Editorial: Blurring the lines between news and gossip

Hey, did you hear about Jon Gosslein’s “mantrums”?

They’re like temper tantrums, only if you’re a narcissistic father of eight who has given up on maintaining any sense of dignity. Apparently, this is headline news — not just on trashy tabloid shows, but on what were once reputable news sources.

I spotted this bit of news (well, it’s not so much news as information) on the CNN “crawl” next to the president’s plan to meet with the Joint Chiefs to discuss a new strategy in Afghanistan.

Just to make sure that wasn’t a fluke, I logged onto Google News and found Gosslein’s fights with new girlfriend Hailey Glassman were being reported by every major news outlet, as was his new PR battle with ex-wife, Kate.

Clearly, something is wrong here.

Celebrity gossip has been a part of our culture seemingly forever. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Whispers about Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with the Kennedy boys drew almost as much attention as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

However, with reality television and the Internet converging to create this new class of pseudo-celebrities (essentially, one-dimensional people who’ve never contributed anything to society) that have somehow invaded the national discourse.

Prior to this convergence, there used to be a clear division between news and gossip. But as those lines continue to blur, we find ourselves running into some serious problems with regard to the dissemination of vital information.

If I were to rely exclusively on mainstream news outlets (not TMZ.com or the E! channel or anything else that exclusively provides gossip service), I would learn just as much about the “Balloon Boy” odyssey or the “Octomom” as I would about the president’s latest changes to his health care proposal.

But as media outlets continue to compete for viewers/readers, the stories that seem to generate the largest audience are sadly of the gossip variety.

There is a clear reason for this. The new national pastime (much more popular than the World Series) seems to be bashing celebrities — especially pseudo-celebrities. It’s the only group of people where it’s OK (even expected) for others to universally mock them.

People love tuning into Larry King (a once-proud journalist who used to talk with world leaders, but is now reduced to interviewing the pseudo-celebrity class) to watch the Gossleins, or Levi Johnston, or fill-in-the-newest-flavor-of-the-month as they wring every last second out of their allotted 15 minutes of fame.

I propose that we establish a news hierarchy. Mainstream outlets need to focus on actual news and profiles on those who actually impact our culture (world leaders, technology developers, filmmakers, etc.). The pseudo-celebrities can occupy a separate information sphere.

Even though we have more information now than we ever did before, all of this information should not be treated as equal.

—— Nick Prevenas