Leave the Gossip to Perez

Like it or not, the lines between tabloids and mainstream media are quickly fading away. People love celebrities. We could sit here and speculate about all of the psychological reasons why people care, but the fact is, there are a lot of people out there who thrive on celebrity news and gossip.

Just take one look at the latest Twitter trending topics to see for yourself; it’s almost a guarantee at least one celebrity name will be featured. At the time of my writing, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Larry King, Jay-Z and Justin Beiber were dominating the ranks. 

Now, I do feel there are some entertainment-related issues that deserve news coverage—say for example Michael Jackson’s death—but I just don’t see how Audrina Patridge’s remarks about Heidi Montag’s so-called singing career are even remotely worthy of the cyberspace at CNN.

I’ll be the first to admit, I read People Magazine and occasionally enjoy watching an episode of The Soup. But I take it for what it is—gossip, not news. I believe there is an important distinction between the two. 

I just wish the media held themselves to higher standards when it comes to reporting on celebrities and entertainment. When I turn on the news, I want to know about real issues, not the latest Hollywood buzz. There are still people out there who actually care about things other than which reality TV star is launching a music career this week. 

I know ratings are important and breaking celebrity news generates a lot of attention, but let’s let the news media focus on news and leave the celebrity gossip to Perez Hilton.

What do you think? Is it okay for mainstream media to cover celebrity gossip? Should there be a limit to how much coverage is devoted to this?