Celebrity stories are not real news
I believe local media pays too much attention to celebrities' personal lives. Shops are full of colourful, glossy magazines. Some focus on clothes, travel, food and lifestyle, but so many carry articles about celebrities. People are obsessed with celebrities.
Even newspapers carry a large number of articles about celebrities. They are often on the front page to attract attention and make people buy them. Celebrity stories are treated as more important than world events.
The media is responding to increased interest in celebrities, supplying buyers with what they want. If we stopped spending so much on gossip publications, they wouldn't need to be published.
Hopefully, the public appetite for such articles will diminish and people can focus more on what's really important in the world.
Christy Ngai Hei-man, Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Secondary School
From the Editor
Thanks for your letter, Christy. You're right: we live in an age of celebrity obsession. People are often more interested in what an actor or singer has been doing than their own family and friends.
What's more, increasing numbers of people are now considered 'celebrities'. In Hong Kong, for example, the pseudo-models have become celebrities simply for wearing skimpy clothes. In countries like Britain and the United States, participants in TV shows like Big Brother appear all over the pages of newspapers and gossip magazines.
What is sad is that being a celebrity is seen by some young people as a worthy goal. They no longer want to achieve something great and earn respect, and perhaps fame, for their achievements. Fame is seen as a goal in itself, rather than the result of something worthier.
Society needs to overcome this obsession with fame and realise there are far more important things in life than who's dating who, or which restaurant is popular with movie stars.
After all, like us, 'celebrities' are just people.
Karly, Sub-editor
