Geert Lovink contends that the "nihilistic moment" is not how blogging has resulted in disenchantment with traditional media but the general existence in society of a declining “Belief in the message” (Lovink, 2006). “Nihilism” hence does not emerge out of the practice of blogging but is the cultural context from which it emerged. The nihilistic moment also significantly altered and increased media coverage of celebrity culture.
As the mass media is no longer considered objective, postmodern society thus undergoes a “pursuit of truth” in which it demands “raw, unedited” media (Miller and Shepherd, 2004). Cashmore hence states in the current media environment “seeing is knowing, not just believing” (2006: 23). While audiences once trusted journalists to relay the “objective” truth, they now stipulated to “see” the unmediated truth hence resulting in a rehabilitation of voyeurism and the rise of paparazzi. Clay Calvert defines this mediated voyeurism as “the consumption of revealing images of and information about others' apparently unrevealed and unguarded lives” (2000).
Media coverage of Princess Diana is a case and point. The demand for “raw” truths involved the relentless pursuit of paparazzi photos that detailed her every move. These often obscene photographs and videos relayed the “unmediated, private lives” of such public figures hence unmasking public relations spin (Cashmore, 2006: 43). The nihilistic tendencies of society thus resulted in the destabilization of the public and private in news coverage as to ‘know’ a public figure is to ‘see’ their public and private life. This aspect is also integral to the understanding of the triumph of visual mediums such as photography and videos in entertainment news over text.
As the mass media is no longer considered objective, postmodern society thus undergoes a “pursuit of truth” in which it demands “raw, unedited” media (Miller and Shepherd, 2004). Cashmore hence states in the current media environment “seeing is knowing, not just believing” (2006: 23). While audiences once trusted journalists to relay the “objective” truth, they now stipulated to “see” the unmediated truth hence resulting in a rehabilitation of voyeurism and the rise of paparazzi. Clay Calvert defines this mediated voyeurism as “the consumption of revealing images of and information about others' apparently unrevealed and unguarded lives” (2000).
Media coverage of Princess Diana is a case and point. The demand for “raw” truths involved the relentless pursuit of paparazzi photos that detailed her every move. These often obscene photographs and videos relayed the “unmediated, private lives” of such public figures hence unmasking public relations spin (Cashmore, 2006: 43). The nihilistic tendencies of society thus resulted in the destabilization of the public and private in news coverage as to ‘know’ a public figure is to ‘see’ their public and private life. This aspect is also integral to the understanding of the triumph of visual mediums such as photography and videos in entertainment news over text.
Another aspect of entertainment coverage that necessitates grounding is Cashmore’s contention that it is in the form of “celebrity chatter” (2006: 87). With the absence of a traditional sense of community in urban culture, celebrity gossip functions as “a powerfully healthy social elixir” (Brooks, 2004:21a). The world of celebrity has thus become the urban common culture where its discussion not only facilitates social interaction but also that between media and audiences. Lovink’s statement that “through blogging, news is being transformed from a lecture to a conversation” is an interesting parallel, as entertainment news coverage is already defined as conversation (2006).
