Americans are seemingly obsessed with popular culture and celebrity. So much so, in fact, that entertainment news today is all the rage. Whether entertainment news arrives via television, radio, print mediums, or gossip websites, Americans gobble it up even if they do not want to admit it: according to a recent public poll, when Americans were asked which topics get too much media attention, 40 percent claimed there was too much celebrity and entertainment news. That percentage contradicts the facts. According to an online analytics website, online entertainment news sources like Entertainment Weekly is ranked 1,615 among the 30 million domains being studied; the online counterpart to People magazine ranked 780 out of 30 million (the lower the rank, the more visitors to the site).
Todays entertainment news is more than movie, television, and music reviews, and who wore what best or who is dating who. Modern entertainment news can get downright snarky as its driven by scandals, affairs of the heart, and celebrity gossip. The latter category of entertainment news has led to an insurgence of celebrity gossip blogs and websites. These sources of entertainment news are so popular in fact, that one blogger by the name of Perez Hilton began writing about celebrity gossip merely as a hobby and a way to entertain friends. Fast forward 18 months later, and his site earned 9 million web site views in one day. Today, the net worth of Perez Hilton is a reported $30 million. Who would have thought that making fun of celebrities could make you a millionaire?
In combination with the increasing interest in entertainment news is how Americans get their news. Recent polls indicate that more than half of those surveyed said they get their news more often from online sources compared to radios or newspapers. The cultures preoccupation with how the other half lives has contributed toward the popularity of internet entertainment news sources. In addition, the escape that entertainment news provides its readers is always a welcome reprieve from our own banal existences.