The Beginning of Infotainment
Infotainment vs. News
Infotainment has slowly taken over the news. It affects our vote, what we watch, and what we choose to hear. In my paper I will discuss where infotainment started, infotainment in the news, how infotainment is used, and the news we do receive.
Thus the question where did infotainment begin? Infotainment according to Kathleen Maclay of Public Affairs from the University of California Berkeley dates back to the days of Benjamin Franklin. Infotainment was used in the days when Ben Franklin and his brother James printed songs about topical subjects. One example that Ben Franklin used infotainment in was a ballad “The Downfall of Piracy” in 1719 according to USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education). Today infotainment is used in “real news” and has been known to get their stories from infotainment sources like TMZ.
Infotainment is most of today’s news. The reason I say this is because there are many infotainment shows that are highly watched. The more watched television ones are Extra, TMZ, The Insider and many more on cable like The Soup. These shows are highly watched for entertainment and sometimes even quoted on actual news. Many other infotainments shows quote from People Magazine and Vanity Fair. News shows will keep their audience by showing clips of the infotainment in the beginning clips of the news hour and then show the story at the end of the news hour. TV news shows compete to keep their audiences. The competition is getting fierce with 24 hour cable news networks and the internet. The major new networks have even included infotainment in the news. According to an article “The Dawn of a New Era in Infotainment” by Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online; CNN was known to talk about an Obama skit that was aired on SNL. Now whether CNN checked the facts or not it was good TV time that would attract viewers. Frankie Rich from The New York Times calls infotainment “a mediathon”. After reading the article which
Infotainment has slowly taken over the news. It affects our vote, what we watch, and what we choose to hear. In my paper I will discuss where infotainment started, infotainment in the news, how infotainment is used, and the news we do receive.
Thus the question where did infotainment begin? Infotainment according to Kathleen Maclay of Public Affairs from the University of California Berkeley dates back to the days of Benjamin Franklin. Infotainment was used in the days when Ben Franklin and his brother James printed songs about topical subjects. One example that Ben Franklin used infotainment in was a ballad “The Downfall of Piracy” in 1719 according to USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education). Today infotainment is used in “real news” and has been known to get their stories from infotainment sources like TMZ.
Infotainment is most of today’s news. The reason I say this is because there are many infotainment shows that are highly watched. The more watched television ones are Extra, TMZ, The Insider and many more on cable like The Soup. These shows are highly watched for entertainment and sometimes even quoted on actual news. Many other infotainments shows quote from People Magazine and Vanity Fair. News shows will keep their audience by showing clips of the infotainment in the beginning clips of the news hour and then show the story at the end of the news hour. TV news shows compete to keep their audiences. The competition is getting fierce with 24 hour cable news networks and the internet. The major new networks have even included infotainment in the news. According to an article “The Dawn of a New Era in Infotainment” by Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online; CNN was known to talk about an Obama skit that was aired on SNL. Now whether CNN checked the facts or not it was good TV time that would attract viewers. Frankie Rich from The New York Times calls infotainment “a mediathon”. After reading the article which