Media's Royal Wedding Crush is Pathetic

As a second-generation caterer, I would ordinarily be peacock proud and hyena happy about the prospects of anyone getting married. Yet when I saw the obese coverage around the wedding announcement of Britain's Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton, it was sickening to watch.

There was no one TV broadcast or cable network that was more egregious than the other. Frankly, all were shameful with the level of attention given to the announcement of next year's nuptials. It's wrong for anyone to suggest that Prince William isn't a newsmaker, although this wedding is more entertainment than politics or hard news. Yet this was the lead story on NBC's evening newscast? Really?

It was more perplexing considering the announcement was reported on the same day that President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to the first living soldier since Vietnam. With the United States engaged in two wars, and so much attention being put on our soldiers, it made perfect sense for the national media to turn everyone's attention to one of our own, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta of Iowa, who is the first living recipient to receive the award in 40 years.

How can today's journalists seriously talk about the softening of news and more Americans caring about gossip rags and celebrities walking down the street to buy a cup of coffee rather than the news that truly affects their lives?

Look, I get the mammoth ratings from the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, but seriously, what we have seen on display this week has been ridiculous.

In the media, we often talk about news judgment.

It is all subjectively based on the person or persons who make the decisions in each respective newsroom. I can guarantee you that if I had my own TV show or was executive producing one, the royal wedding wouldn't have made it into the first block. No doubt it would have been mentioned, but it would have been beyond me to put a wedding announcement of a royal couple from another country at the top of an American newscast.

Longtime journalist Ted Koppel recently blasted the opinion-driven TV shows on Fox and MSNBC, and Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia went as far as saying the two should be shut down. Frankly, I find the latter to be nonsensical, but it is important that we sometimes step back and say, "Are we contributing to dumbing down the public by virtue of some of our dumb news decisions?"

Let me be clear: There is a place for sports, entertainment and lifestyle-related stories. I disagree when someone suggests that such stories aren't news; they are, just a different type of news. But there is a such thing as overkill, and when it came to the royal wedding announcement, my brothers and sisters in the media embarrassed themselves with the over-the-top coverage.

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN analyst and the author of the forthcoming book "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin." Please visit his website at www.RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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