VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING INVOLVING BRITNEY SPEARS IS NOW ‘BIG DEAL’
January 21st 2008 02:04
MediaBloodhound reports that the flow of news about “Britney Spears, an obscure and underreported pop star,” is guaranteed to continue following a memo from Frank Baker, Associated Press Los Angeles assistant bureau chief.
The irreverent web site Gawker ran the text of Baker’s memo which was issued to “News – Southern California Editorial Staff,” on January 8.
The memo read,
“Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal. That doesn’t mean every rumour makes it on the wire. But it does mean that we want to pay attention to what others are reporting and seek to confirm those stories that WE feel warrant the wire. And when we determine that we’ll write something, we must expedite it.
“Thanks, Frank.”
Gawker also reminded its readers about AP’s former admirable but aborted effort to rid its wires of Paris Hilton reports for one week.
Gawker said, “And while the AP and Baker have taken some heat for the Britney move, it’s only fair to point out the AP’s valiant, cold turkey effort to break its addiction to reporting on Paris Hilton, a forgotten weeklong struggle that began on February 19, 2007, at the end of which the newswire king – conjuring images of night sweats and hallucinations of giant babies crawling on ceilings – reported, ‘We didn’t cover her weekend birthday bash in Las Vegas.’ In its battle with the demons of newsworthiness, AP also noted, ‘During blackout week, the AP didn’t mention Hilton’s second birthday party at a Beverly Hills restaurant, at which a drunken friend reportedly was ejected by security after insulting Paula Abdul and Courtney Love. And editors asked our Puerto Rico bureau not to write about her visit there to hawk her fragrance.’”
But, according to Gawker, “In the end, the monkey on the AP’s back was an unrelenting, pitiless temptress. While the weeklong moratorium was an admirable goal, Paris Hilton, an infinite source of news that impacts all of our lives, proved too strong. Before the week’s end, the AP admitted, ‘However, her name did slip into copy unintentionally three times, as background: in stories about Britney Spears, Nicole Richie, and even in the lead of a story about Democrats in Las Vegas.’”
Gawker concluded, “Nevertheless, this historic journalistic effort – worthy of the industry’s highest accolades – must never be forgotten. For if quitting cigarettes is, as the medical community has noted for years, as difficult as kicking heroin, then the AP’s addiction to Paris and Britney and the infinite pool of talentless, vapid Americans famous for being famous can only be compared to, say, a speedball of cocaine and heroin, or, possibly, the largest hunk of journalistic crack ever smoked in the western hemisphere.”
The irreverent web site Gawker ran the text of Baker’s memo which was issued to “News – Southern California Editorial Staff,” on January 8.
The memo read,
“Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal. That doesn’t mean every rumour makes it on the wire. But it does mean that we want to pay attention to what others are reporting and seek to confirm those stories that WE feel warrant the wire. And when we determine that we’ll write something, we must expedite it.
Gawker also reminded its readers about AP’s former admirable but aborted effort to rid its wires of Paris Hilton reports for one week.
Gawker said, “And while the AP and Baker have taken some heat for the Britney move, it’s only fair to point out the AP’s valiant, cold turkey effort to break its addiction to reporting on Paris Hilton, a forgotten weeklong struggle that began on February 19, 2007, at the end of which the newswire king – conjuring images of night sweats and hallucinations of giant babies crawling on ceilings – reported, ‘We didn’t cover her weekend birthday bash in Las Vegas.’ In its battle with the demons of newsworthiness, AP also noted, ‘During blackout week, the AP didn’t mention Hilton’s second birthday party at a Beverly Hills restaurant, at which a drunken friend reportedly was ejected by security after insulting Paula Abdul and Courtney Love. And editors asked our Puerto Rico bureau not to write about her visit there to hawk her fragrance.’”
Gawker concluded, “Nevertheless, this historic journalistic effort – worthy of the industry’s highest accolades – must never be forgotten. For if quitting cigarettes is, as the medical community has noted for years, as difficult as kicking heroin, then the AP’s addiction to Paris and Britney and the infinite pool of talentless, vapid Americans famous for being famous can only be compared to, say, a speedball of cocaine and heroin, or, possibly, the largest hunk of journalistic crack ever smoked in the western hemisphere.”
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Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I don't know who's more pathetic in the case of Britney. The media, Britney herself, or the people who snavel up every tid-bit they're thrown... screaming; 'more, bravo, more!'
Makes me want ot hurl.
A great post,
Lilla ...
Comment by Peter Olszewski
Here's a confession from inside the newspaper world where I often live: sometimes we despair at what the people want. Some fight it, others say if they want trash, serve it up.
Then of course the public say the newspapers are crap because they publish crap. And on it goes.
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
*lol* the 'v' seemed of better use in this instance.
I hear you on the relationship between the two, but I think it is up to the papers to set the example and pull the bootstraps up. I mean if the source of information sells out, what hope for the morals of the readers?
..um.. hence why I don;t work in mainstream journalism... I just couldn't hack being an 'on staff' reporter... *lol* I am too old and tough to tote the party line now.
As for the situation?
I think you are right, it is a runaway train...
Lilla ...
Comment by AmyHuang
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