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Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem

Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem

Last updated on: September 5, 2026 at 4:06 pm by Roger E. Olson

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Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem 2026-09-05T16:06:09-05:00 Roger E. Olson

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Two very important American women died very recently (August, September, 2026). Only days apart. Entertainer Dolly Parton and Feminist Gloria Steinem. I am not especially a fan of either one. My concern here is only the disparate attention given them upon their deaths by the major, “mainline,” corporate owned American news media.

To me, that is a signal of the degradation of American culture, that Parton received so much more attention than did Steinem.

Yes, Parton was a wonderful human being and a great entertainer. Also a philanthropist. She was not, however, a world changer. Steinem was a world changer. (If you object to or question that estimation of her, I will simply say you are uninformed.)

On the day Parton died NBC, CBS, and ABC all devoted all or most of their evening news programs to her with stories of her life and career and interviews with people who knew her and with fans. I cannot remember any celebrity whose death warranted that depth and detail of attention on the national evening news. (Here I am not counting political and government leaders as “celebrities” in this sense.)

Steinem received only brief mention on those networks’ evening news programs.

PBS Evening News gave attention to Parton upon her death but devoted at least half of the program to Steinem the day she died.

What’s the difference and the problem?

Well, as I said before, as wonderful a person and entertainer as Parton was, she did not change the world. As controversial and often unliked as Steinem was, she changed the world.

And the problem is that, apparently, more Americans are interested in knowing about Parton in some depth and detail than in Steinem. It should be the opposite because everyone is in some way, to some degree, affected by Steinem and her movement whereas only fans of Parton are affected by her.

And Steinem’s effect on American culture will last forever. It changed it permanently. Parton’s will be forgotten in time.

I have nothing against Parton! Don’t get me wrong. My complaint is about American culture. We are ignorant and willfully so. We are obsessed with celebrities and willfully ignorant about movers and shakers of our own culture.

And the mainline news organizations, in my opinion, are increasingly driven by the rush for ratings and by corporate owners and managers. The dumbing down of the American news media, other than PBS, is appalling. Increasingly, a “true crime” story gets more attention than a war we are involved in (that is in no way “small potatoes”).

*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative, and devoid of pictures or links.*

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