And they looked great. Looking at the broad sweep of U.S. history, Gabler argues that the rise of 20th Century media culturea world of tabloid newspapers, gossip magazines, radio talk shows, television sitcoms and movies above allhas dramatically transformed the way Americans view daily reality. Once, he suggests, people focused on character and ideas as the benchmarks by which to measure their lives. But today, all that has been replaced by a hunger for amusement. The nation worships images, not ideas, and celebrities dominate the news.
Many journalists like to hold themselves apart from the shlockmeisters of pop culture.
Yet even the most high-minded reporters and producers can succumb to the drumbeat of entertainment. Soon after the war in Kosovo began, for example, the media focused in a rush on the plight of three American POWs. But there was a war going on. A much bigger and more complex tale to relate. Such sensitivity can improve coverage in the long run, she adds, but in wartime it often muddies the big picture.