During the American Idol season our own Fox 9 news has provided us with weekly in-depth coverage of the show. They also have an Idol-themed website run by Chris Matheson, the entertainment beat reporter.
It's tricked out with killer graphics and a chat room where enthusiastic fans can argue over their favorite contestant. It's also tricked out with a disgusting sploosh into the toilet bowl of sensationalism and sycophancy.
Other local affiliates are silent on Idol. Now that it's in its seventh (or is it eighth? ninth? 41st?) season, the show is far from being newsworthy in any sense and should be beyond even the soiled ethical standards of entertainment reporting, especially here in Minnesota which is nowhere near Hollywood (geographically or egotistically). But I guess entertainment news is pointedly shit, and Matheson's reporting is actually funny if we take it as an intended punch-line to a joke that the E! channel has been telling all these years.
Then there's the matter of incest. Fox 9 news is running weekly updates on a show that's broadcast on their own station and that is a backhand to RTNDA ethical standards. I would like to find out if other Fox affiliates run similar bits on their own news broadcasts. Is KMSP getting more than video clips from Fox headquarters for doing these updates?
