Why we love to catch a falling star

[Photo/Sina Weibo]

Internet erupts over Wen-Yao affair

Famous couples who have parted ways

The biggest loser from this episode is the magazine that set the events in motion, not the dishonored celebrities. In this day of instant news and commentary, the print media can be easily trumped by their online competitors. Anything could have happened during the two days when Southern Entertainment Weekly was being printed and trucked to newsstands. For breakout news, print has proved such a laggard even when it claims to have a big scoop. Anyone in the print shop with a camera-ready mobile phone could have leaked everything in a few seconds.

I believe print media still has a place in the future, mainly in in-depth reporting and analysis, the kind of thing people don't have much patience for when they surf the net. But tabloid news and gossip, no matter the length, is the information equivalent of fast food. People won't dress up or pay big money for it. They don't even care if it is properly vetted and verified. The important thing is whether the subjects in the story are known quantities in whom the reading public has invested time and emotion.

Conspiracy theorists also had a field day arguing that it was a ploy by all the players in the melodrama to sell something. In China there is a special segment who would automatically suspect that people less well-known get involved with celebrities for the purpose of selling something, possibly to get a starring role in a commercial.

I was accused of this sin when I got an exclusive interview with Zhang Ziyi in 2010. Did I want to sell something? Sure, I thought that story of mine would be good for promoting China Daily. Other than that, what could I possibly sell?

Even the most important writer in China has never been given an endorsement deal. Sometimes, cynicism can be an excuse for stupidity, somewhat like the brain running wild and screeching with sparks of illogic before it totally breaks down.

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