reporter/columnist/editor from People or US Weekly or something I don't read. The topic was: the latest celebrity spawn, the child of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. As I tuned in, the interiewee was commenting on how remarkable that the couple managed to leave their house, drive to the hospital/medical facility/birthing center where the baby was born, and come home - all without the paparazzi catching them. The host (Katie C.? Maybe she's not as memorable as I think she is) agreed, and there was a few seconds of chatter along the lines of "Oh, how terrible to have to live like that." And then Katie C./Whoever asked, so what's the deal with this "silent birth" we've heard rumors about?
Hmmm. So let's agree that it's sad that they have no privacy, and then in the next breath, let's dish about the intimate details of their child's delivery. Yes, that makes perfect sense.
Am I the only one that sees the irony in this?
(Yes, I know that most of these celebrities play the media as much as the media plays them, and that they benefit from all of the attention, and so it's also hypocritical of them to demand privacy for some parts of their personal lives and flaunt others (Tom jumping on a couch, anyone?) But I wish mainstream media would stop pandering to it. They want privacy? Stop talking about them! Ignore them! Maybe they'll go away.)
posted by medusa at 7:47 AM
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