AP and Paris Hilton

I commented on Kate Middleton on Monday about whether paparazzi should be restrained in their pursuit of celebrity. Today I read an interesting story on the experimental blackout on another celebrity Paris Hilton by the wire service AP. it is interesting not just for the idea of the ban, but also for the ban being experimental instead of permanent.
It is interesting that during the ban, no subscribers called in asking for Hilton stories, which could show that the stories on Hilton were not really newworthy.

But while people started to admire AP for their heroics on banning coverage on Hilton, the ban came to an end following a seven-day experiment and AP resumed the reports on the celebrity.

In the artcile, Jeff Jarvis, who teaches journalism at the City University of New York, decries the “one-size-fits-all disease” afflicting media outlets, who feel that “everybody’s covering it, so we must, too.” Even The New York Times, he noted, had substantial coverage of a hearing concerning where Anna Nicole Smith — perhaps the one person who rivaled Hilton in terms of fame for fame’s sake — would be buried.

it seems that Hilton's fame can't be resisted and the competition between media organisations can only facilitate the spreading the "one-size-fits-all disease"

The AP ban, though it was experimental, was quite thought-provoking and inspiring on our viewpoint on paparazzi. Could we stop paparazzi from tracking Kate again? It is an impossible mission in today's society.