Posted: January 31, 2008
College Newspaper: Spectator

Everybody does it, whether they admit it or not. I’m not talking about masturbation. Get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about reading, listening and watching news about celebrity gossip.

Even if we don’t want to hear about how Britney Spears showed up late for court or that she showed up and stayed two hours, there it is live on CNN. We saw Heath Ledger’s body roll out of his apartment building in a body bag live on Fox News. We saw clips of Tom Brady walk around with a brace on his foot on Headline News.

Even Anderson Cooper stoops low sometimes and starts discussing the latest breaking news that one could find on PerezHilton.com or TMZ.com.

The real question is… is this the type of news that these networks wanted to show when they began years ago?

I’m sure CNN didn’t start with hopes that some former football player would be wanted in the death of his ex-wife and run off in a white Bronco, being chased by the cops.

I’m sure Fox News didn’t come on the air, praying that some loose socialite would spend time in jail only to be released live on television as if she were Nelson Mandela.

I admit that I love listening to all the gossip. I visit the gossip sites previously mentioned several times a day. It’s how I learned that Heath Ledger died as I sat in the Spectator office copywriting for last week’s issue. I love turning on the television to watch E! News and the Daily 10. I giggled when Paris Hilton was thrown in jail and forced to spend her entire sentence there. I was heartbroken when Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie.

Sure, there are more important things going on in the world than how Miley Cyrus took some scandalous pictures with a friend or how Lindsay Lohan fell off the sober wagon.

There is a presidential election this year, the economy is in the crapper, gas prices are sky high and for the love of all things sacred, what’s being shown on CNN? Kevin Federline is being praised as a parent better parent than Britney, which isn’t saying much.

What’s wrong with this picture?

CNN, Fox News, Headline News, and all of the other news channels that like to discuss celebrity gossip should stick with the real world news. Update the world on the candidates of the election instead of invading the privacy of the Ledger family by showing live footage of an actor’s body being rolled out of a building.

Leave the celebrity news to E! and all of the various other shows like Entertainment Tonight.

And for God’s sake… leave Britney alone.