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What entertainment journalism needs is a '60 Minutes'

DAN BROWN:

The other night I was gabbing on the phone with my friend Marni and, as often happens, we were doing our When Harry Met Sally routine ? I, in my apartment, and she, in her house, both of us channel surfing as we talked.

As she flipped, Marni came across one of those flashy show-biz newsmagazines. You know the kind -- the shows that feature chipper hosts, shallow correspondents and inane stories about celebrities. They're the television equivalent of junk food, and while seemingly no one will admit to watching these programs, this doesn't prevent them from having millions of viewers.

Marni paused momentarily, reported to me what her surfing had yielded, then said "You know what we need? A 60 Minutes of entertainment journalism."

She's absolutely right.

Shows like Entertainment Tonight and Extra are the antithesis of 60 Minutes which, as you're probably aware, is the gold standard of TV journalism. The reporters who work for 60 Minutes have earned a reputation as journalists who aren't afraid to ask tough questions, who can be relied on to be as impolitic as it takes to get to the heart of a story.

The reporters who do entertainment journalism for the small screen, on the other hand, are specialists in what is known as "the puff piece." These are stories that are as complimentary as possible and they are the result of an unspoken quid pro quo: in return for getting access to big-name stars, the reporters agree to promote whatever product the celebrity happens to be pushing.

The result is pretty awful. In fact, it's hard to call it journalism. If you don't believe me, do what I did after my conversation with Marni and try to sit through an entire evening of such programming. I put myself through this exercise a week ago, and my brain still hasn't reverted to its solid form after slowly turning to mush with each successive show I watched.

The first thing you'll notice when viewing celebrity-centred programs is the, er, celebratory tone. One of the shows I watched was Inside Edition, which featured a report -- essentially a short infomercial -- about a lingerie collection being offered by soap-opera vamp Susan Lucci. Just giving Lucci free air time to hawk her lacey underthings wasn't enough, so correspondent Victoria Recaño went one step further by telling viewers how to react: "The petite 56-year-old looks AMAZING modelling her collection."

Hmmm ... I thought it was up to me to judge what looked good.

If you believe the TV tabloids, however, everyone in the entertainment world is fabulously sexy. Over on etalk Daily, Canada's own contribution to the genre, I saw host Tanya Kim and gossip reporter Susie Wall discussing B-lister Skeet Ulrich, who is apparently in Alberta shooting his latest project. "The ladies are loving Skeet on the streets of Calgary!" Wall enthused.

Kim picked up this breathless tone. After an interview with Lionel Richie was shown, she looked into the camera and sighed: "Ah, I love Lionel."

Kim is actually a master of these kinds of prompts. After each item airs, she adds a word or two of verbal punctuation so viewers will know exactly how they should feel. For instance, after a report about Hollywood's most attractive stars, which ended with a clip of Brad Pitt, Kim's response would have done Homer Simpson proud: "Mmmm ... Brad." We get the message: people who appear in movies and on TV are way more attractive than your average schlub.

Kim and her colleagues go beyond being uncritical. They go beyond being flattering. They are essentially doing public relations work for celebrities, happily broadcasting whatever message the stars want to send the public.

If you think this isn't the case, just look at the coverage surrounding the launch of Tom Cruise's new movie, Collateral. There was a single theme running through all the reports, one that serves Cruise's interests. Almost every reporter asked Cruise if, after two unsuccessful tries, he plans to marry again. He responded enthusiastically in the affirmative, which led to story after story about Cruise's love for women. Thus is his heterosexuality confirmed. Thus is his box-office appeal preserved.

You might think that I believe we in the media should just ignore the glitterati. But I really am convinced there's room for a 60 Minutes-type show that covers the entertainment beat.

Such a show would pose the really tough questions, the ones that celebrity interviewers currently avoid. For instance, last week saw the launch of the Brittany Murphy vehicle Little Black Book, which inexplicably co-stars Holly Hunter. No one addressed the uncomfortable question of how it is that an Oscar winner like Hunter has now been demoted to a role in which she plays second banana to Brittany Murphy. How did Hunter's career get to this point?

One other tidbit I learned last week is that Britney Spears plans to build a fairground on her estate for her soon-to-be stepchildren, a "full-on Neverland." No one bothered to point out that this may be a bad sign. No one asked, "Could the singer's grip on reality be loosening? Is she the next Michael Jackson?'

Or how about this: there have been lots of reports about Mary-Kate Olsen's struggle with her eating disorder. It's good that she appears to be recovering, but there still isn't a journalist brave enough to ask why, when Olsen poses in public with her twin sister, there is something vaguely erotic about the way they drape themselves over each other.

I also found out last week that Paris Hilton's latest method of grabbing headlines is to star in a new music video by rapper Won-G. It's called Caught Up In The Rapture and it's a cover version of Blondie's Rapture, probably the first mainstream rap record. This could have given rise to so many good stories -- has rap music reached some kind of critical phase, when the first rap record (a white one, no less) has been remade?

A 60 Minutes of entertainment journalism would delve into issues like these. I'm not sure that anyone in this industry is brave enough to create such a program, but I do know that celebrities are an important part of our culture and journalists should respect them -- and themselves -- enough to put away the kid gloves.

[original article]

Posted by thinkum at August 18, 2004 12:53 PM