I'm not a huge fan of reality television, shock jock radio or "entertainment news" - generally. Almost all of those shows make me uncomfortably embarrassed for the people participating in them. I can't even watch the 'Amazing Race',
which is a great concept, because the amount of xenophobia that many of the contestants spew every time they're in a foreign culture makes me cringe and change the channel.
Don't even get me started on "real housewives" or "mob wives" or the Kardasians... or the billion dollar birthday parties for pre-teens ... or the spray tanned children ... What do those shows say about how we view women? And children? And what our values are?
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...But that's me. they make *me* really uncomfortable.
I don't begrudge anyone the right to decide which shows to watch, books to read, magazines to buy, radio stations to listen to. BUT I do believe that we perpetuate it by "buying it". For example, the paparazzi only exists because magazines pay $100s of $1000s for photos of public figures, and magazines only pay that much for a single photo because those photos sell magazines.
I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying shows or magazines or internet sites - but make no mistake your choice to participate as a consumer is not negligible, your participation is counted, it does impact what type of television shows are made, how far a photographer will go for a shot, how outrageous a act has to be in order to gardner audiences - it impacts what policies are in place and where the boundaries are...