Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CNN's Midlife Crisis

CNN is no longer a provider of quality news representation. They are undergoing an identity crisis fueled by the larger modern social trend that is Pop Culture. CNN has morphed from a reliable source in international and national news reporting to slowly being saturated with "quasi-celebrities being quasi-entertaining" news coverage in congruence with the popularity rise of reality TV shows and celebrity gossip magazines.

Clearly, there is a demand for drama to be “real,” and CNN, by providing celebrity updates and sensationalizing other stories, is just another corporation meeting that demand. The unfortunate thing is that CNN is in a position to help fix this problem, to discourage America off its celebrity and “reality” addictions. Instead, it just pretends to be a legitimate news provider. To some extent, CNN is Us Weekly for those who refuse to read Us Weekly. CNN just feigns reputability in order to appeal to a slightly different audience.

CNN has this tendency to weave celebrity trivia with substantial issues as if attentive readers and viewers of current events and politics are interested in whether or not Rosie O'Donnell is leaving "The View."


I wonder if CNN even takes their constituents seriously anymore.

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