As most of you probably know, I am no big fan of soft news. I do not find it a valid form of journalism. I can, however, admit that it seems to be what sells and despite my personal opinion, it seems to have a place in the journalistic world.
However, it does not seem right that soft news has seemed to take a place highly above hard news. It seems that magazine racks are dominated by entertainment magazines rather than magazines filled with hard news. On any given rack, you will find a plethora of celebrity dominated magazines, such as People or In Touch. However, rather than a possible mandatory Newsweek or Times, the magazines which touch on real issues which affect our nation seem absent. This is true of online news as well. On the Yahoo! home page, the main feature stories include behind the scenes footage of the Obama family, Jennifer Love Hewitt's called-off wedding, Brangelina's 'two reasons to celebrate' and couples therapy. The democrat’s stimulus plan to fix the economy, New York's Senate pick and a Pennsylvania fire which claimed 15 lives, however, got pushed under the feature stories.
When the hard news seems to be put on the backburner, taking second to celebrity gossip, one must question the validity of the journalistic system as a whole. While it makes a certain sense to report what Americans seem to want to read, it is another matter entirely to make the soft news the main focus of our media. While Americans devour the gossip, no one seems to take the media seriously. I think that if we shifted our focus to stories with more substance, the media would be looked upon with more creedence and respect. Although soft news seems to have a place in the media, it should not be put above hard news. It is past time that American media put a higher value on news with substance and strive to get our reputation back.
http://www.yahoo.com/
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