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AP black out of Hilton news?

I just read on CNN that the AP had a week long blackout of Paris Hilton news.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

On one hand, I can’t stand the girl. (Sorry, Kali, I know she’s your idol.) She is, as that article states, famous for being famous. It isn’t that she’s rich or spoiled. OK, well that’s part of it. What irks me most is how much press she gets for not doing anything. It’s like, here’s this stupid girl (and by all accounts I’ve seen, that adjective fits) with plenty of money to blow and nothing better to do with her life than throw it away. She has nothing else to do with her life other than party and be seen. (And it was heartening to hear that nobody was clamoring for the news.)

On the other hand, if people are stupid enough to want to read about her exploits, (Again, sorry Kali.) I don’t know if we should say we know what’s best for you. And just not cover her or anyone. Trust me, I was the kid sitting in the newsroom for the past few weeks, shaking my head “WHO CARES?!” As all the cable news covered Anna Nicole Smith’s death like she was the pope.

I know, I know. One of the most dangerous things about being a journalist is having the power to set the agenda. There’s a quote that goes something along the lines of “What we do and don’t cover matters a great deal.” Every day we have to choose what we cover and what we don’t. Which reporter covers what, how much time and resources he or she gets. How each story is played. Etc. But an all-out blanket black out on one subject or person is pretty extreme. What if it’s not Paris Hilton next time? It makes me a little queasy. That’s all.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 at 11:53 am and is filed under Commentary, Journalism, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “AP black out of Hilton news?”

  1. University Update Says:
    March 3rd, 2007 at 12:22 pm

    AP black out of Hilton news?

  2. Jessica Says:
    March 4th, 2007 at 12:51 am

    I read that and found it incredibly good that finally the media chose not to revel in her stupidity. But I’m pretty sure the next day or something very close to that they ran a story on her driving with a suspended license. So, maybe they aren’t sticking to this!

  3. Meranda Says:
    March 4th, 2007 at 1:23 am

    Jessica — yeah that’s what the CNN article said. They broke their black out to report her arrest. But, apparently the week was over anyway. Either way, as much as I don’t personally want to read about her or any of her posse, I don’t know if turning your back on something completely is ever a good thing.

    But, it could be interesting if the entire mediascape blacked her out. Maybe she’d have to do something so out-of-character it’d actually warrant some coverage — like donate some of her millions to AIDS research or build a school in Africa or something so unlike her the mere fact that she was attached to it made it newsworthy. :shrug: As it stands, she probably couldn’t find Africa on a map. So no chance of that happening.

  4. Kali Says:
    March 4th, 2007 at 2:33 am

    HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
    I love how you apologized to me twice.

  5. Dana Says:
    March 5th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

    I agree it’s extreme. And embarrassing. Way to go AP for pointing out the fact that you have been mindlessly covering someone who does unnewsworthy things — and now you have to make a big deal out of the fact that you aren’t doing it for one week. Do they want congratulations?
    I would have been more impressed if they just consistantly cover her like they would any other celeb — when she gets arrested, in a a car crash, donates a huge sum of money, helps save a beached whale or whatever. Leave what color panties she wore today to the folks at US Weekly — this week, next week and beyond.

  6. Andrew Schiller Says:
    March 9th, 2007 at 2:43 am

    To quote Studio 60 “does your ass hurt from sitting the fence so much?” Granted, this is your blog, you’re not under an obligation to do anything and it’s a pretty tough subject. But frankly, in terms of news, people just tend to read whatever is in front of them and pick and choose from that. They don’t usually complain about something that wasn’t presented to them. Paris Hilton was the victim of a black out? All kinds of things (Stalinism for example) don’t get a lot of coverage in the news. I’m not Stalinist, but reading about Paris Hilton is just as useless. Get her the heck off the page. The vast majority of people would not feel ripped off if they got their jollies by reading about something else (maybe something more educational, wholesome, whatever). Anyways, my random 2 cents.