Celebrity Journalism
The television industry altered the celebrity culture yet again by providing every household with celebrity news, bringing the news into individual houses, whereas before people had to leave their house to see Celebrities. Right from its initial boom, television has provided the most significant new outlet for image creation. The accompanying economic push created a new world of fame where people became known for who they are rather than for their actions. Celebrity began to show its usefulness not only to selling and business, but sales in turn created Celebrities by selling them as a business itself which led into a culture obsessed with celebrity news.
Celebrity journalism transformed itself into a communication industry--an image industry where, for example, Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, through his commitment to high visibility, assembles different experts to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the celebrity industry. In some ways, his celebrity helps the marketing of Microsoft products. Within the celebrity industry--the collection of people, materials, and processes that together produce an output that has value to the market this part of the communication industry (celebrity journalism) plays a crucial role because it distributes the celebrity product and, with rare exceptions, we know Celebrity entirely through the media today. Celebrity journalism therefore has shifted into new technical ways of distribution to satisfy the celebrity industry's needs: for example live-telephone chat, call-in shows, or twittering. Celebrities who understand the logic of the industry have tremendous advantages over those who do not. The omnipresence of Celebrities in the communication industry calls for a closer examination of the latter by working out which specific roles they inherit within celebrity culture in general.
As the meaning of celebrity will redefine itself in a quickly changing world, we will discuss the contemporary meaning of celebrity in relation to their markets and media in more depth in Section 3. Nevertheless, to summarize historical changes that led to the celebrity culture we witness today. One problem with presenting a time line of the history of celebrity stems from the fact that the transformation has not reached its end yet. We still experience fundamental change, as for example through the rise of social media which leads to a highly heterogeneous concept of contemporary celebrity culture. Looking at contemporary celebrity phenomenon such as American Idol argues that at the extreme end achievement and celebrity are inversely proportional. That is, Celebrities can be manufactured without any personal achievement involved. Therefore this time line tries to integrate the idea of fame as a product of Celebrities, to highlight what they are known for. This is not an easy task, however. The concept of celebrity clearly overlaps with the concept of fame and with the motor of change in society. Nevertheless, they are not interchangeable.
Without the mass media's supplying the public with information about Celebrities, recipients would have no awareness of their existence.
The Mass Media's Role in Creating Fame
Without the mass media's supplying the public with information about Celebrities, recipients would have no awareness of their existence. From the media's standpoint, "celebrity" has nowadays become a precious economic good, because the demand for such content has gradually but consistently increased.
News and entertainment media, for example, gossip magazines such as InTouch, People, or US Weekly and blogs like TMZ, feature an abundance of Celebrity pictures and video footage that render celebrities visible for a wide audience. In the case of Celebrity gossip this results in catching celebrities on tape/camera not only when they make a glamorous appearance on the red carpet, but also when they display deviant behavior. On one hand, paparazzi serve the accumulative demand for such pictures. On the other hand, the audience itself participates increasingly actively in the production of the celebrities' visibility, as pictures and videos can nowadays be taken easily from various devices (e.g., mobile phones) and then spread in a matter of minutes.
Relationship between Celebrities and their audience through online media
Most Celebrities, aware of the rising importance of social media (for their audience), now themselves actively use these networks, by obtaining their own profiles and thus making information and content available to the social media community. It allows them to promote themselves and their "products" by directly communicating with their audience which makes the rapidly rising success of the singer Lady Gaga to her effective usage of the social media channels, resulting in millions of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and views of her videos on YouTube. Her Facebook page gets updated on a daily basis with private pictures, music videos, and personal status messages. Fans comment on her personal status messages and pictures to show their appreciation for the singer.
Celebrity journalism transformed itself into a communication industry--an image industry where, for example, Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, through his commitment to high visibility, assembles different experts to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the celebrity industry. In some ways, his celebrity helps the marketing of Microsoft products. Within the celebrity industry--the collection of people, materials, and processes that together produce an output that has value to the market this part of the communication industry (celebrity journalism) plays a crucial role because it distributes the celebrity product and, with rare exceptions, we know Celebrity entirely through the media today. Celebrity journalism therefore has shifted into new technical ways of distribution to satisfy the celebrity industry's needs: for example live-telephone chat, call-in shows, or twittering. Celebrities who understand the logic of the industry have tremendous advantages over those who do not. The omnipresence of Celebrities in the communication industry calls for a closer examination of the latter by working out which specific roles they inherit within celebrity culture in general.
As the meaning of celebrity will redefine itself in a quickly changing world, we will discuss the contemporary meaning of celebrity in relation to their markets and media in more depth in Section 3. Nevertheless, to summarize historical changes that led to the celebrity culture we witness today. One problem with presenting a time line of the history of celebrity stems from the fact that the transformation has not reached its end yet. We still experience fundamental change, as for example through the rise of social media which leads to a highly heterogeneous concept of contemporary celebrity culture. Looking at contemporary celebrity phenomenon such as American Idol argues that at the extreme end achievement and celebrity are inversely proportional. That is, Celebrities can be manufactured without any personal achievement involved. Therefore this time line tries to integrate the idea of fame as a product of Celebrities, to highlight what they are known for. This is not an easy task, however. The concept of celebrity clearly overlaps with the concept of fame and with the motor of change in society. Nevertheless, they are not interchangeable.
Without the mass media's supplying the public with information about Celebrities, recipients would have no awareness of their existence.
The Mass Media's Role in Creating Fame
Without the mass media's supplying the public with information about Celebrities, recipients would have no awareness of their existence. From the media's standpoint, "celebrity" has nowadays become a precious economic good, because the demand for such content has gradually but consistently increased.
News and entertainment media, for example, gossip magazines such as InTouch, People, or US Weekly and blogs like TMZ, feature an abundance of Celebrity pictures and video footage that render celebrities visible for a wide audience. In the case of Celebrity gossip this results in catching celebrities on tape/camera not only when they make a glamorous appearance on the red carpet, but also when they display deviant behavior. On one hand, paparazzi serve the accumulative demand for such pictures. On the other hand, the audience itself participates increasingly actively in the production of the celebrities' visibility, as pictures and videos can nowadays be taken easily from various devices (e.g., mobile phones) and then spread in a matter of minutes.
Relationship between Celebrities and their audience through online media
Most Celebrities, aware of the rising importance of social media (for their audience), now themselves actively use these networks, by obtaining their own profiles and thus making information and content available to the social media community. It allows them to promote themselves and their "products" by directly communicating with their audience which makes the rapidly rising success of the singer Lady Gaga to her effective usage of the social media channels, resulting in millions of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and views of her videos on YouTube. Her Facebook page gets updated on a daily basis with private pictures, music videos, and personal status messages. Fans comment on her personal status messages and pictures to show their appreciation for the singer.
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