Sandy Davidson, a Communications Law professor came and talked to our FIG last week. We delved into our opinions of limits journalists should have, or if they should even have limits. With ever-increasing technology, communication has of course become much easier, allowing for more quick access to information. America has gotten spoiled because of the constant flow of ‘news’ and since then it has switched gears into looking into the personal lives of politicians, and even less interesting to me, celebrities.

            I understand why people want to know about the personal lives of politicians – who smoked crack when they were a kid, who goes to church with people who hate America, who has sex with 18 year olds when they are 50, or who is having an affair with someone… Things that could possibly influence your view on their morals, but I don’t see the need to follow every step they take, every hour of the day, every day, and photoshop pictures of them holding an alien baby or something ridiculously crazy like that. That isn’t really journalism.

            I don’t want to turn on the T.V. (well, if we had a functioning T.V. in our room and I turned it on) and only be able to see how long Paris Hilton was in jail, or why Brittany Spears shaved her head, or that Tera Reid doesn’t always wear underwear underneath a mini-skirt. In my opinion, news that is too close into their personal lives is not worth watching.

            On the other hand, I believe that politicians and celebrities chose their path, they chose to be in the spotlight and must take whatever consequences come from that. They signed up to be the star, whether it is in the White House or in Hollywood. I don’t think that journalists should be censored, I believe they (along with all Americans) should have freedom of speech, be able to say anything and everything they want, but I do think that a truly good journalist can find more substance than gossip to write about. It is a market out there for in-depth details of personal life, I know that ‘if it bleeds it leads,’ but seriously guys, is that the best you can do?