Media coverage of Charlie Sheen

Poynter piece starts off slow, with some stuff about whether the media should get Charlie Sheen help rather than giving him an audience.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/121173/media-acting-as-enablers-with-excessive-coverage-of-two-and-a-half-men-star-charlie-sheen/

But it really gets going when it starts addressing the culture of news providers and consumers, in general, when it comes to what drives ratings, readers, etc., etc.:

A sampling:

* “If there’s anything that symbolizes the bankruptcy of TV news today, it’s the focus on Charlie Sheen.”

* “It’s a great story,” (Today Show executive producer Jim Bell) said. “We don’t have this much interest when we have a big interview on Libya or a powerful, smart series on the brain.”

* A Project for Excellence in Journalism content analysis of 50,000+ stories in 2010 showed that entertainment coverage makes up a small fraction of overall media coverage (0.4 percent). ... Newspapers devote the smallest amount of space to entertainment news

 

That's nice.

If I ever want to commit professional suicide and destroy my ratings, I'll start following Poynter's advice.

 

This is why I can't wait for Poynter to start shredding ESPN.

 

Things haven't changed much. When Lucille Ball had a baby when "I Love Lucy" was big, that was a big national story in all the media, too. That was almost 60 years ago. I believe that stories of wild sexual conduct and/or substance abuse by Hollywood stars was major news back before television was invented.

 

It does feel like watching someone have a mental breakdown in front of whatever camera he can find. I admit the trainwreck element is what's making me turn my head to watch.

I do think the old addage that if people weren't watching, this stuff would go away, is very much true. Apparently Sheen got a Twitter account yesterday and now has 600,000+ followers who tuned in to watch him be crazy.

We have f'd up priorities as a society. TV reflects that.

 

Shows you how in touch I am: I didn't know he was giving interviews until yesterday, let alone multiple, non-stop interviews. I had some vague idea that "Two and a Half Men" was in trouble because Charlie Sheen got in trouble on Christmas for drugs, prostitutes, or both. But the rest of it I had no clue about. None.

 

You lead an interesting life, Dick.

 

What do you mean?

Oh, and: Not really.

 

I mean just what I said. You lead an interesting life.

 

He lives an interesting life in a cave.

 

Now, now.

I'm sure Dick has more important stuff to do besides keeping track of Charlie Sheen and his goddesses. What that could be, I have no idea. But I'm sure something more important than Charlie Sheen exists.

Holler if you find it.

 

Also known as: Father of young children.

Truthfully, I get almost all of my news from mainstream newspapers and news magazines. Which, according to the Poynter story, devote 0.4 percent of their coverage to entertainment news.

Celebrity gossip is just not something that enters my orbit.