Brad and angelina married

Yesterday I had a really nice chat via email with one of the other CPs on the AC and it got me thinking. There are so many things going on in the world, important things. So why does the majority of the media coverage go to tabloid news, celebrity gossip and scandal?

I mean did the genocide in the Darfur stop? Did the war in Iraq end? Did all of our troops come home? Did all the homeless people in world go out and get apartments? No, I don't believe they did. So why aren't this issues getting the attention they deserve?

I'm as guilty as everyone else. I read tmz.com and the other tabloid gossip sites when i get bored. I listen to the gossip and turn to E occasionally, and there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone needs some type of entertainment. I even write fluff articles sometimes, nothing wrong with it, but I also watch CNN, and I try to write about issues that I feel are important, no matter what others might feel about the subject.

There are important issues all around the world that desperately need everyones attention and not just national, or international issues. There are local issues that need attention that never get coverage.

I remember a few years back when the Lacy Peterson story was the hot topic. Women were going missing left and right, it was all that the media outlets would cover and it was news worthy, but there was a young black woman in South Carolina, I believe, that had gone missing and had been missing for months. Her family was contacting the media left and right and no one would cover it. They had a website dedicated to finding her. They sent out emails out to everyone and ask them to pass them along and eventually one got to me. Inside the email was a attachment of a flyer that had her picture. I called one of the major news networks, the news desk, and I told them about the story. Informed them that the family had been trying to get the story some national attention so they could find their daughter and they said, ok, fine, send us the email and we'll give it to the producers and see what we can do. Needless to say it never made it on the air and I don't know if this family ever found their daughter.

I can't say that she would have been found if the family was able to drum up some national media attention, but I can say that every little bit could have helped and I can also say that someone's child going missing is more important then Paris Hilton making an ass out of herself...again and it's more important then Nicole Richie's eating disorder...that she doesn't have.

It's important that the large media outlets give attention where attention is due. The AIDS epidemic in Africa should get just as much attention if not more then dancing with the stars.

Yeah celebrity dirt is fun to read (and watch), but if you ran that article or gave that story a slot over a story that could have helped find someone's missing child or saved someone's life or saved thousands of lives, then as Journalist, as recognizable media outlets...they are not doing their job.