Why are we bombarded with 'Celeb news'?

donegal__road · 16-01-2014 11:43AM

I had never heard of Taylor Swift until last year where I read that he/she had made over $50 million. I know that this person is a singer, I still couldn't tell you what gender they are, nor could I be bothered looking it up.

Akrasia · 16-01-2014 11:45AM

Brian? wrote: »

I don't believe this had ever happened. They show scheduled nightly news in the middle of some films , but they don't "interrupt" films with celeb news.

It absolutely has happened. I can't remember if it was on ITV or Channel 4, but you're watching a film and at around 10pm they interrupt the movie with 'entertainment news' for a couple of minutes

'And now for your live entertainment news update' with irritating jarring music that is actually stuck in my head right now while some sparkly dressed young presenter rattles off the kind boring gossip nonsense and ruins the mood of the film you're trying to watch

I haven't had it happen in a while, maybe they've stopped but it definitely happened.

NegativeCreep · 16-01-2014 11:45AM

donegal__road wrote: »

I had never heard of Taylor Swift until last year where I read that he/she had made over $50 million. I know that this person is a singer, I still couldn't tell you what gender they are, nor could I be bothered looking it up.

I wish I was as cool as you.

gobnaitolunacy · 16-01-2014 12:13PM

It's interesting when the media latch onto a 'celeb' when their career is on the rise and everything's rosy. Perfect house, perfect OH, nice clothes.
Then when they make a fcuk up it's an out and out feeding frenzy.

conorhal · 16-01-2014 12:25PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Same.

I haven't a clue about any celebrities, have absolutely zero interest in knowing about them either. I sit at break in work and one or two of the girls will mention a dress the kardashians or cheryl cole was wearing, they've usually seen it on the daily mail website.

I don't see it, I don't buy celeb magazines (or any magazines for that matter) I don't buy tabloids, I don't watch expose or watch any news programmes that include "celeb" news. I am blissfully unaware of what is going on in David Beckham's personal life. The only one I have an interest in at the moment in Michael Schumacher as I was a mega F1 fan during his reign, but I don't quite count that as the same thing.

So yeh OP, you don't need to be bombarded with it, you're choosing media sources that bombard you with it. Change them.

It's sooooooo pervasive though, I've never heard a single note of a Miley Cyrus song and despite never having watched a second of whatever program the kardashians are involved in, I'm kind of mildly annoyed that despite these facts I somehow still know their names.

lufties · 16-01-2014 12:32PM

deadeye187 wrote: »

Its to keep the dumb, dumb! Its so cringe this garbage that is on sometimes!. I say it reaches out to lowest common denominator! Well once the person is of age!

PS. Its to distract people to whats really going on in the world!

thats it in one, I might add though that poorer people struggling may need a distraction from daily life so it's good in that sense too

lufties · 16-01-2014 12:36PM

It's all to do with wording too, The Independent headline today said " Meet Michael Fassbender's model girlfriend', this suggests that readers are part of the celeb culture giving them a sense of belonging and being all part of it. Clever stuff....Not:eek:

Guy:Incognito · 16-01-2014 12:43PM

Akrasia wrote: »

This!!!

One thing that drives me Nuts! is when I'm watching a film on tv and they interrupt the film to bring 'celebrity news'

WTF! I don't give a sh1t about who's having a baby or who's dumped who, or what someone was wearing. Put the film back on!

What channels do you be watching. I've never seen a film intercepted for celeb news. It would have to be some major well know persons death.

AidanadiA · 16-01-2014 12:47PM

I am a fan of certain things, and I enjoy the odd tidbit you hear/read about said things but I tend to have to go out and look for it. Join a group that shares my interests etc. On a day to day basis I don't hear or read much about celebrities, though in saying that I don't have tv channels and unless I am watching the dvd of the show or film I want to watch I tend to have my head stuck in a fiction novel or comic. I get my news from the variety of papers we have in work, the customers and from the radio, mostly its the state of the country/world, some tragic accident or greater disaster effecting people.

Lando Griffin · 16-01-2014 12:48PM

lufties wrote: »

It's all to do with wording too, The Independent headline today said " Meet Michael Fassbender's model girlfriend', this suggests that readers are part of the celeb culture giving them a sense of belonging and being all part of it. Clever stuff....Not:eek:

OMG the one day I didnt get the Indo.
Where can I meet her?

lufties · 16-01-2014 12:50PM

Lando Griffin wrote: »

OMG the one day I didnt get the Indo.
Where can I meet her?

No idea , talk to Barry Egan maybe...

Agricola · 16-01-2014 12:54PM

hungoverbunny wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKboLTwzFTs

Jack Gleeson on "I hate Celebrity Culture"

Surprisingly good.

Half an hour long though

Christ. I thought I hated Joffre already, but then he opens his mouth in this vid and now I really want him to get beheaded next season!

hedgehog2 · 16-01-2014 01:03PM

DeanAustin wrote: »

Exactly this. People, usually women, love it. And if it makes them happy then fair enough. I try not to pay too much attention. My missus thinks my obsession with football is equally stupid. Horses for courses.

I do laugh at the people who think this puts them in the loop though. I remember one friend talking about Hugh Grant talking to Liz Hurley when he was seeing someone else and the friend pitched it as "And the new girlfriend doesn't even know he's talking to Liz".

Also makes me laugh that someone can't admit they know who Ronan is and another talks about the "that lad from mullingar in the boyband". Easier just to say Niall Horan. I have zero interest in the fella (although I'm delighted to see him do well) but everyone knows his name especially if they know what he does and where he comes from.

Actually I could not remember his name but knew he helmed from mullingar,you see I take no interest in any of these peopke,happy he has found success but if ut were a table quiz on these things no I would not know his name iff the top of my head,could'nt tell who else is in the group;never heard one of their songs that I am aware off.
Radio try not to listen to
Facebook dont have it
Twitter never used it
Tv occasionally but no Irish channels
Media read only industry journals or finance
Dont follow sport
There wss a time when I was based overseas that I did not check up on any media ir tv for 3 plus years andcya know what it actually enhanced my mindset living like this.
Were not all teenagers who follow made up boybands.

keeponhurling · 16-01-2014 01:05PM

OP, dont read the Independent. Simple.

It's amazing the number of threads you see around here where people are reading the Independent and complaining about it.

Cienciano · 16-01-2014 01:09PM

It's as simple as this really:

Deleted User wrote: »

Same.

I haven't a clue about any celebrities, have absolutely zero interest in knowing about them either. I sit at break in work and one or two of the girls will mention a dress the kardashians or cheryl cole was wearing, they've usually seen it on the daily mail website.

I don't see it, I don't buy celeb magazines (or any magazines for that matter) I don't buy tabloids, I don't watch expose or watch any news programmes that include "celeb" news. I am blissfully unaware of what is going on in David Beckham's personal life. The only one I have an interest in at the moment in Michael Schumacher as I was a mega F1 fan during his reign, but I don't quite count that as the same thing.

So yeh OP, you don't need to be bombarded with it, you're choosing media sources that bombard you with it. Change them.

lufties wrote: »

Mucho respecto.

But I know I have a free choice to read it or not. If I want to read an article by Gene Kerrigan in the Independent, you have to scroll past all the 'celeb stuff'. Anyway with all due respect you are not addressing the point of the thread.
Maybe I should have changed the title to "why do the media publish this stuff' then.

Google gean kerrigan indo or something. Bookmark his page. Or stop reading the indo.
It's simple why the media publish it. People are more interested in how big Kim Kardashians arse is, than a war in Syria. You might say "but I'm not", well, you're not the masses. Kim Kardashians dress will get more clicks than the latest masacar in syria, and it's cheaper and easier to report on.

Newspapers are in the business of selling newspapers and advertising space. Kims arse generates them more money

BrensBenz · 16-01-2014 01:22PM

I'm (ahem) an avid reader of celeb news. I look forward to reading about the (made-up) illnesses, (made-up) dramas, (made-up) near misses and (autocue) opinions of this elite layer of society. My bedroom wall has a picture of Max Clifford (the celeb manufacturer, with an allegedly unseemly hobby) beside my framed photo of Twink. And, as soon as I learned that a Kardashian wasn't a new hybrid car from Asia, I tuned my telly to record every unmissable epizode.

Just think, if I was a celeb, my PR could announce to the meeja that I swam in the Atlantic while a great white shark was sharing the same ocean. Millions of airheads I mean readers would fall for it and spend money for updates.

If I was a royal, I wouldn't even have to sing like a metallic drone, wear stupid hair dos, learn philosophical opinions off-by-heart or perform pole dancing routines without a pole. Millions of citizens of republics would hold their breath, waiting for news of the next royal burp.

Oh, if only........

hedgehog2 · 16-01-2014 01:37PM

I know people who hate celeb gossip but are addicted to British soaps,not sure which is worse really

castletownman · 16-01-2014 01:47PM

The sooner the Life magazine of the Sunday Independent is brought out of circulation, the better.

Trying to keep long forgetten, former z list celebrities in the public eye just because they showed up at some "la-di-da" function hosted by bankers or other artsy types that Barry Egan happened to be invited to.

Jonny Blaze · 16-01-2014 01:52PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

I agree with the OP; as for the Independent, their "Independent Woman" section is ALL 'celeb gossip' - is that what the Independent think all women are interested in, and interested in only? Very condescending.

Supply and demand im afraid. They have very simple ways of measuring which articles get more traffic on their site so they produce more of those articles.

If people weren't buying into it it wouldn't exist!

lufties · 16-01-2014 02:44PM

Cienciano wrote: »

It's as simple as this really:

Google gean kerrigan indo or something. Bookmark his page. Or stop reading the indo.
It's simple why the media publish it. People are more interested in how big Kim Kardashians arse is, than a war in Syria. You might say "but I'm not", well, you're not the masses. Kim Kardashians dress will get more clicks than the latest masacar in syria, and it's cheaper and easier to report on.

Newspapers are in the business of selling newspapers and advertising space. Kims arse generates them more money

As much as I'd love to bury my head in her arse, her life is not interesting to me. Regarding wars etc, us as humans probably do need some light entertainment every now and then, but it is gone ridiculous, it seems being dumb, shallow and pretty-ish is the way to fame and financial success.

To me celebrities are the likes of Robert de niro, Kate Blanchett...those that are talented.

lufties · 16-01-2014 02:46PM

castletownman wrote: »

The sooner the Life magazine of the Sunday Independent is brought out of circulation, the better.

Trying to keep long forgetten, former z list celebrities in the public eye just because they showed up at some "la-di-da" function hosted by bankers or other artsy types that Barry Egan happened to be invited to.

How dare you, Gerald keane and lisa murphy are not z list celebs....the were never celebs to begin with :rolleyes:

lufties · 16-01-2014 02:52PM

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Actually I could not remember his name but knew he helmed from mullingar,you see I take no interest in any of these peopke,happy he has found success but if ut were a table quiz on these things no I would not know his name iff the top of my head,could'nt tell who else is in the group;never heard one of their songs that I am aware off.
Radio try not to listen to
Facebook dont have it
Twitter never used it
Tv occasionally but no Irish channels
Media read only industry journals or finance
Dont follow sport
There wss a time when I was based overseas that I did not check up on any media ir tv for 3 plus years andcya know what it actually enhanced my mindset living like this.
Were not all teenagers who follow made up boybands.

Just out of pure curiosity, what do you actually do?

KyussBishop · 16-01-2014 03:42PM

Gyalist wrote: »

Celeb news sells and the media know this but it's bread and circuses to keep the majority of people distracted by things that are ultimately unimportant. If most people became aware that the system is rigged against them from the beginning, there would be revolution.

This.

To distract people from things that really matter, and to convince people that these other things are 'interesting' (creating a culture out of celebrity gossip), so that a new market can be made where people can be made to lap up cheaply produced celebrity garbage, at great profit (just like 'Reality TV').

DeanAustin · 16-01-2014 03:47PM

KyussBishop wrote: »

This.

To distract people from things that really matter, and to convince people that these other things are 'interesting' (creating a culture out of celebrity gossip), so that a new market can be made where people can be made to lap up cheaply produced celebrity garbage, at great profit (just like 'Reality TV').

Not really. The media don't need to convince people that celebrities are interesting. Some people just want to hear about what Victoria Beckham wears rather than try to understand the Middle East or Syria. It's not a conspiracy, people are genuinely interested in that stuff and not so much in conflicts in places they couldn't point out on a map or that they don't have any connection with.

If that's what they want and celebrities are happy to play the game (knowing the money they'll make outweighs the intrusion) then, as much as I don't care for that type of culture, more power to them.

Daqster · 16-01-2014 04:27PM

Because it sells / makes those media organizations money.

If it didn't, they wouldn't do it.

The only problem I have with it all is that I keep seeing the name Kardashian everywhere and I wish they would just go away. I obviously don't click on articles about them, but just the fact that I see constant links to those articles, winds me the fcuk up, but I could solve that by avoiding the sites that would have them I suppose, which I don't and won't as I like other aspects of those sites, so my own fault really.

However, you can't always avoid the fcukers. There has been a Kardashian advert running in the cinema for six months that shows one of the bints slavering all over an ice cream bar. I try to time my entrance into the auditorium so that I will avoid seeing the make-up drenched wagon but often it's not to be as the ad is on just seconds before the films start and so I will invariably arrive just as she is trying to look sexy, at which point I will usually scream and punch some randomer's popcorn out of their hand.

I'd be lying also if I said I didn't enjoy some of the articles based on celeb papping. In fact part of me would die if I was to think that I'd never again see some nip slip pics or even some good old pit bush ones, which Julia Robert is unquestionably the queen of . Love me some of those. As long as they are not set up, that is, or happen accidentally on purpose, as that's just cheating.

Also love a good sex tape. Again, not the planned crap like Paris Hilton, but seeing Imogen Thomas getting boned, even if it was dimly lit, was great stuff altogether. Now, I'm in no way shape or form excusing the theft of such material, not for a second but I would just love if someone stole a sex tape of Jennifer Lawrence getting ravished. Or Mila Kunis, or even Selena Gomez, or that chick Oliva Wilde. Rumour has it that there is one of Emma Stone also, now that would be awesome. Also a rumour that there is a Charlize Theron one floating about. Can you imagine if Zooey Deschanel made one with all these girls and it was like a massive all-girl orgy tape made the night of an awards ceremony and cause they all looked so hot in thier designer dresses, they just couldn't keep their hands of each other and so hired the penthouse suite and where all doing it in some massive sunken bath tub like the one in Scarface and then mistakenly thinking the room was his, Patrick Stewart walks in and as nobody has time to put their clothes on.. he sees them all naked.

Shenshen · 16-01-2014 04:37PM

Ok, I probably wouldn't say I'm "bombarded" with it exactly.
But I do find it's getting harder to avoid... I can't think of any news program on TV which hasn't started to run items on various celebrities, you're not even save on the BBC or Channel 4 news any more.

Why? I suppose because it sells. The girls at work certainly seem to be lapping it all up. Which usually makes me feel very much the social pariah, I wouldn't even know who any of these "celebs" are, or what they have done to make themselves famous.

ScumLord · 16-01-2014 04:43PM

I got rid of my TV and stopped reading newspapers. I just can't trust anything written in any paper anymore, they're willfully ignorant when it suits them, prone to outright hysterics and have no interest in the truth.

The internet can be a mess of opinions but it's a bit like the law of averages when you look at a news story online, you can get every opinion under the sun but it's easier to find the truth in there somewhere rather than relying on one opinion for profit from a news agency.

Starscream25 · 16-01-2014 05:09PM

lufties wrote: »

As much as I'd love to bury my head in her arse, her life is not interesting to me. Regarding wars etc, us as humans probably do need some light entertainment every now and then, but it is gone ridiculous, it seems being dumb, shallow and pretty-ish is the way to fame and financial success.

To me celebrities are the likes of Robert de niro, Kate Blanchett...those that are talented.

South Park had a recent episode that hits the nail on the head on the point your making, intellectuism is becoming more of a trait to be frowned upon where the opposite is something to aspire to.

Adamantium · 16-01-2014 05:18PM

Daqster wrote: »

Patrick Stewart walks in and as nobody has time to put their clothes on.. he sees them all naked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M

MonaPizza · 16-01-2014 05:30PM

lufties wrote: »

Honestly its nice sometimes to be lighthearted and imagine that you had the life of a 'celeb' with all the fame, glitz and glamour attached to it, but really it is just crazy that the media shoves this stuff down out throats.

Personally I couldn't care less about who ronan keating and michael fassbender are going out with, or how many kids chris hemsworth is having. Most of us don't know these people so why would anyone want to know about them. At the end of the day they are humans like the rest of us.
So I wonder why do the media feed us this daily as 'news', perhaps people are just brainwashed? I really don't understand it.

It's just a distraction. Keep the proles pacified and docile with things like football, booze and bubblegum entertainment like reality shows and they'll never rise above their station but will be quite happy in their little cocoon. Throw in celebrity "news/gossip" to make them admire and aspire to the wealthy without questioning how the wealthy got that way and you'll never have to worry about them.

Why are we bombarded with 'Celeb news'?

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