The doyens of pop culture tend to think that the extra something must be like a hot pepper hidden in a salad spicy and shocking in a way most people find unpleasant. But it's certainly memorable, and it will appeal to those who like hot peppers and to those who crave any sort of sensation, even a vicious burn. That's the key to the unholy alliance between pop culture and pop news. Pop culture needs attention to sell its wares. Pop news needs ever-fresh material to sell its wares.
Pop culture gives pop news the sexy spice it needs.
Pop news gives pop culture the spotlight it needs. The alliance lately has magnified the more sordid elements of popular culture out of all proportion, to the point where politicians try to use the publicity to their own advantage. Their crusade caused agita in the control room of the corporate mothership and led to a pull-back. More often, though, the political exploitation of pop-culture controversy leads to some ridiculous comedy, like Bob Dole going on the warpath against Hollywood movies he never saw and Rep. Marge Roukema denouncing the depiction of Italian Americans in HBO's series The Sopranos which she too had never seen and therefore did not know her own criticisms had actually been voiced on the show itself by one of its characters. In truth, the pop-media alliance doesn't work all that well.