Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen a few online reader posts and calls to our Two Cents line lamenting the media's handling of the Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith stories.
The most frequent complaint is that news organizations are giving far too much coverage to these stories - Spears' apparent breakdown and Smith's untimely death. I have yet to see anyone say there should be more attention given to these stories, or even that the media have provided just the right amount.
So if the only feedback seems to be negative, why do the media continue with them?
The answer, I suspect, rests with the high viewer ratings or readership these stories get. As much as people grumble about the overabundance of celebrity news (and I'm one of those people), it's inescapable that many of us watch and read anyway.
That fact leads to the balancing act in which decision-makers in the news media are constantly engaged.
We try to provide the right amount of “hard” news coverage on the matters that truly affect our lives. We also want to be sure we offer the right amount “soft” news. These are those stories that don't necessarily have an impact on our lives, but that many of us would like to read, perhaps out of curiosity.
In general, we have relegated celebrity stories to either our nation/world pages or to our section on page A2 devoted to celebrities. We have not put Spears or Smith on our front page throughout the lives of these recent stories.
But some newspapers have. I was especially struck by the number of papers I saw that had Smith's death on their front page the day after she suddenly passed away.
I'm sure they used good reasoning for their decisions. It was the dominant national news topic that day. Everyone was talking about it, in their workplace, at the gym, on the phone, at home.
That's a good reason to put a story on A1.
A few people have told me we would have sold a lot more papers that day if Anna Nicole Smith appeared on the cover. They're probably right.
But while there's no doubt that we try to choose stories for the front page each day that will help it sell on the newsstand, we also need to be sure we're not losing sight of our mission as a local newspaper.
With apologies to journalism purists, I must admit that Spears and Smith do have a place in The Citizen. It's just on an inside page.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns run Saturdays in
The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
So if the only feedback seems to be negative, why do the media continue with them?
The answer, I suspect, rests with the high viewer ratings or readership these stories get. As much as people grumble about the overabundance of celebrity news (and I'm one of those people), it's inescapable that many of us watch and read anyway.
That fact leads to the balancing act in which decision-makers in the news media are constantly engaged.
We try to provide the right amount of “hard” news coverage on the matters that truly affect our lives. We also want to be sure we offer the right amount “soft” news. These are those stories that don't necessarily have an impact on our lives, but that many of us would like to read, perhaps out of curiosity.
In general, we have relegated celebrity stories to either our nation/world pages or to our section on page A2 devoted to celebrities. We have not put Spears or Smith on our front page throughout the lives of these recent stories.
But some newspapers have. I was especially struck by the number of papers I saw that had Smith's death on their front page the day after she suddenly passed away.
I'm sure they used good reasoning for their decisions. It was the dominant national news topic that day. Everyone was talking about it, in their workplace, at the gym, on the phone, at home.
That's a good reason to put a story on A1.
A few people have told me we would have sold a lot more papers that day if Anna Nicole Smith appeared on the cover. They're probably right.
But while there's no doubt that we try to choose stories for the front page each day that will help it sell on the newsstand, we also need to be sure we're not losing sight of our mission as a local newspaper.
With apologies to journalism purists, I must admit that Spears and Smith do have a place in The Citizen. It's just on an inside page.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns run Saturdays in
The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
There are 1 comment(s)
steven wrote on Mar 6, 2007 5:28 PM: