| The Internet has brought around-the-clock news | | | | If you do a search for the name of a certain pop star |
| coverage into our homes along with twenty-four hour | | | | celebrity these days, literally millions of results will pop |
| coverage of less crucial, more tantalizing fare in this | | | | up. Some of them will be links to high quality, |
| information age. These days, the line between news | | | | respectable news sites with what most people would |
| and gossip is becoming increasingly blurred, particularly | | | | consider newsworthy updates. Quite a few of them |
| by the media. What constitutes news and what is | | | | will be links to sites that are pure gossip. Not |
| gossip? The definitions don't really make it clear, after | | | | newsworthy, but certainly entertaining to many people. |
| all what is "news" to one person may seem like mere | | | | In the case of a celebrity, it isn't necessarily essential |
| idle gossip to the next. Take a look at these definitions | | | | that you know whether you are getting the information |
| decide for yourself: | | | | from a reliable news source or a gossip site that hasn't |
| News: New information about specific and timely | | | | checked its sources or confirmed whether its facts |
| events relevant to the general public, or a program | | | | are correct. But what about when you're reading |
| devoted to conveying such news to the public. | | | | about a political candidate, someone in public office or |
| Gossip: Casual or idle talk about others, usually without | | | | Fortune 500 executive? Are you forming a judgment |
| foundation and negative in nature. In today's world, | | | | about the individual based on verified facts or vindictive |
| gossip is often broadcast via the media to the general | | | | gossip that is making the rounds of the Internet that |
| public. | | | | started with a conversation overheard in a bar or |
| There is plenty of news that is "negative in nature," but | | | | club? |
| that doesn't automatically make it gossip. Of course, | | | | Whenever you're reading a media story on the |
| the news does have to be properly substantiated. But | | | | Internet, make sure that you are always aware of the |
| the media these days is making it more and more | | | | source of the story. Look not only at the headline of |
| difficult to differentiate between what is news and | | | | the story but also at the name of the website itself. Is |
| what is gossip. In fact, the media itself is an entity that | | | | it a reputable news provider that you trust? If you read |
| seems to answer to no one and can report either | | | | the story in a blog, is the blogger using unattributed |
| news or gossip as it sees fit: | | | | quotes, or does he name the people he refers to so |
| Media: Forms of mass communication that carry or | | | | that the facts can be substantiated? Do the news |
| store information. In this instance, mass communication | | | | stories you're reading have reliable bylines from |
| forms such as television, newspaper and Internet that | | | | well-known reporters? |
| convey news or information to the public. | | | | With the Internet making it easier for websites to blur |
| When someone who works for a media outlet says, | | | | the line between news and gossip or entertainment, |
| "I'm with the press," you don't know if he is a reporter | | | | consumers have more personal responsibility than |
| for a major media outlet such as NBC or he is | | | | ever to make sure they know and understand the |
| reporting for a gossip rag like you usually find at the | | | | source of their news and entertainment. |
| checkout counter of your local grocery store. | | | | |
