Infotainment

== Overview ==
Infotainment in the context of Writing Across Media is utilizing both information and entertainment to spread ideas. Infotainment covers a very large field of usage across mediums such as mainly television and social media in the internet, but is also faced with criticisms of its purpose and seemingly biased nature of presenting objective information.
== Keywords ==
* Information
* Entertainment
* Social Media
* New Media
* Hard News
* Soft News
== Definition and History ==
Infotainment is a popular term used to describe a media device that combines information and entertainment. The content that is portrayed is intended to both provide information and be educational, as well as serve as a device to entertain and attract customer interest. Infotainment can be shown through different medium, such as through television, newspaper, radio, and the internet. Recently, social media such as Twitter and Facebook has been showing significantly increasing trends of infotainment through different institutions. Some prime examples of it include programs in television such as Animal Planet and Food Network. Infotainment is also used to describe software and hardware installed in cars to improve drivers' experiences while driving.
The term "infotainer" was first coined in September of 1980 at the Joint Conference of Aslib, the Institute of Information Scientists and the Library Association in Sheffield, United Kingdom, when British information scientists used infotainment in their comedy shows between 1980 and 1990. The term "infotainment" was first coined during the convention of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) in 1974. The definition has been constant since.  
== Examples ==
Recently news programs have been trying to make their broadcast more entertaining to gain a larger audience, using more emotional, lighthearted language and tools to present news. Pundits, people who deliver their own opinion on a particular subject to mass media, such as Gleen Beck from CNN, Bill O'Reilly from Fox News', Barbara Walters from ABC, and Keith Olbermann from MSNBC now rule the scene of media. Harvard government professor Thomas E. Patterson described that soft news are rising as these "news personalities" become part of the news themselves.  
Some other video examples of infotainment include: 
TopGear "Smallest Car"
National Geographical Channel "The Predator"
National Geographic Wild "Animals That Will Kill You"
== Criticism ==
thumb|right|335px|Raising concern on infotainment violating news
There have been some upcoming criticism that infotainment often showing soft news that are biased and unimportant. Soft news, as defined by the Britannica Online Encyclopedia, is a journalistic style that centers on the lives of individuals and has low perceived urgency. On the other hand, hard news portrays more serious issues that pertain to local, regional, or international significance.
According to studies, critics say that infotainment is based mainly on what the audience would rather see than need to know. According to reports, they believe that due to such soft news, people face away from watching public-affairs reporting and turn to the news for its entertainment or shock value. Also, critics argue that infotainment diminishes appetite for those interested in hard news because of the increasing trends.
== More Information ==
Infotainment: A Brief Overview. The website illustrates the concept of infotainment and its controversy in today's news. It effectively portrays a brief overview of the vantage points of the debate toward using soft news and hard news.
DOING WELL AND DOING GOOD: How Soft News and Critical Journalism Are Shrinking the News Audience and Weakening Democracy– And What News Outlets Can Do About It. The scholarly article from Harvard professor Thomas E. Patterson explains the criticisms toward infotainment, the use of information and entertainment in media.
News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout. An article that explains deeper into the debate between showing objective, urgent news and entertaining, attracting the audience.
National Geographic Channel. The channel provides information about animals and the environment, as well as uses entertainment factors such as exclusive imagery to attract the audience. The National Geographic Channel ventures through geography, archaeology and natural science.
Let us entertain you: Politics in the new media environment. The scholarly source shows the recent trends in what is on television and explains further of the new media environment and its problems.
== Citations ==
Carpini, M. and B. Williams. (2001). Let us entertain you: Politics in the new media environment. In L. New York: Cambridge University Press. Bennett and R. Entman (Eds.), pp. 160-191.
Millis-Brown, L. (2015). Soft news | journalism. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1858930/soft-news
Mukherjee, S. (2015). Infotainment: A Brief Overview. Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://soumyamukherjee.hubpages.com/hub/Infotainment-A-Brief-Overview
About the National Geographic Society. (2015). Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/about/
Patterson, T. (2000). DOING WELL AND DOING GOOD: How Soft News and Critical Journalism Are Shrinking the News Audience and Weakening Democracy– And What News Outlets Can Do About It. Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/soft_news_and_critical_journalism_2000.pdf
Prior, M. (2005). News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout. American Journal of Political Science Am J Political Science, 49(3), 577-592.
This stub is being originated by Katie Song
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Category:Information
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