Chronicle Reader Rep. James Campbell disclosed that he often cringes when he turns to the TMi page in the “star” section on Wednesdays:
[…]most media entities, including the Houston Chronicle, are in our faces with stories about the famous, infamous and previously undistinguished people trying to make careers out of their 15 minutes of fame. We’re told that the focus on pop culture is a necessary divergence from the serious news. But that begs the question: How much pop culture is too much? If readers who complain about our TMi page published each Wednesday in the STAR Section are a measure, we’ve already crossed the line.
For the uninitiated, the TMi page, whose motto is “more pop-culture news than anyone needs,” is not for the faint of heart, sensitive or humorless. The page features a montage of sidebars and vignettes about TV, movies, music, fashion and the famous garnished with bold headlines and even bolder photographs. The topics are intentionally sophomoric and nonchallenging, point being to give pop-culture worshipers an irreverent take on your name-of-topic. Some Wednesdays I dread turning to the page.
We know the feeling. Early on in this little blog’s life, we complained about the loss of the wonderful Sunday Texas Magazine and the need for a parental warning label in the “star” section, often because of the TMi content. I have long since stopped reading that section, and not just because pictures of scantily clad women are not something I want my kids seeing on the dining room table in the mornings. How about that story of a UH student becoming a Playboy Playmate? Yeah, that’s great breakfast conversation! Very edifying!
How many other readers are like me: so turned off by what might be in the “star” section that we no longer even open it up?
John Derbyshire summed it up best when he said, “Pop culture is filth.“
