What Do You Mean “We,” White Editors?
By Like Boehlert, I’d love to see some evidence for the assumptions that the typical American is “obsessed” with the Kardashian wedding and it’s common to be worried about how to explain her divorce to their kids. We’ve discussed this before with respect to the royal wedding, but I think a lot of journalists are willfully unaware of to what extent this is a minority interest. The Kardashian wedding was described as having ‘huge ratings,” but its roughly three million viewers constitute a smaller audience than “Pawn Stars” and substantially less than “Suburgatory” and a past-its-prime “Grey’s Anatomy,” not exactly cultural phenomena. Especially for famous-for-being-famous celebrities who don’t merely tolerate but have careers that actively depend on constant media attention, the ratio of coverage to actual public interest is going to be particularly high. “Obsessing” over the Kardashian wedding is a niche interest like stamp collecting or pro wrestling; most people just don’t care.