The Negative Effects of the Media on Celebrities

695 Words3 Pages
1- "Celebrity breakdowns" may have existed as long as the star system but are now investigated and exposed to a degree arguably considered excessive. In this digital era, it is not difficult to find information about celebrities, no matter how personal. Private addresses of stars have been posted in both gossip columns and traditional media outlets like USA Today. And now, thanks to uncensored weblogs like that of celebrity-basher Perez Hilton, those in the spotlight suffer the humiliation and disgrace of having statements about them - true or untrue - broadcast for millions to find. 2- The extent and quality of celebrity news in the media appears especially unreasonable today, multiplying and intensifying at such a rate that "legitimate" news has fallen in precedence. Whether it likes it or not, the public knows more about Britney Spears and how many pills she swallowed than about many political issues. 3- Mainstream media content is most likely increasing in sensationalism due to competition with celebrity news sources, particularly those online. As said by marketing author David Giles, "The defining characteristic of a celebrity is that it is essentially a media production, and its usage is largely confined to the twentieth century." 4- After researching relevant articles and performing content analysis on entertainment web sites for my senior project, it was concluded that broadcasts containing information potentially harmful to the well being of celebrities was present in both mainstream to entertainment-focused sources. Thus, based on the content researched, as well as the outlets analyzed for this project, it was found that the media may indeed negatively affect celebrity behavior and psyches. 5- Trends toward sensationalism in mainstream news have been found in previous studies, most likely as a result of competition between traditional media outlets
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