It's Britney .....

I must admit that I was in fact one of the many far too excited viewers to tune in to the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA's). The annual ritual serves as many young adults' and teens' guilty pleasure often revolving around an unhealthy obsession over the various musical performances as well as the stars' rediculous choice of clothing-and oftentimes, lack there of.

For me, I was in a bit of a pickle when I learned that I had to work the night the show was airring. And since taking off work would have been going a little overboard, I did the only logical alternative--I practiced my ability to multi-task by watching the VMA's while at work.

To the dismay of several football fanatics--both Bears fans anxious to see their team's season debut as well as Packer fans anxious to see Chicago get poulverized by the Colts--I watched the musical extravaganza in the comfort of my workplace--Angelo's.

This year's broadcast, however, proved to be quite the disappointment. After being informed by several different sources that Britney Spears was going to be opening the show, I was less than thrilled to see her simply waddle on stage and recite a 20 second speech which lacked not only any kind of emotion, but also any sort of intelligent thought or content. Following Britney's awkward attempt to rally the crowd was Rihanna's disturbing performance of her latest single--quite appropriately named "Disturbia." It can only be assumed that present audience members were distracted by the overwhelming swarm of deranged backup dancers in the act, to realize that throughout a three minute song, Rihanna managed to sing not one note in tune. Viewers, however, could not be so easily distracted. Some even went as far as to comment, "I almost had to turn the channel because she was just that bad. And quite honestly, I will never see her in concert unless she is lipsyncing."

And though she was nominated for two awards that evening, Rihanna sadly walked away empty handed. In the end, 2008 proved to be Britney's year leaving celebrities, viewers, and I think even Britney herself, dumbfounded. Her phenomenal musical comeback in 2008 won her three awards including Video of the Year. For what video, we're still trying to figure out.

Heads You Win

Upon my reading of Paul LaRocque's "Heads You Win,"--and by this I mean solely the first two chapters, I've already come to realize several things. Not only are his points creditable, concise, and condusive, but they are also extremely blunt, honest, and at times humorous. LaRocque points out common yet trivial and unwarranted errors oftentimes made by journalists and editors today. Furthermore, he offers an array of suggestions, criticisms, and examples that are of extreme value to us as journalism students.

My question, however, is not why we as prospective journalists are reading this guide-- because I must admit that is quite clear. Rather, I can't help but wonder why many current newspaper journalists and editors have seemingly failed to adhere to any of his advice. Quite honestly, the headlines and captions found in garbage gossip magazines are far more catchy and creative than nearly any newspaper headline I've seen in quite some time. Though these tabloids are obviously fabricated and frivolous in comparision to the articles found in newspapers and such, you'd think that since the majority of people want to read actual news, that these headlines would be just a little more interesting. The fact of the matter is that people are going to read the newspaper--regardless of the headline -- because let's face it, the current presidential election is just slightly more significant than whether or not Britney Spears plans on putting on yet another musically-challenged performance at this year's MTV VMA's. Quite honestly, if writers can come up with catchy headlines for these senseless stories, newspaper writers can surely do the same.