Princess Diana's death has tabloid papers running for cover. But are the scandal sheets the only newspapers at fault? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, celebrity culture and the decline of serious journalism. Also, the debate over media conglomerates: are they squelching public opinion or creating consumer heaven?

SEGMENT 1

Leo Braudy tells Steve Paulson what made Princess Diana a mega-star and what drives the celebrity media frenzy in the twentieth century. Braudy teaches literature at the University of Southern California and is the author of "The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and its History."

SEGMENT 2:

Robert McChesney teaches journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He tells Judith Strasser that the media obsession with Princess Diana is a symptom of a larger problem: the trivialization of journalism at the hands of commercial media conglomerates. McChesney is the author of "Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy," and co-author (with Edward Herman) of "The Global Media."

SEGMENT 3:

Michael Bloomberg spent fifteen years as a Wall Street analyst. Then he created a new computer based information system and launched his drive to become a self-made media mogul. He tells Steve Paulson that the new digital technologies have a democratizing influence regardless of their ownership. Bloomberg's book is "Bloomberg by Bloomberg." Also, columnist Art Buchwald tells Jim Fleming what it was like to live in Paris and work for the International Herald Tribune in the heady days after the Second World War.

Distribution dates:

• week of 09/07/97 - hour 1