That's Entertainment

by Bob Hostetler

It all started for me a few months ago when the unreal reality sitcom The Osbourne debuted. For weeks before and after the debut, newspapers, network and cable news programs, and news magazines were awash in glowing reports of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his exposed-on-TV family. Judging from the media coverage of that new show (available to a fraction of American households, as it airs on cable's MTV), The Osbournes was one of the most newsworthy events of 2002.

Thus has entertainment triumphed over journalism. Whether you rely on network, cable, print, or internet journalism for your news, chances are you will see far more stories about the antics of the Osbourne family than you will about unquestionably more important developments, like the effect China's forced abortions and one-child policy is having in many provinces of that nation. Because Chinese culture prefers sons over daughters, more firstborn females are aborted than males, which has led many young Chinese men to face the likelihood that they will never marry because there just aren't enough women to go around. That societal shift is news. But you probably haven't heard it.

Similarly, you're probably aware that Julia Roberts recently married, because it was all over the newsstands a few weeks ago. But at roughly the same time she was tying the knot, the Canadian Justice Department began considering a proposal (one of four currently being reviewed) to make marriage a solely religious institution. In other words (because of a Divisional Court in July that gave the government two years to recognize gay and lesbian unions), the Canadian government is getting out of the business of recognizing and regulating marriages. That's news. But you probably haven't heard it.

You've also received daily updates, speculations, and ruminations about a potential U.S. invasion of Iraq. But there's nothing potential about the civil wars that are raging in the African nations of Burundi, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, not to mention the 20 years of civil war in Sri Lanka that has killed 60,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands more. That's news. But you probably haven't heard it.

You've heard of John Walker Lindh, or "Johnny Taliban" as he's been dubbed by the media. You've heard journalists report and commentators opine (and sometimes vice versa) about the treatment he received following his capture. But have you heard of Pat Roush? Pat Roush's daughters, Alia and Aisha Gheshayan, were kidnapped by their father (Pat's ex-husband) and taken to Saudi Arabia in January 1986. Pat has seen her daughters only once in the 16 years since their abduction. In fact, according to published reports, the State Department believes that as many as 90 Americans are being held in Saudi Arabia against their will. That's news. But you probably haven't heard it.

You can't pass a so-called newsstand or watch a news program without learning of the latest food craze and diet fads. But did you know that 12 million people in southern Africa are facing a severe famine right now? That's news. But you probably haven't heard it.

You hear or read about every American missile that goes astray in Afghanistan, accidentally killing civilians. But how much have you heard about Sudan, where over two million non-Muslims, mostly Christians, have been killed by the radical Islamic regime in Khartoum? That's news. But you probably haven't heard it.

The June 5 abduction of Elizabeth Smart from her Utah home has dominated print and broadcast media for almost two months now. But what about nine-year-old Dorien Thomas of Amarillo, TX? Or Jyrine Harris, last seen sleeping in his Irvington, NJ, bed at 1 a.m. on June 23? Or Tiffany Ruiz, from Riverside, CA, missing since March 13? The news media can't cover every missing child report, of course. But if you haven't heard of those kids, it's not because their disappearances aren't also news, but because they don't have the same "entertainment" value (God forgive us all).

And some high-powered decision-makers still don't seem to get it. It's not the return of Phil Donahue that we need; it's the ability to distinguish news from entertainment, the truly important from the merely interesting. Good journalism, of course, recognizes (even exploits) the points at which those two things intersect and overlap. But more and more these days, the "news" we're getting isn't news at all; it's entertainment!

This article appeared in the Hamilton Journal-News on August 2, 2002.

More articles by Bob Hostetler...