AP internal memo: 'Virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal'

[Newsjock]

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13040

Memo from Associated Press' Los Angeles assistant bureau chief

From: Baker, Frank S.
Sent: Tue 1/8/2008 11:58 AM
To: News - Southern California Editorial Staff
Subject: Britney

All:

Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal. That doesn't mean every rumor makes it on the wire. But it does mean that we want to pay attention to what others are reporting and seek to confirm those stories that WE feel warrant the wire. And when we determine that we'll write something, we must expedite it.

Thanks.

Frank

[truebrit71]

1. ...oh ferchrissakes...

:puke:

[The Straight Story]

2. Britney for president!

Yep, I am an ANYBODY but bush person :)

[Bicoastal]

7. "No! Not Britney! She'll fill the Supreme Court with BOYS!"

Gotta love random Simpson references...

[Quantess]

8. Cmon, I know we say anyone could do a better job than Bush...

but that's pushing it!:rofl:

[Richard Steele]

3. Britney diddles while Rome burns. nm

[DinahMoeHum]

4. Really, who gives a shit about that Pop Tart ?????

Seriously, doesn't the LA-AP have better stories to pursue ???

:boring:

[Uncle Joe]

5. This is a rhetorical question,

but is this for real!? No wonder the world is going to hell in a hand basket!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

6. Thanks for making it clear how irrelevant you really are MSM. nt

[AndyA]

9. If the media wanted Britney to be President, they could do it.

They choose, America follows. And people are too stupid to see it. Still. :eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Is this news?

What I mean is, is anybody surprised?

[Quantess]

12. We already knew. But now someone said it out loud.

I would say this is important because it shows that we are being spoon fed distractions about celebrity train wrecks.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Is it?

Or is it because people watch this crap, and the execs just know it's profitable?

[Quantess]

22. Good point.

I enjoy watching celebrity train wrecks too, sometimes. I get my dose at the grocery store checkout line, but if I want more, I turn to channels like "E" or tabloid-esque TV/cable shows. If I want it, I know where to look. But if I want serious news, I should be able to find it on a serious news outlet, and not have to sit through distraction stories.

Compare it to vending machines at school. Sure kids will want to eat junk, but why encourage it?

[aikoaiko]

11. in terms of celebrity pop culture news -- of course it she is a big deal.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. "celebrity pop culture" and "news" are mutually exclusive.

We've got six different tabloids at my local supermarket checkout aisle. If people NEED to know what Angelina's dog is eating this week, they don't need to buy Newsweek.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Walter Cronkite would be proud.

:crazy:

[L. Coyote]

16. I don't see anyone going after the Britney vote! LOL

[go west young man]

17. Most of America and even the Guardian UK rely on the AP for their news.

It's obvious to anyone with half a brain the AP's goal is to distract the US public from what's really important. This email verifies that. The Bush administration is probably very happy with Mr. Frank Baker. He's done their bidding well.

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. Mmyeah, because the AP never reports anything else

Your post reminds me of those that flame DUers for being concerned about issues that don't involve saving the planet — because, y'know, it's humanly impossible to give attention to more than one thing at a time, and if it isn't about a major global issue, it isn't worth a second thought. :sarcasm:

Let me explain something about the AP and newspapers: When an editor accesses the wire feed on his/her computer, there are many folders, ranging from the basics — general news, state news, world news, politics, sports — to greater assortments, depending on the level of service the paper subscribes to. One of the folders in all service levels is "Entertainment," because many millions of people enjoy reading Hollyweird gossip. Baker's memo is simply a reminder of that to one of 243 AP bureaus. It hardly means a Britney sighting will take precedence over "real news," as you imply.

There's even a folder in the AP feed called "Food," because many newspapers run food features in their weekend editions. Perhaps you think that folder should be eliminated because it also distracts from what's really important.

[Botany]

18. The amount of money and time spent on this total crap sold as news ....

.... is sickening. AP when you want your news "fluffy and not stuffy."

[Fierce]

19. In the AP's (admittedly weak) defense,

1. This is an internal memo from one bureau chief, LA's, to the Southern California news staff. Not a whole lot of people, and not to its subscribers.

2. It doesn't mean the AP is going all Britney, all the time. It means that as stuff is fed to the AP, the AP expects its people to pay attention and see if what's being said is really true.

That being said, I feel dirty defending this.

[kestrel91316]

20. Here's what I propose we do with the good Mister Baker:

He has disgraced his profession most irredeemably.

[TahitiNut]

21. Britney fills us with false soap. It's her 'sperience! And she cries!

:silly: :rofl:

[lynnertic]

24. And oops she'll do it again...