Hollywoodization of the News

The news is something that has been a part of American’s lives forever, from smoke signals to the nightly news on television to the New York Times app on your smart phone. It has warned us and informed us. So when did it become more about who is in the news instead of what?

            One of most important men covered in the news is the President of the United States, Barack Obama. While we are familiar with his policies etc., what else do we associate President Obama with in the news? Celebrities. The 98^th White House Correspondent Assn dinner, once known as the “nerd prom”, was now filled with “red carpets and photo lines”- a true “Hollywoodization of the weekend” (Johnson, 2012). The guest list included many celebrities and supermodels versus cabinet members and political powers (Johnson, 2012).  “The ritual of media companies inviting celebrities to their tables seem[ed] to have taken on more importance” such as Fox News Guests Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian (Johnson, 2012). Another star studded event occurred in September of 2012 where President Obama was the guest of honor at a fundraising event held for him by none other than Jay-Z and Beyonce (Standard, 2012). The event was held at Jay-Z’s famous 40/40 Club and the tickets were $40,000.00 (Standard, 2012). This idea of Hollywoodization sparked Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox who felt that “America need[ed] a President more interested in the status of our allies abroad and our own unemployed at home than in partying with celebrities” (Standard, 2012). Obama was also seen at other “star-studded fundraisers” such as a $250 Foo Fighters concert and a $35,800 dinner with Will Ferrell (Martinez, 2012).  President Obama is only one example of infotainment and Hollywoodization used in today’s media news outlets.

            We depend on our news outlets as reliable sources to keep us informed about what’s going on locally and globally. War, conflict, arrests and the weather are some of the major things Americans want to be updated on daily or even hourly. However, those sources aren’t always as credible as we hope. One example of this Hollywoodization effect is Jenny McCarthy. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the Chicago Sun-Times hired the “actress-model, author and activist” as a columnist to blog five days a week and write a weekly print advice column (Vanasco, 2012).  McCarthy’s main goal is to spread awareness about her belief that vaccines cause autism (Vanasco, 2012). The problem? Science says there is “absolutely no link to vaccines and autism” (Vanasco, 2012). Veronica Arreola, “an opinion writer on feminism and women’s issues and the director of the Women in Science and Engineering Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago”, explains how “someone of her statue to have a platform like this is really dangerous” (Vanasco, 2012).