Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 14 > Entry
Sexy celebrity, even in death, trumps serious news
Now here’s a sad commentary on the state of citizenship and culture in America.
The death of former Playmate and over-the-top reality star Anna Nicole Smith last week racked up more cable news coverage than the war in Iraq.
According to figures released Tuesday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Smith’s mysterious swan song gobbled up 21 percent of all news programming on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel. On Thursday and Friday (the day she died and the day after), that figure soared to 50 percent.
Coverage of Iraq and the ‘08 presidential race came in second and third on cable news, with a measly 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively, over the week of Feb. 4 to 9.
The questions asked on a half-hourly basis was: Why do we care about Anna Nicole Smith? Nobody seemed to know, but it probably has something to do with the trashy nature of the poor woman’s life, the controversy surrounding the father of her infant daughter and a cast of characters that seems to have come right out of tabloid central casting.
Fox and MSNBC seemed to willingly hitch their news wagons to Smith’s fallen star, but CNN looked pained by the process. Wolf Blitzer turned over the entire “Situation Room” (3-5 p.m. Thursday) — a show normally devoted to serious political and policy coverage — to the Bizarreness in the Bahamas. He didn’t look happy about it, but he went with the apparent viewer-interest flow.
The broadcast networks were more restrained, no doubt due to the lack of air time. The Smith debacle came in fifth, behind the war, the winter weather, the presidential campaign and the Scooter Libby trial on ABC, CBS and NBC.
With paternity, cause of death and other mysteries still left hanging, don’t look for the Anna Nicole Show to go away any time soon.
Cheers for James!
The grand finale for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was indeed grand. No more waddling Pekingese or odd-looking whippets this time around.
No, last night’s Best in Show winner was a gorgeous, doglike English springer spaniel named James. He was simply splendid and noble, circling Madison Square Garden like he owned the place, which, as of about 9:50 p.m., he did.
The crowd may have preferred the woolly cutie owned by Bill Cosby, but dog judges made the right pick this time. James, with his glorious red and white coat, was a down-to-Earth winner.
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