Enough Taylor Swift coverage becomes too much

The jar sits on a shelf alongside a collection of books, ready to demand a coin should someone utter the T word. Its purpose: to deter conversations going down a rabbit hole from which escape is unlikely.

The T word was Trump.

It should now be changed to Taylor. And T jars should be placed in the lobbies of every media outlet in the country. The fines collected for the endless utterances of the new T word would probably house the homeless.

It reached peak absurdity last week when networks crossed live to the landing in Sydney of T's boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

"The entire nation held its breath as Travis Kelce's private jet touched down at Sydney Airport on Thursday morning," news.com.au gushed. Really? The entire nation? Perhaps you should calm down.

The networks' breathless announcers tripped over themselves as a bloke they thought was Mr T but wasn't (it was his confusingly named mate, Ross Travis) stepped from the plane. Later in the day, they ran grainy footage of Taytrav strolling through a zoo in western Sydney.

The hype over Taylor can be understood. But over the boyfriend?

I'd resolved not to write about Taylor Swift. Too many others - music journalists, economists, academics debating her "white feminism" and environmentalists decrying her use of private jets, people much more knowledgeable than me - already have.

Besides, I'm not that interested. I'd watched with some amusement and sympathy the stories of fans thrilled at getting tickets or devastated at not.

I'd chuckled at the ABC, which is doctrinaire about not being seen to promote any brands, happily promoting one of the world's biggest. Tim Tams are out. Taylor is in.

I was touched by the fathers who'd bonded with their daughters as they set out on road trips to catch a performance.

But when it reached saturation point last week with the coverage of the boyfriend, I could resist no longer. I had to write.

Not about the Taylor Swift phenomenon.

Not about her music or the spectacle of her shows.

Not about the merchandise that had fans lined up, willing to put down a mortgage payment on overpriced hoodies and T-shirts.

Not about what she might have eaten in a Sydney restaurant. Not about why she visited one zoo and not the other.

Not about the hotel suite she stayed in.

Rather, about that fine line between coverage and obsession most of the media crossed last week with Travis's arrival.

Taylor Swift's Eras tour is newsworthy. Amid all the gloom, it has been a bright spot. The arrival of her boyfriend, though, was worth mentioning but certainly not breaking into live coverage of his plane landing. That was the tipping point.

So before I drop a gold coin into the jar, I have just three words.

Enough is enough.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the Taylor Swift coverage been over the top? Were you around when The Beatles toured Australia? If so, was the mania back then just as crazy as Taylormania? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au

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THEY SAID IT: "Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer." - Norman Mailer

YOU SAID IT: Garry says an opportunity has been lost to impose standards of behaviour on our politicians.

Jennifer writes about the reluctance to punish pollies for workplace misbehaviour: "Our MPs and lawmakers set up systems to punish anyone who seeks government support, whether on a disability pension, JobSeeker, or old age pension, so many of whom were punished severely under Robodebt despite having done nothing wrong. Others are punished by Job Network providers on a whim, as that is the system our lawmakers have devised and sanctioned. Talk about hypocrisy!"

"Brilliantly put," writes Margaret. "Of course there should be drug and alcohol testing and, yes, pollies should be should be suspended if found positive. I have it at my work in local government. Why shouldn't they have it in the highest office in the land? It's a disgrace what they get away with. It's always a case of do as I say and not as I do with them, isn't it? No wonder they are held in such contempt."

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Anita has doubts: "Naming and shaming should be enough. Drink and drug testing in Parliament gives the okay for every other field of employment. With the exception of special cases where attention to detail is paramount, I think this is overreach on behalf of our employers. Let's continue to film (where possible) and, identify. The people for whom we cast a vote should display a sense of propriety when out in public. If not, we need to be notified and expect statements of remorse commensurate with the crime."

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"Politicians quickly become isolated from the real world," writes Penelope. "I suspect we are meant to see them as somehow above needing some restraints. A bit like all those assumptions about how a gentleman behaves. His word is his bond, etc. The personality traits that incline people to a political career reinforce the feeling that they are above being called to account."

Sue writes: "Why should they not be subject to the same work requirements as the rest of us? Suspension without pay, random drug and alcohol testing, the requirement to complete learning tasks in relation to government policies so that they know how to deal with domestic and workplace violence, and other social issues. As for Albanese improving the quality of political debate, that was always a grandstand statement and was never going to fly. He has absolutely no control over the debating ability, or otherwise, of any politician and given his pathetic performance in relation to the Voice referendum, he is not in a position to criticise others. What he could have some control over is the behaviour of politicians, if he was prepared to make some hard decisions and give the Parliamentary Standards Commission some teeth."