The Tabloid Media Has Caught a Tiger By His Tail
Another day, another revelation was revealed in TigerGate. As a society, we have been captivated with the daily coverage of Tiger Woods' private hell. You cannot avoid the latest edition of TMZ or The Insider that promises “exclusive details on his extra-marital affairs or providing voice mails between Tiger and his endless amount of girlfriends.”
Where ever you go, someone has a comment or an opinion on what really happened between golf’s elite couple in the early morning hours following Thanksgiving. Have our lives become so complacent that we must live vicariously through our celebrity’s misfortunes. The real question that needs to be answered is why we care so much for tabloid journalism.
Who cares if Tiger is a serial cheater and sleeps around on his spouse, as this occurs in everyday life with little fanfare or public scrutiny polarizing a family’s turmoil. Yes, I understand celebrities make a large amount of money, but that doesn’t give the tabloids the right to stick their nose into their personal lives.
If Tiger’s marriage is showing signs of falling apart, this isn’t a signal for television crews to camp outside his gated community and update their audience every fifteen minutes on the status of Woods’ marriage.
The producers of this style of journalism often compare themselves with having similar integrity like other news shows such as 60 Minutes , and that would be comparing Hustler to Time for quality editorial writing.
I can’t imagine Lesley Stahl of Steve Kroft chasing their interviewees all over town for a mindless sound bite. Tabloid television shows produces large rating numbers which equals big advertising dollars into the pockets of their distributors.
If I have to see another celebrity tearful confessional interview, I will vomit. Please Tiger, don’t go on Oprah or Dr. Phil , and tell us how difficult your life has become. Celebrities need to stop blaming the system and start examining their own actions. When a person becomes a commercial-success then everyone in the world is their new best friend.
The attention can be overwhelming at times, as normal everyday situations can turn into a major media frenzy. Still, individuals need to held accountable for letting their actions get out of hand.
Our society relies on the television to inform us on the events of the day, as subscription rates for newspapers and magazines have been on the decline for years. Reading has become a lost art in our culture. Are we being informed properly or rather what fits nicely in a 22-minute or 42-minute news program format. Due to time constraints, television will put a limit on the amount of information that will be broadcast in a given day, and little by little, people are becoming less informed.
We’re starving for news, as wait for the beep on our Blackberry or iPhone for the next Tiger news item. Two weeks ago, it was a simple traffic accident that has turn into the last women to have slept with Woods please turn off the light.
When is enough enough, in regarding to witnessing a destruction of someone’s professional career? Let’s put the PDAs down and pick up a good book.
