Is it possible for any radio station or television channel to run for one full hour without drawing the attention of the public to the activities of a certain celebrity? This is not possible in the modern world. The media is obsessed with celebrity news to the extent that important issues that affect the lives of members of the public are ignored. Is this how the situation should be? Someone somewhere may think that it is proper for the media to be following the affairs of celebrities and reporting on them as opposed to heavier public matters (Howe 7). But this is not what should be. Therefore this essay is dedicated to the defense of the thesis that the dedication of too much time to celebrities by the media is bad for society. Strong points will be raised in defense of this position.
To start with, celebrity attention benefits a small number of people in most cases as opposed to a focus on news about issues that affect a larger percentage of the public. This means that focusing on celebrities instead of the larger public leads to great damage to society. For example, a story about a celebrity who has divorced the partner will give limelight to the celebrity in question. How does the larger public benefit from this story? If there are people among members of the public who benefit from this story in any way, then the number is very small. If instead the time that is given to such a story is given to a story on how students can perform well in school if they participate in extracurricular activities, and a professional is given time to explain how this works in the system of school-going children, the number of people who will benefit is huge. To be specific, the entire public will have benefited since education, which contributes to the wellbeing of the entire society, has been given a boost.
Secondly, the media causes more damage by giving more coverage to celebrity stories given that a good number of the celebrity stories covered are negative. The damage caused is the influence that young people get from seeing these famous people doing bad things and then thinking that the best way to be famous is to do bad things just like the celebrity. The media is always full of stories about celebrities who fought, celebrities who were caught with guns, and others who engaged in extramarital sexual activities. These are negative actions whose influence on young people is not what parents want for their children (Lawrence 25). Things would be different if the coverage given to celebrities would be focused only on positive actions. But this is not what happens.
Thirdly, too much media focus on the vanity of celebrities diverts attention from important issues thus pushing them away from the public sphere where they are supposed to be debated and understood. For example, the recently passed health bill got opposition from some people who never had a chance to understand its impact on their lives. This would have been different if the media had dedicated more time to the issue and invited experts to explain the issue to the public.
In conclusion, focusing too much attention on celebrities is not the best thing for society. The major reasons as to why attention to celebrities by the media should be reduced include the negative influence on children from bad celebrity actions, the diversion of debate from important matters, and the reduced benefit to the larger public.
Works Cited
Howe, Peter. Paparazzi: And Our Obsession with Celebrity. New York: Artisan, 2005.Print.
Lawrence, Cooper. The Cult of Celebrity: What Our Fascination with the Stars Reveals About Us, (1st ed.).New York: Skirt, 2009.Print.