When does Papparazi & Daytime Television go too far?

Have you ever felt as if television adds extra drama to your life? To witness a dispute in the break room at work over who’s right or wrong in the Tiger Wood’s Affair or if K Fed (Britney Spears’ ex-husband) should be receiving $70,000 a month in alimony just seems a bit extra.

As if there isn’t enough to be said about America’s daytime television shows, now you can tune into most news channels to get your lunch and dinner-hour daily dose of repeated headlines about your favorite celebrities, athletes, political figures and the like.

I know it has gone too far, when I can sit back and listen to thirty-somethings complain about how Chris Brown and Rihanna should have taken their problems to Jerry, how Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen twins should be on Maury, and how Miley Cirus needs to be censored for her eight-year-old audience.

While we all have an inalienable right to free speech and freedom of expression, our media has gotten out-of-hand in this respect. The various media streams have undoubtedly bolstered or ruined the careers and reputations of many celebrities and they continue to do so without reservations.

Although we are a generation characterized by and grounded in individuality and free will, I cannot help but reflect upon these anecdotes as examples of us being slaves to the media.

Sure we have a variety of sources to choose from and we even have the choice not to watch them. However, we do and we have since a very young age when TV seemed to be your best friend. Our obsession with the television and in recent times, the internet is unparalleled.

Luckily, some of us got the memo: “Don’t believe everything you hear on TV.” Nevertheless, most headlines still have an underlying impact – they get your attention and they incite you to form an opinion on a given topic.

Even though the media is, without question, a collaboration of effective outlets that serve a range of purposes, one has to wonder whether what we hear, read, or see on TV and on the internet has any provocative or adverse effects on our lives.