While it’s definitely true that today’s media are vastly different from their historical counterparts, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Everything changes with time, and the media are no exception. In my opinion, nowadays the media are far too focused on celebrities and “the right foods to eat to get a flat stomach,” especially when you go on sites like Yahoo! and MSN. Sure, there will be hard news about the upcoming presidential elections, but most of the focus is put on stories about celebrities, even if it’s something as mundane as a starlet getting a horrible haircut, or possible new technological advancements, like leaked photos of the latest iPhone, or the latest tips on how to stay fit. While those are all nice in their own place, I think there need to be fewer stories about these things and more about what’s actually going on in the world.
Still, it’s not entirely the media’s fault; they’re just giving us what we want to hear, see, and know about, and today we’re becoming increasingly more focused on physical perfection (beauty tips, articles on fitness, etc.) and more obsessed with celebrities and fame. But is feeding that fascination healthy? I don’t think so. At least, not when that fascination becomes an obsession, and it certainly seems to be an obsession when people know more about the Kardashians and Teen Mom than what’s going on in the world. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read an article on Yahoo! about some celebrity, scrolled down to read the comments left by users, and discovered that an alarming number of them don’t even know why they clicked on the article when they claim they couldn’t care less about the celebrity. That disturbs me more than anything else – why do we feel compelled to read these stories when we don’t even care?