I think one reason no one cares about Miss America is that no one ever sees one. Miss America should be making visits to the heartland And then it has gotten so politically correct. Frankly, who cares any more. The last one that was any good was the one that has Veterans as her "cause" after that it went down hill, diversity, give me a break. I hear enough of that plenty of other places. But she won.
Put 50 people up in front of the world, selected for their looks and singing/dancing talent alone, and then put them on the spot on live TV and try to get them to sound intelligent. The only possible result is that they will tell the interviewer what s/he wants to hear.And that is just as true of the interviewer himself as it is of the girls he's interviewing; he is a mere celebrity who, without any real intellectual credentials, is just trying to sound intelligent. So he is just faking it, too.
That process goes right up to the journalists - who are in general very little different than the intellectually compeletely uncredentialed showgirls themselves. But he can go along with the herd of other journalists similarly situated. As long as he stays with the herd, he knows he's safe. Safe from his worst fear, which is getting bad PR.
And where does the herd go? The herd is superficial because of short deadlines, just like the showgirl is on the spot with the TV camera pointed at her and the microphone in front of her mouth. And the herd is critical of those who actually have to make decisions and get things done - because "any fool can criticize, and most fools do." Any silly criticism or second-guess will do to inflate the ego of the shallow writer and the equally shallow reader/hearer of the criticism.
Eventually the facts will catch up with any particular shallow criticism - but of course, when that happens that only signifies that it is time for the journalists to change the subject. Ronald Reagan was mercilessly criticized as a "Right Wing Cold Warrior" and a reckless cowboy who would cause WW III - until suddenly "the Cold War is over." No discussion of who won and who lost until Reagan's funeral 15 years later - and then absolutely NO discussion of the fact that journalism and journalism's acolytes known as liberals were the vehement opponents of the man who actually did the right thing.
All that to say that the interview portion of the Miss America Pageant is just as unedifying as the swimsuit competition.
Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate
These ladies have served food for fund raisers for a local soup kitchen, another for a literacy drive and more.
They are there, but you have to know where to look