Imus and Duke case

Whatever your position in either situation, it is difficult not to conclude that the press has gone for the flash, here. It's the bad news sells syndrome. The Duke outcome may be an outrage from any number of perspectives, but in the contest for most sensational, Imus wins, hands down. It's a sad commentary on American journalism. Note to self: We're supposed to be the unbiased purveyors of the truth.

What is exactly newsworthy? Don Imus has captured the media's attention this week which in turn has caused the news and media to neglect the Duke rape case. I think the Imus controversy deserves reflection, but I also don't think that this should be the top news story in the country. The Duke rape case would seem to me, to be more newsworthy than Imus's racially insensitive comments. The Duke boys, according to the Washington Times were facing up to the 30 years in jail and Imus was faced with losing his job. I think the media needs to do a better job deciding what is newsworthy.

Imus and Duke

The media has portrayed the Imus incident on a higher level than Duke's. I think both incidents are wrong and should be treated equally with disgust. I feel that the media did not do the Duke situation justice. They seemed to really have it in for Imus, and with good reason, but negative racial issues should all be unacceptable.

I feel like the media is just giving the public what they feel we should know instead of what we need to know. I do not think it is right to give one story so much attention and another story so little. Someone is always hurt in these stories. We need to stand up for every story...not just the ones that the media blows up or belittles.

What is news ?

Even a person who completely hides themself from the internet, television and radio would have heard about the Don Imus racial slur, because that is the type of news that most people want to hear about... Controversy, gossip, debate, etc. There is no way around it, the majority of public interest is in things that cause an immediate stir. Sometimes stories carrying more serious weight get brushed aside by mainstream media, but if you want to find serious topics you can do so easily. Just because gossipy news usually makes the front page, that doesn't mean you have to read it... Just flip through it and find something that is actually newsworthy.

Imus... Duke... What's The Big Deal Here?

Imus and Duke lacrosse players got some big coverage in the news, but are these stories even important? Let's take a look at Imus.

Imus' name got passed around pretty quick. I feel as though this was a publicity stunt. Although his name is followed by a bad reputation story, it spread pretty quick, and now everyone knows who he is. While most people are sitting back and arguing their ideas about Imus (and let me tell you, most have the same idea), he might be sitting back enjoying the controversy. Since he only got a suspension and didn't get kicked off the radio, he still works. So the more you talk about him, the more he'll probably enjoy his name spread around more. He might even enjoy me writing this.

As for the Duke lacrosse players, they were found innocent of their crimes, which means according to the judicial system, it never happened. So why even bother? The media give focus to this, but at the same time nothing happened other than the fact that they were put through court.

I think the media tried to give focus to stories that should have been on the inside of the paper, rather than the front page. Yeah, Imus did a big thing by giving racial slurrs to a women's basketball team, and yes, Duke's lacrosse players were found innocent of "playing around with a stripper," but did I just cover those ideas in one sentence? That's all these stories need really. Too much coverage and publicity give these people the upper hand more than they inform us of what goes on daily.

Why is Gossip so Addicting?

These stories are very different and very similiar. In one case, a highly-renown radio talk show host stated racial slanders toward young women. That other case: three upper-class white males were accused of raping a stripper.
If given these stories and told that only one could be front pages news, which would you chose? Imus is basically a celebrity, and what do most people love about celebrities? GOSSIP!! When standing in line at the grocery store, impatiently waiting for the check-out person (you'll find the slowest one in whatever line I am in!) to get through all of the groceries, and then of course there HAS to be a problem with the person's credit card, or they have 587,392,370 coupons, you pick up the tabloids and read about what is happening to Katie and Tom, or look at how anorexic Nicole Richie is. Celebrities fascinate us, which is why we stick them on the front page. More people will pick up the paper if someone famous is on the front page.
So why did the Duke students not get any attention? Who cares about three upper-class white males? We should care! The decision has been made that they did not commit the rape, but wouldn't you think that they would have gotten a little more news coverage than they did?
So basically... the world seems to becoming less and less interested in what may affect them. We want to know about other people, people we will most likely never come into contact with, but we care. Figures....

Brangelina, Jennifer, Imus...

Clearly, I feel that the Duke story should have gotten more press than it did. The men were assumed guilty of a very serious crime (due in large part to the media coverage that displayed them in an unkind light), that could have resulted in jail time. And yet, when you turn on the news or take a look at the front page of a newspaper, there's Don Imus. Let's face it, he's a celebrity, people want to hear about him, and I don't know if we should be soley blaming the media for doing so. Everyone wants to hear about Imus and his downfall, and yet people are criticizing the media for not covering the Duke story now that it's all over...that's called hypocritical.

It's the whole fascination we have with celebrities, we want to know about their lives and when something like this happens, we apparently can't get enough of it. Never mind the fact that several men were almost sent to jail for a crime they didn't commit. As long as we have our celebrity news, we're happy.