infotainment

Infotainment is a popular moniker given to television programming where the lines between reality and entertainment have become increasingly blurred.

On the one hand, on so-called "reality" programs like Survivor and American Idol,  ordinary people compete in extraordinary situations for big prizes. This might be labeled infotainment.

More often, however, infotainment refers to "soft journalism" — or news reporting where celebrities like Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, might compete with sensational stories like a murder trial or a UFO sighting for broadcast lead-in. Because of this, "infotainment" has taken some criticism over how so-called "fluff"  often takes precedence over more substantive news, such as the debate over health care or the latest statistics on the economy.

As both the internet and cable news sources like MSNBC, TMZ and Fox News have become more prevalent, criticism has also been leveled towards political commentators like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Keith Olbermann for the way they report "news" as entertainment, and often with their own largely partisan political spin. Media critics are quick to note that today's "infotainment" bares little resemblance to the more objective standards once practiced by television journalists like Walter Cronkite.

You'll find some of the more "infotaining blogs" out there by pointing your browser towards Deadline Hollywood Daily and Olbermann Watch.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “infotainment”

• BREAKING NEWS- TMZ: Brittany Murphy dies

  
  Off The Charts — Authority: 129
  TMZ is reporting today that actress Brittany Murphy has died. According to several sources, the star passed away after suffering full cardiac arrest. She was 32. This is terribly sad news. Shocked and saddened by the news and my thoughts and prayers go out to her family. R.I.P. Brittany. More on this as it becomes ...
  4 days ago

• Getting Lunatic over infotainment journos

  
  Unspun — Authority: 423
  Apart from the fact that Luna Maya is probably justified to vent her anger at Indonesia’s equivalent to the paparazzi , Unspun ’s always wondered why those reporters are called infotainment journalists. Why infotainment? The cover the entertainment so shouldn’t they be called entertainment journalists? ...
  1 week ago

• Microtune MT3511 RF MicroDigitizer for Automotive Infotainment

  
  Embedded Star — Authority: 136
  The Microtune MT3511 RF MicroDigitizer is designed for automotive infotainment systems. The integrated 16-bit analog to digital converter (ADC) digitizes the IF signal and provides a suitable interface for high-end software defined radio architectures. A generic processor (e.g. DSP) can be used to demodulate the ...
  2 weeks ago

• Should Tiger Woods Hire L. Lin Wood for Privacy or a PR Person and do a Tell All?

  
  Rose speaks - Celebrity and High Profile Trials — Authority: 121
  Welcome to the 24/7 of infotainment passed off as news Tiger Woods. Have any of you done a google search of Tiger Woods today, what about a family privacy is now up for grabs? I could not believe the main stream media covering this with questions, and then you get to infotainment and last [...]
  3 weeks ago

• Feast Your Eyes On The 2011 Ford Fiesta

  
  AutoBrag Blog — Authority: 151
  Ford Motor Co. officially unveiled their 2011 Ford Fiesta at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. The subcompact sedan and four-door hatchback is Ford’s smallest offering in the United States as the Blue Oval continues its plans to bring some of its best European models to America. Ford will debut an all-new Focus, ...
  3 weeks ago

• Entertainment Overload?

  
  Thoughts-0-Dave — Authority: 106
  We’d had a perfectly  lovely Thanksgiving Day with my wife’s sister’s family, over the river and through the woods. Hope you did too. On Black Friday we rested. Day off. We hung about indoors all day long. I did anyway. My wife had to go out to do chores in the barn morning and evening. [...]
  3 weeks ago

• Steve Doocy’s Missed Connection

  
  Stinque — Authority: 486
  We blew our Aristocrats reference last week, so we’re stuck with something more mundane: American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert won’t be appearing on “Good Morning America” tomorrow. TVNewser has learned ABC News canceled the concert after Lambert’s sexually charged performance at the American Music ...
  4 weeks ago

• Philips launches the 40PFL9704 – 46PFL9704 LED Pro HDTVs

  
  Desinformado.com — Authority: 140
  Philips is introducing two new models in its famous 9000 Series line, the 40PFL9704 – 46PFL9704 LED Pro HDTVs with a dynamic contrast of 5,000,000:1 for ultimate brilliant images. You want the LCD flat display with the highest contrast and most vibrant images. The LED backlight offers this by a unique local dimming ...
  4 weeks ago

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