The Good, The Bad and The Fleetwood Mac

A Moratorium on All things Kardashian

By

Bobbie L. Washington

May make a suggestion or maybe this should be a plea for a return to some sort of normalcy in the world of journalistic integrity. What I am pleading, begging, imploring you with all good consciousness is to place a moratorium on anything that has to do with reporting on any Kardashian. I would like to see it set at 30 days. As simple of a request that this may be, I'm sure many a news outlet who suffer a tailspin of what to fill up their outlets with. So why do I want a moratorium on the Kardashians? It is because it has gone into overload of what constitutes news. Jimmy Kimmel has a comedy bit on his show called, “Is This News?”. News outlets are now reporting on the most mundane topics when it comes to the Kardashians and you have to ask yourself, is this news?

For 99% of the time, it is not news when it comes to the Kardasians. You read headlines like, “Kylie wears mom's bikini”, Father wears a bikini for the first time”, “Mom sets up Kedall Jenner up with Zayn Malik”. And this is just one day and not everything. How did journalism get to this point where journalism ethics now cater to the lowest common denominator with what constitutes news? The Kardashians are not talented people. They are not relatively beaming with scholarly attributes. And because one made a sex tape, we are invited into their home to see how they flaunt a lifestyle that is insanely obsessive and narcissistic.

Kylie Jenner just celebrated her 18^th birthday which makes her legal for photographers to take a chance of her having some wardrobe malfunction. Of course leading up to her 18^th birthday was an obsession in itself with Kylie taking as many selfie one could take in many a small bathing suit and close to revealing outfit. Coupled with the fact that she is in a supposed relationship with Tyga, a 25 year old rap artist that the media has scrutinized because he was dating a then under aged Kylie Jenner because of the illusion of some inappropriate behavior. But mom, Kris Jenner, had signed off on it so it must be okay. Kylie's Instagram videos tells a not to surprising portrait that she is no Mensa candidate. In fact the now 18 year old clearly demonstrates that a 12 year old brain is something to really work at keeping.

Kim Kardashian is in an orbit all to herself. The sex tape was her coming out party and it's been nonstop ever since. Between the product endorsements, television appearances as a guest star, marriages, pregnancies, half-ass singing career, we have been bombarded with her for everyday since then. And she won't stop, even when the FDA came down on her for soliciting some morning sickness drug without giving the side effects. But that's not the first time she and her sisters have run afoul with some product they endorsed without first doing their homework. It's all about the money grab first, then the consequences later. Kris Jenner has channeled herself into Kim where every move, every action, every nuance, every blink of the eye that is scripted and rehearsed to the point where you have no idea what is real and what is Memorex? All of it is smoke and mirrors and Kris is behind the curtains with the Wizard of Oz.

Kendall Jenner is running a campaign to be the next Kim. She became a model last year out of nowhere because she had no training and just the name. I wonder how other models who worked hard in their careers felt about this newly minted top model sauntering in without any credentials other than having a reality show? And she had her debut as she has posed topless and wore shear outfits for her “new profession”. But that's what people are really looking for in the Kardasians, who is going to get naked? And Kim is the winner on that. You'd think a new mom would curtail the nudity but no. Kim wanted more of the limelight or maybe it was the mom who told her she needed to get the spotlight back on her since Kendall was soaking up the air? And sure enough, Kim got naked, not just for some Internet publication but for her legions of fans where she posted selfies of her nakedness. Well, I guess if you got it, exploit it for cash because Kim gets paid for Twittering.

Khloe Kardashian is the proverbial lady in waiting and she will be waiting for a long time for her shot at the Kim throne since the annointing of Kendall and Kylie, the newest incarnations to this Kardashian bubble. At one point one may have thought that this would be the one to break free from the carnival ride of fame whoring. If one were to believe Lamar Odom being a victim to a setup involving Khloe and a supposed chance run-in with her ex, then manipulation of the media would have been executed properly to the first order.

Kourtney Kardashian has her latest issues as a single mother. Her companion and father of her children has left the compound but what we don't know if this too is one of those scripted events that will lead up to some dramatic telling? Lama Odom hinted that there might be more to the story when it comes to the Kardashians if he isn't treated fairly in the press.

And you may ask yourself why do I know all of this? Because that's what the media is feeding me as I mind my own business when it pops up on the news. Sure, I can hit my mute button on my remote control or change the channel but by then, I've been forced feed enough to the point where it's stuck in my head like it was junk food. I don't like junk food. Hearing about how an 18 year old got a Ferrari for her 18^th birthday is fluff and none of my concern.

At one point, this circus act will have to eventually fold up. TMZ will probable have a hard time with that but everybody needs to move on. This request that I am proposing may be too lofty to achieve but it's worth the effort. I suspect that some news organizations have assigned reporters to cover anything Kardashian. The Huffington Post and Yahoo News seems to have something on them everyday. I've even read comments that readers have left suspecting the same thing. So, how's about it media outlets, can you help a brother out?