The “Media” I Follow…
As much as I would love to say it wasn’t, that I was an exception to the stereotype, that I could resist the overwhelming public fascination, I have to admit that most of my journalistic inquiries involve gossip magazines. I am a 20-year-old middleclass female who grew up in suburbia. Trashy “celebreality” (term coined by VH1′s celebrity casted reality shows, giving insight to celebrity figures’ personal lives) is practically shoved down my throat along with a Starbucks frappe. I know more details in the lives of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton than I do of my very best friends. Why do I care? I don’t, really. I’m tired of hearing about every minuet detail of people with way too much money. My interest in celebrity lives has morphed into a severe annoyance. Yet, I still read these magazines. I use them up like a drug. I’ve realized after years of the media dealing me this crack version of journalism that I have developed more of a passionate hate fueled by knowing all there is about Hollywood’s finest train wrecks.
Thankfully, I am not the only once Starlet worshiper going Benedict Arnold on tinsletown. Many bloggers have been doing the same, giving me new sources for my addiction, but in a format I can appreciate. Perez Hilton has become one of the most popular bloggers today, his main focus trashing the trashy of Hollywood. Although I find most of his postings nothing short of mean, it’s a nice change for someone to shine a negative light on today’s “role models”. Alas, I am not (yet) an A-list socialite, so to get my fill of local social justice DirtyScottsdale.com is another favorite of mine. DirtyScottsdale takes a look inside Scottsdale’s night life and attacks the “20k millionaire” image that fake tans, fake hair, and fake labels that have recently taken over the bars and clubs (see picture above). Again, the majority of postings are just cruel, but I can ease my conscious by experiencing the subjects first hand whenever I hit the town.
Aside from all that, I do live in the real world and pay attention to real news. To keep me water-cooler conversation ready I usually catch which ever local news my schedule permits or scan over top stories when checking e-mail. If I am particularly interested in a topic I’ll do a quick search engine check for the full story. Oh, and in spirit of the election year, I try my best to keep up with all the political nonsense with help from John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
