Celebrity Culture Is Swallowing the News Media
Legacy news media are making celebrity proximity the centerpiece of their content strategy, according to an analysis by Jacobin. The result is that journalism looks more like an exercise in cozying up to the rich and famous than an effort to hold them to account.
Scroll through the New York Times’ Instagram Reels and a new editorial strategy is immediately evident. Amid breaking news and investigative reporting are celebrities cooking in the Times’ kitchen, giving culture recommendations to the camera, and chatting with journalists in a format nearly indistinguishable from a celebrity video podcast.
Charlize Theron opens up about her family trauma. Lena Dunham divulges the effect of online hate on her mental health. Taylor Swift discloses the personal backstory of a hit song. Even political actors get the clippable celebrity heart-to-heart treatment: Tucker Carlson, a teacup and microphone set before him at a kitchen table, reveals what it was really like to be in Donald Trump’s inner circle.
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