Media Watch: Why The Obsession With the Royal Baby?

The Takeaway

Yesterday was a good day for the British Royals: The long-awaited new royal baby finally arrived.
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, delivered a son. The baby boy is the third in line for the throne, and this is the first heir the royal family has had in this century–and in this era of Twitter and Facebook.
“The royal baby boosted Twitter activity on Monday as the social media platform said that at its peak the topic drew 25,300 tweets per minute,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. “The peak in global conversation on Twitter came at 8:37 p.m. London time, in the minutes following the announcement of the baby’s birth. Between then and late Monday, there were more than 2 million mentions of the news on Twitter, the company’s U.K. blog said.”
What’s up with the media’s fascination with the royal heir? Bob Garfield has some insights. He’s the host of On The Media, which is produced by the Takeaway’s co-producer, WNYC.
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