We Don’t Need a Poll To Tell Us the Media’s Coverage of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift Is Weird
A recent survey showed that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce fatigue is starting to set in, but we really don’t need an official study to tell us that. Of course, it’s not a bad thing to get hard data on what Americans are really feeling about this power couple. However, anyone connected online in any way can immediately tell that the media is absolutely overdoing it with Kelce and Swift. Even those who aren’t typically plugged into the news and pop culture developments are bound to have heard about the Kelce and Swift obsession sweeping the nation.
Now I’ll admit, in the beginning, I thought it was cute. I think everyone thought it was cute. It was just so wholesome to see Swift showing up to Kelce’s football game with his mom to cheer him on and seeing Kelce unable to hide his smile while glancing up at her in the stands. Plus, there’s a bit of humor in Swift crashing the NFL and giving non-sports fans the ultimate opportunity to irritate the football fans by arguing that Kelce’s only claim to fame is Swift. The memes were funny, and seeing all these people so united in vouching for a couple was somewhat heartwarming to watch.
Then, it got weird. I figured we could let Kelce and Swift have the excitement over the fairytale-like beginning of their relationship and then move on. Yet, the media coverage just kept going … and going … and going. It’s been a month since Swift first went to Kelce’s game, but a simple Google search for their names will pull up dozens of articles written about them in just the last 24 hours. The latest “news” about Kelce and Swift is that he holds in her hand in a “weird” way, Swift talked to Kelce’s father, and Kelce is rumored to have pushed Swift’s bodyguard. Sadly, that’s not even the half of it.
Yes, we know everyone is tired of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Yahoo Entertainment ran a survey of 1,675 adults in the United States and found that 55% of them believed that the media was overdoing it with Swift and Kelce coverage. In contrast, only 12% believed the coverage was appropriate, and a meager 4% wanted more. These results were essentially the same among football fans who believe the NFL is covering the couple too much. Of course, nothing about the survey was shocking. While there’s definitely a market for this type of news among Swift’s enormous fanbase, the majority of people are going to be exhausted when they’re inundated daily about Kelce and Swift doing completely normal and insignificant couple things. Even fans are bound to start feeling that it’s too much.
In addition to reporting on every mundane detail about the pair, the coverage has gotten increasingly creepy and invasive, such as articles detailing the price, general location, and exact layout of Kelce’s home. TMZ even wrote up a whole article announcing in the headline that Swift and Kelce stayed together overnight. While Swift and Kelce have been fairly public about their relationship, there are certainly a lot of details and photos making it to media that they didn’t offer up or consent to having published to the world.
Meanwhile, a couple being public in some aspects doesn’t make their entire relationship a free-for-all for the paparazzi. In fact, celebrities sometimes offer up photos or details in the hopes that if they give the media what they want, they’ll stop being hounded. However, no matter how many details Swift and Kelce leak, the media seems like it won’t ever be satisfied as the paparazzi follows them home, camps outside their houses, and raises doxxing concerns. To know that the media is doing this, even as frustration and fatigue rise from Americans, makes it even worse.
Why is the media obsessed with Swift and Kelce?
There are a lot of concerns that arise from the media’s obsession with Swift and Kelce, especially regarding how journalism is slowly shifting into clickbait. It’s not entirely the media’s fault. As a writer, I know there’s pressure for content and views. I also know there’s nothing wrong with providing light-hearted entertainment articles to balance out all the heaviness in the world and on the news. However, being hyper-focused on getting hits may drown out current events and stories that desperately need to be heard.
As long as there are Swift fans, and as long as bored internet users will click on clickbait for some mindless entertainment, these stories will get hits. The media and writers may not even personally care about Swift or Kelce, but they’ve found it gets attention, so they’ll milk it for all it’s worth. Still, there needs to be balance in reporting. It’s sometimes necessary to go with what has historically done well in the past. But there also needs to be some creativity and bravery in reporting on what’s important or interesting, even if it’s not something everyone else is doing. When the media is too focused on following trends, we get minute-by-minute updates about Kelce and Swift, even as the majority internally groans every time they see another Kelce/Swift article.
(featured image: Gotham/Getty Images)
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