Lesbian Gossip Trumps Mideast Peace Plan

Tabloid buzz draws more readers from hard news; CJR upset
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2007 6:26 PM CST
Lesbian Gossip Trumps Mideast Peace Plan
On the night before a major Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, host a gathering for summit diplomats at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)

Sure, Condoleezza Rice is trying to broker Mideast peace, but isn't she really gay? Like Hillary Clinton? And isn't John Edwards having an affair? A recent spate of articles has swung the political spotlight on gossip, the Times of London reports—and the Columbia Journalism Review is so concerned that it hosted a panel this year to discuss government funding of serious newspapers.

Highbrow journos—chided by one blogger this week as “snoozy, prissy and haughty”—continue to lose readers to online buzz and tabloid headlines like "Who’s Gay and Who’s Not.” A Google search of "Condoleezza" and "lesbian" racked up 146,000 hits last week, thanks in part to the National Enquirer, which has called Rice's gay life "an open secret" in Washington. (More National Enquirer stories.)

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