Saturday, February 10, 2007

Much Ado....

Without intending any disrespect for the late Anna Nicole Smith, can it not be said that the obsessive media coverage of her death epitomizes what is wrong with modern mainstream news coverage, which values the salacious over the significant.

The Oracle does his best to avoid watching any television news, but even his elderly mother asked him what he thought about Smith's death.

This unfortunate woman, who is receiving more attention than a recently deceased President of the United States, never did anything that merited this kind of coverage. As a young woman, she married an elderly, wealthy man whose children did not approve. She was embroiled in a lengthy legal matter over said marriage. She posed naked for a magazine. She gained and lost weight.

There is nothing there of newsworthy consequence.

Again, this is not criticism of Smith, who simply went along for the ride, evidently without much enjoyment. It is intended as criticism of news media, which more and more engage in the business of Seinfield (without the humor): delivering programs about nothing.

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