"More than any other time in our TV history, we now think in terms of exclusives. Our newscasts are punctuated by “exclusives.” Perhaps it is time to review what the intrinsic value of an exclusive is and more importantly, how our choices of exclusives affects the audiences we reach. One vivid example is an “exclusive” about two women involved in a hair-pulling incident. It may be worthwhile to ask ourselves what value this has as a news story aside from the riveting human drama of two women tearing at each other’s hair. Or one story of recent memory is the continuing saga of the Ruffa-Yilmaz break-up, which stayed with the major newscasts on a daily, telenovela basis. What is the take-out of viewers? Are we doing this just to attract our audience, or keep up with competition? Is there a lesson to be learned? Today, showbiz news is a part of every newscast. Admittedly, the bottomline is enhanced by showbiz news. While showbiz news is strong in form, it has to be given context and careful, responsible thought. "