American Journalism has evolved quite a bit since Publick Occurrences was published back in 1690. That paper was published under extremely dangerous circumstances, and it was put to an end after just one issue, because of influence from a higher power. All of the journalism in that paper was courageous, because the writers and editors were working under uncertain circumstances.
Fast forward 325 years and the hard-hitting television news broadcasts of TMZ and E! News are driving the American media. What happened? Reporting on matters important to national security has now turned into reporting on who is dating who in Hollywood. It is outrageous that viewers in today's modern society are more interested in soft news that will not make an impact on anything significant.
Especially interesting stories stem from gossip and rumors, which is seen in a Drudge Report article on a potential Bill Clinton child. While reading this article, consumers will notice that no hard journalism is seen in the page, only quotes from the rumored mother of the child, which just continue the rumors. At no point in the article is it mentioned that this is probably just a scheme to try and get some money from the woman. The idea of this scandal is more important to run with then reporting on a realistic basis.
It can be admitted that I am not a hypocrite on this matter, as pieces like this interest as well, which just shows how poor the journalism has been during my maturation process. Growing up seeing stories involving celebrity gossip and other soft journalism has destroyed this generation's sense of quality journalism, which is an irreversible characteristic.
As long as the money is there with these types of stories, they will be around for a long time. Fear for the upcoming generation is quite high as intellectual journalism continues to be removed from the mainstream media.
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