Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 03, 1980

Transcript:

Mark: Coming up: media trends in the '80s. The prognosis? More of less. Good evening. "Marvelous" Mark here, chatting with media critic Albert Schoenfeld, author of the widely praised report, "Future Schlock." Professor Schoenfeld, on the basis of your latest research, what sort of media trends do you foresee for the decade ahead? Man: Well, Mark, to begin with, we foresee an increase in mood journalism, especially in the bigger papers. During the '70s, the media spotted approximately 7,500 trends. We think the trend is towards even more trends, perhaps 11,000 by 1989, reflecting the results of over 9,500 independently conducted polls. Celebrity journalism should also enjoy another banner decade. And we see the market, previously monopolized by "People" and "Photoplay," making room for newcomers like "Time" and "Newsweek." And whereas the Washington "Post" reported on a record 9,75 celebrities during the last decade, their "style" section editors now expect to move nearly 15,000 units of personality reportage in the '80s! Mark: So the bottom line for soft news? Man: Frankly, Mark, we're bullish.