Junk food news refers to news stories that sensationalize, personalize or homogenize relatively inconsequential trivia in the mass media. It is a sardonic phrase which has the same meaning as journalistic noise. Typically, "junk food news" can be said to fall into one or more of these categories:
- Brand name news (Stories about brand-name products, such as "New Coke")
- Sexual titilation (Celebrity pregnancies, unusual sexual affairs and crimes)
- 'Yo-yo news' (statistics that change daily, such as stock market numbers and movie box office totals)
- Showbusiness news (box office opening news)
- Latest craze news (Brief fads such as Furby, Pokemon, Segway)
- Celebrity news (Celebrity gossip)
- Anniversary news (Anniversary of a major event or celebrity death)
- Sports news (sports rumours and gossip)
- Political junk news
See also: tabloid, yellow journalism