| The Internet has brought around-the-clock news | | | | If you do a search for the name of a certain pop |
| coverage into our homes along with twenty-four | | | | star/celebrity these days, literally millions of results will |
| hour coverage of less crucial, more tantalizing fare in | | | | pop up. Some of them will be links to high quality, |
| this information age. These days, the line between | | | | respectable news sites with what most people would |
| news and gossip is becoming increasingly blurred, | | | | consider newsworthy updates. Quite a few of them |
| particularly by the media. What constitutes news and | | | | will be links to sites that are pure gossip. Not |
| what is gossip? The definitions don't really make it | | | | newsworthy, but certainly entertaining to many |
| clear, after all what is "news" to one person may | | | | people. |
| seem like mere idle gossip to the next. Take a look | | | | In the case of a celebrity, it isn't necessarily essential |
| at these definitions decide for yourself: | | | | that you know whether you are getting the |
| News: New information about specific and timely | | | | information from a reliable news source or a gossip |
| events relevant to the general public, or a program | | | | site that hasn't checked its sources or confirmed |
| devoted to conveying such news to the public. | | | | whether its facts are correct. But what about when |
| Gossip: Casual or idle talk about others, usually | | | | you're reading about a political candidate, someone in |
| without foundation and negative in nature. In today's | | | | public office or Fortune 500 executive? Are you |
| world, gossip is often broadcast via the media to the | | | | forming a judgment about the individual based on |
| general public. | | | | verified facts or vindictive gossip that is making the |
| There is plenty of news that is "negative in nature," | | | | rounds of the Internet that started with a |
| but that doesn't automatically make it gossip. Of | | | | conversation overheard in a bar or club? |
| course, the news does have to be properly | | | | Whenever you're reading a media story on the |
| substantiated. But the media these days is making it | | | | Internet, make sure that you are always aware of |
| more and more difficult to differentiate between | | | | the source of the story. Look not only at the |
| what is news and what is gossip. In fact, the media | | | | headline of the story but also at the name of the |
| itself is an entity that seems to answer to no one | | | | website itself. Is it a reputable news provider that |
| and can report either news or gossip as it sees fit: | | | | you trust? If you read the story in a blog, is the |
| Media: Forms of mass communication that carry or | | | | blogger using unattributed quotes, or does he name |
| store information. In this instance, mass | | | | the people he refers to so that the facts can be |
| communication forms such as television, newspaper | | | | substantiated? Do the news stories you're reading |
| and Internet that convey news or information to the | | | | have reliable bylines from well-known reporters? |
| public. | | | | With the Internet making it easier for websites to |
| When someone who works for a media outlet says, | | | | blur the line between news and gossip or |
| "I'm with the press," you don't know if he is a | | | | entertainment, consumers have more personal |
| reporter for a major media outlet such as NBC or he | | | | responsibility than ever to make sure they know and |
| is reporting for a gossip rag like you usually find at | | | | understand the source of their news and |
| the checkout counter of your local grocery store. | | | | entertainment. |
