Tabloids not done with Jon & Kate Plus 8

Last week Jon Gosselin was the target of accusations of cheating. This week People has targeted Kate Gosseling. I expect that next week both will be accused by some tabloid of being swingers. And in short order stories of abuse of their 8 children will appear.

It's ludicrous. Not just because the stories appear to be completely fabricated and meritless, but because the tabloid media is building upon the fluff that it is hyping. And the damage of their actions seems to be inconsequential to the ratings and sales they hope to make of this family.

The price of fame these days seems to include the destruction of any semblance of normality and happiness. Paparazzi vultures circle the even quasi-famous, searching for a photo that can be taken to have duplicitous meanings. Tabloids exploit any action that might present even a hint of negativity.

I realize that 'reality television' is the new 15 minutes of fame. I recognize that tabloids are being hit in this economic struggle as much as any other media. But do we all really need to bask in the difficulties and hyped fantasies of failure of even the most obscure celebrities? Does anyone's life become enriched by pondering a photo of a celebrity doing something as normal as getting a ride home from a bar, encircled by text declaring it may be a sexual jaunt? Will any person's day become miraculously better because marital strife is decried to have occurred in the life of someone on tv?

Aren't we all better than that? Or have we sunk to a point where anyone who makes more money, or is more famous, than the average must be displayed with flaws and riddled with barbs of anger. Could the lowest common denominator of tabloids and television scraped so low that this is considered fair treatment and entertainment of the masses?

Look, if Jon and/or Kate are having difficulties they should be left alone to resolve them. It's not like the media does not have enough access to their daily lives. The small bit of privacy they have should remain theirs.

Better yet, I would love to hear from anyone in the tabloid industry, or the paparazzi, that is willing to explain the reason why we need to know these things about any entertainer. Why the potential destruction of a family is justified for ratings and sales. How the private lives of anyone is less important than the ability to infer disharmony and flaws projected to the masses. And if any of them do respond, I dare them to place their names on such a response.

Honestly, I don't expect them to answer. They are to cowardly, in my opinion, to dare face the masses with honesty or an explanation. Rather they would prefer to hide behind their business and cameras, maintaining their anonymity, and collecting money.

Still the largest blame might be best left to the masses themselves. Because if no one purchased the trash they produce, out of necessity it would have to end.