Anna Nicole Smith and Don Imus have both had their fifteen minutes of fame, maybe even more. They haven’t done much except lead trashy lives or believe than anyone else is fair game for insulting comments. Neither has made a break-through in medical science or in peace initiatives. Yet, their current woes have been headliners in the local and national news media for the past week.
I’m not sure why.
One could argue that the media promotes them. They ask who is Daniellyne’s father? Why did Imus make those racist remarks? On the other hand, one could argue that the general public’s fascination with vapid contemporary culture encourages the media’s effort to provide fodder to ramp up viewer statistics and woo advertisers. It’s the chicken or the egg, revisited.
I don’t watch much of it, except this morning I endured both Anna and Imus for the sake of seeing a short snip about my son’s company that was to have been on one of the morning shows. It never appeared. When I questioned my son’s media person, she said the clip was preempted for more important news.
Naturally, I’m biased for my son’s company; I would have loved to see it gain some national press. But even if this weren’t the case, I don’t see what important news occurred, given the content of the show that I watched for two hours. Instead I’m more convinced that we are becoming a nation of vapid voyeurs. It doesn’t really make me happy.
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