Obsession with Chinese actor's affair outshines concerns over flight MH370
Some newspapers say interest in personal affairs of stars is lamentable; another says concern reflects mainstream values
The public obsession with a celebrity couple's domestic crisis, which drew more clicks on the Chinese internet than the search for missing flight MH370 last week, has prompted soul searching in the media on whether the interest was a good or bad thing.
At a time when a massive, multinational search effort was no closer to solving the most mysterious aviation incident of modern times, mainland internet users were more engrossed with the tawdry affair of film and television actor Wen Zhang, the husband of actress Ma Yili. Wen had been photographed up close and personal with a younger actress, Yao Di.
Wen's apology to Ma, posted on weibo on Monday, drew more than 2.5 million comments and one million shares in just 10 hours.
Wen said he had "made a mistake" and "would try to make amends for the rest of my life". Ma, who is pregnant with their second child, posted her response on weibo. She told Wen to "cherish what you have at the moment. Being in love is easy, being married is not."
The Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily lamented the public's enduring obsession with the affair.
"In the same period, so much real news was calling out for attention, the missing Malaysia Airlines flight and other breaking news, but it had little impact," the newspaper lamented.