People have wanted to be entertained since the beginning of time. Therefore, it should come to no surprise that many prefer to indulge in more “entertaining” news. We’d rather fixate on juicy celebrity gossip and political scandal, than to deal with the reality of the war in the Middle East. Why? Because the 2013 Fiscal Cliff isn’t nearly as amusing as Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy or President Obama’s birth records. Even though, entertainment journalism has been around since journalism itself, it seems that today’s society seems to yearn for the juiciness like never before. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there is no way that one can say that they haven’t noticed the increase of featured tabloid news.
Let’s face it; entertainment news is constantly around us. Whether you’re standing in line waiting to check out or checking your email, every one of us has been guilty of indulging, even if it was just a little bit. Even watching television has become a bit difficult not to indulge. The way news is delivered to the public has changed drastically over the years. The delivery method that broadcasters once used has had to be changed in order for news stations to reach a younger audience. Beyonce lip syncing at the 2013 Presidential inauguration has become pointless national news. News networks don’t make it any better by allowing viewers to call in or tweet along with the show.
Even though it is entertaining, can such pointless news be considered journalism? Journalism is about delivering unbiased facts. With thousands of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and every other social media site, it seems that the informative news has taken a back seat to the entertainment news world. So, is the real hard facts journalism going to make a comeback or is the entertainment spectrum of news the new face of journalism?