Junk food news refers to news stories that sensationalize, personalize or homogenize relatively inconsequential trivia in the
mass media. It is a sardonic phrase which has the same meaning as
journalistic noise. Typically, "junk food news" can be said to fall into one or more of these categories:
- Brand name news (Stories about brand-name products, such as "New Coke")
- Sexual titilation (Celebrity pregnancies, unusual sexual affairs and crimes)
- 'Yo-yo news' (statistics that change daily, such as stock market numbers and movie box office totals)
- Showbusiness news (box office opening news)
- Latest craze news (Brief fads such as Furby, Pokemon, Segway)
- Celebrity news (Celebrity gossip)
- Anniversary news (Anniversary of a major event or celebrity death)
- Sports news (sports rumours and gossip)
- Political junk news
The term "junk food news" suggests an unflattering similarity in quality of some stories selected by news editors and
junk food (poor quality
food stuffs). It was first used in print by Carl Jenson in the March
1983 edition of
Penthouse. The term evolved from response to criticism of
Project Censored by news directors and editors who argued that the real issue wasn't
censorship - rather a difference of opinion as to what information is important to publish or broadcast. Some critics tried to bolster this view with
ad hominem comments about Carl Jenson. They said that he wasn't exploring media censorship, rather he was just another frustrated academic criticizing editorial news judgement.
See also: tabloid, yellow journalism
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