Blaming the media

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Blaming the media

MJ · Tonight

I don't agree with Bob that the media is to blame. *gasp*

People feel they know celebrities. They might hate them or love them, trust them or distrust them, but they will listen when they speak. I feel like I know Bob Geldof and what he stands for, so if he's telling me "look here, this is a problem", I'm much more likely to listen than if some unknown expert says the same thing. It's not particularly brilliant, but it's human and we all do it. If Kylie points people to the doctor in Minnesota, they will listen to him.

I don't understand the bad press for celebrities endorsing good causes. As far as I know, this is pretty much the only usefulness of celebrity, so guys, keep up the good work.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Yes celebrities highlighting causes/issues etc is a good thing. But the press focuses on the characters, built them up make a huge deal out of them then complain they've 'taken over' and criticise them.

dam9191 · House on Fire

I agree that celebrities bringing problems to people's attention can be a very good thing. For example, after Michael J. Fox got Parkinson's disease and started speaking about it, the funding that the US government put towards research to cure it doubled or quadrupled.

Some of why celebrities get more attention may be because of the public as well. I believe that in the past, people used to know who their neighbors were more. If someone in the neighborhood trespassed upon the societial norms, they were talked about and called on it by everyone else. Now, with most people living in larger cities, they don't always know their neighbors (or know what they are up to). Instead, people are paying attention to celebrities and finding things to either emulate or criticize. With the speed of communication thru the internet and TV, we know more about what is going on with celebrities than we do with the family down the street.

peace,

debm