Demand shift from mere gossip to good news
MB Entertainment
curious thing has been happening to the local entertainment landscape lately: For the first time in so many years, people want as much good news as there are controversial ones.
This shift is due to the rise of the fans as empowered by social media. If before, they would wait for traditional media to publish information about their idols, now they can go directly to them through clicks on the phone or tablet. If they’re lucky (and many usually are), they get a response and soon, with the frequency of such an exchange, fiercer loyalty is forged.
And so fans, these days, see the stars as friends instead of idols on a pedestal. This is the reason they have no qualms bankrolling their own press conferences, booking cinemas for block screenings, crowdfunding projects for them, even springing surprise birthday, Christmas, anniversary parties on them, and making them win awards through text or online votes.
If a negative issue about their idol surfaces, the fans are there to defend. Now if it proves to be true after all, still the fans would neutralize it by focusing on the good than the bad. Well, wouldn’t you do the same for a kapamilya, kapuso, or kapatid?
In exchange, the stars just have to be completely honest to their public. As in totally. Got pregnant? Sex video gone viral? Experimented with drugs? Lost your cool in a public place? Cheated on your other half? It might not be okay to the fans but if you tell them—if you don’t lie to them when they ask—they will be understanding and sometimes forgiving.
It’s funny, but there was a time being this accessible to your public was deemed detrimental to a celebrity’s career. Going by the law of supply and demand, it makes sense.
Today, though, if you’re a star and they can’t reach you, they’ll forget you. Consider yourself a falling star, my friend. #kthanksbye.
The challenge for the entertainment media in this climate is to be accurate, and discerning yet, at the same time, sensitive, and compassionate. While it’s easy to either pander or bash, to choose clickable over reliable, in the end getting a scoop won’t be as admirable as being responsible. Click ‘Like?’
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