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Topic: media pay too much attention to the famous people
I am always amazed when I hear people saying that media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people. Admittedly, many types of public figures are usually showed up in television, newspapers and Internet webs and, in some cases, some intriguing details of their private lives are exposed to public views. But there is no evidence that media focus attention upon the personal lives of famous people to the extent of more than necessary.
The first plain truth, which I am presenting here, is that the amounts of news and reports about the private lives of public figures or celebrities account only a small fraction in the total amounts of media contents, in comparison with those of news and reports concerning politics, economy, or sports. Then why, you may wonder, are media often blamed for paying too much attention to the personal lives of famous people? Because the personal lives of famous people are very likely to arouse curiosities or even controversies among public, thus making the news and reports on them much easier to remember, more impressive, and more influential than news and reports on many other issues. Hence, it is unacceptable to predict that media pay too much attention to the private lives of well-known people.
Secondly, behind the criticism to media that report occasionally the private lives of some public figures lies one implication that such reports intrude the personal lives and deprive public figures of rights to enjoy their privacies.
This implication, however, is open to doubt. Unlike ordinary people, lots of famous persons are used to being exposed to public eyes. For one thing, being focuses gives them certain identities, and that is one of things many public figures are busily engaged in seeking. For another thing, sharing personal anecdotes with media helps to establish a more amicable relationship between famous persons and media, which can in turn improve celebrities’ images among their fans. In some other cases, however, public figures try to escape from the public views after they committed something unethical, or immoral, for the fear of being attested and losing popularities. In this condition, media can be a help by acting as a supervisor or watchdog by revealing such imprudent behaviors, forcing public figures to be more careful about what to say and what to do. In history, there are many concrete examples of how media play a positive role in our society, such as the disclosure of the immoral sexual relationship between the former president Clinton and Luwinsky, a former intern in White House.
In a word, while the personal lives of famous people are among topics of news and reports in various kinds of media, it is unfair to criticize media for paying too much attention to these topics and, more often than not, media play an import role in regulating public figures’ behaviors. | 
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发表于 2004-7-28 22:15:00
lian hong hong, kui kui hui qu yao qian bi, zai jie zai li~
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