#28. Is it true that media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people?
It is true that television programs concerning personal lives of celebrities always receive the highest audience rating. It is also true that newspapers and magazines are constantly reporting stories, which are usually beyond confirmation, about famous people, and that autobiographies written by public figures are always on the top 10 best-sellers' list. It seems that we live in a world where a few individuals are drawing nearly all attentions. Nevertheless, it is not exactly precise to criticize the mass media, including television, newspapers, magazines and so forth, for paying too much focus on the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities.
In fact, it is the public, to a large extent, rather than mass media, that is paying too much attention on personal lives of celebrities. Most organizations of mass media industry, being inherently commercial, are driven by business motivations. Television program producers, as well as columnists and writers, are always aware of what the public want to see, therefore tend to pander to tastes of the public. To put in another way, the mass media is audience-oriented, and the pheno-menon is well interpreted and manipulated that when famous people such as actors, athletes and rock stars give their opinions, many people listen. It is the nature of the public, who are curious enough about personal lives of famous people, since they can never be famous.
On the other hand, it is holistically detrimental for the society if the mass media pay too much focus on famous few so as to ignore the rest of the individuals. After all, the mission of the mass media is not merely to cater to the needs of customers, but has a much wider scope, such as to tell the truth, to define what is good and what is bad; to promote cultural values, and the list could be endless. More popular science programs should be produced by television, more reports on poor rural lives should be publicized, more books concerning not famous but respectable people such as, nurses who are fighting SARS fearlessly, teachers who are performing their duties regardless of poverty of remote villages, journalists who publicize their pieces under political menace, and this is another endless list should be written.
28. 传媒是否过于关注名人的私生活？
有关名人私生活的电视节目的确总能获得高收视率。而那些不断报道名人轶事的报纸和杂志以及公众人物所撰写的自传经常能排到畅销书排行榜的前10名。看来在我们生活的世界里，少数人吸引了几乎所有的注意力。然而，批评电视、报纸、杂志等大众传媒过多地关注公众人物和名人的私生活是不准确的。
事实上，在很大程度上是大众而不是媒体过分关注名人的生活。很多大众传媒界的组织由于其固有的商业性而为商业目的所驱动。电视节目制片人和专栏作者以及作家，对观众想看什么总是十分敏感，因此就有迎合大众品位的倾向。换一种说法，大众媒体是受大众导向的，这种现象可以很好地解释，名人如演员、运动员、摇滚明星等发表意见时，很多人都在听。这是公众的一种本性，他们对名人的私生活十分好奇，因为他们永远也无法成名。
另一方面，如果大众媒体过于关注出名的少数人而忽略其他人，对社会整体将是一种损害。毕竟大众媒体的任务不仅仅是迎合顾客的需要，还应涵盖更广，比如讲出事实，定义好坏，提升文化价值等，不胜枚举。电视里应该播放更多的科普节目；应该公开报道贫困农村地区的生活；应该写更多关于不出名但值得尊敬的人的书，例如无畏地与非典作斗争的护士们、那些在偏远农村不计贫穷履行自己职责的教师们、还有在政治威胁下仍然发表他们的文章的记者们，这种例子还有很多。
- celebrity ［səˈlebriti］ n. 名人
- constantly ［ˈka:nstəntli］ adv. 经常地
- autobiography ［ˌɔ:təubaiˈa:grəfi］ n. 自传
- best-sellers’ list 畅销书排行榜
- oriented ［ˈɔ:rientid］ adj. 导向的
- manipulate ［məˈnipjəˌleit］ vt. 巧妙地处理
- ignore ［igˈnɔ:］ vt. 不理睬，忽视
- promote ［prəˈməut］ vt. 促进，发扬，提升
- respectable ［riˈspektəbəl］ adj. 可敬的，有名望的
- journalist ［ˈdʒə:nəlist］ n. 新闻记者