Does Anyone Else Find It Depressing/Sad...

[Sothis]

::shrug:: The news media will report whatever they think people are interested in hearing about. Not every story will be "serious business," all the time. If you don't like hearing/reading about Charlie Sheen, then don't watch those stories or read those articles.

I'm not personally following the Charlie Sheen drama, but some people DO want to hear about it, and I don't see why my preferences should invalidate someone else's. "Newsworthiness" is a subjective quality, which is why there is a wide selection of news outlets to satisfy a wide diversity of audiences.

Also, for the record, the NY Times ran waaay more headlines about Libya than about Charlie Sheen. Most would consider NY Times part of "mainstream media," seeing how it's the single most popular American online newspaper, and the third largest American print newspaper. Granted, I'm sure there are other mainstream news outlets that focus more on the "trivial" stuff. I guess my point is: I feel like "mainstream media" is too broad a group to make sweeping generalizations about their "priorities."

Don't get me wrong... I agree that there's lots of weaknesses and catch-22s associated with how news reporting is done. I just don't find it very productive to shake my fist at the media for sometimes reporting stuff I don't personally find interesting.