This is interesting! Because I would definitely contend that the distinction between information and entertainment is increasingly blurred, but I'm not absolutely sure I agree with it being a 'worrying fusion'. The reality is that we live in a hugely media-entrenched culture. Virtual or media-based entertainment takes up a vast cultural space. Is it so terrible if the content we are so voraciously consuming is also used as an informative tool? A fusion of information and entertainment could consist of diverse representation or the normalisation of marginalised issues in the media. I suppose that the difficulty arises when the two are inextricable from one another. Or - when information is inextricable from entertainment. Here there is a risk of losing the objectivity of factual information, and appealing instead to the immediacy of emotional stimulation associated with entertainment. News and factual information should not need to be sensationalised in order to gain traction. Yet surely it is beneficial, and indeed natural to diffuse that which entertains us with that which is informative. The idea of it as a 'fusion' is troubling, as it suggests a conjoined existence in which neither concept is separable from the other. In this case, it becomes easy to correlate the two and dismiss one as being the other. However, I would not agree that such a fusion accurately describes the current landscape. There is a risk of escalation into such a fusion, certainly. You need only look at the recent launch of the GB News Channel, founded upon the premise of divergence from traditional news reporting in favour of opinion and controversy based content. When news and entertainment are assimilated together it becomes increasingly easy to only consume that which confirms our preconceived views.

I'd say the trade-off here that if news is presented in an entertaining manner, it is likely to be be consumed while compromising on thoroughness, while if it is presented in a more informative manner, it will be better thought out (not necessarily more accurate) but not enough people will watch it, meaning that people would still have a poor understanding of what is happening. pick your poison.