Botox story reveals cracks in old media’s attempts at being cool

Botox story reveals cracks in old media’s attempts at being cool

Botox story reveals shows traditional media oughta stop trying to be hip and focus on what they should be doing best: accuracy and indepth coverage.

May 22, 2011 2:08 by p.deleon

So now Botox Mom is saying she was paid to say all the things for which she is now being criticised. As if things couldn’t get any more absurd. For those of you who’ve not been kept up to date on this, first Kipp is impressed by your highly selective powers and, second, Botox Mom was first featured on the UK’s The Sun, where she professed injecting her 8-year-old daughter with Botox to keep her looking young and stave off wrinkles.

Story of the Botox Mom, who says she got the idea from kiddie beauty pageants, created such a ripple that she was asked to appear on Good Morning America (GMA) and on Inside Edition. She has since then received so much criticism that the Child Protective Services have even looked into the legality of the matter—and rightly so, Kipp thinks.

The scrutiny must have become unbearable that the Californian mom, Sheena Upton, is now saying she was paid to fabricate the story and the photos of her administering Botox on her daughter were all faked.

The British reporter who first published Upton’s story, Alley Einstein, denies the allegations. And now Good Morning America and Inside Edition are “investigating” if they have been duped.

Okay, so this whole Botox for kids thing is preposterous, but what Kipp can’t believe is that shows like GMA didn’t do their homework first to see if anything about this story is fishy. Of course, if Oprah gets duped by the author of A Million Little Pieces, then we’re all forgiven right?

But what worries Kipp is the underlying theme of stories like these. That traditional formats which have the opportunity to be more indepth are more concerned about competing with tweets and online media than they are about the accuracy and legitimacy of their story is worrying.

Although Kipp appreciates that TV networks need to be ‘down with the kids’, it really shouldn’t be at the expense of the one thing they have over online platforms and social media, which is (drum rolls please) being able to give a deeper insights on situations and issues. If they can’t even find out if a Botox mom is lying for money, then what else could they have missed?