Is the Currently Covered News Really Newsworthy?

Everyday genocide kills thousands of people, thousands more are killed from AIDS and starvation. Yet, when the channel is flipped over to a news station, it seems like everyone is covering the most trivial of issues, such as Kanye West's mother dying or Hannah Montana using a body double. It is astounding that this is even considered news. There are children who are kidnapped from their homes in the middle of the night and forced to murder others (often their own families). In addition, this isn't just happening in Africa, it happens all over the world. How is it that all we seem to care about is Paris Hilton getting released from jail or Anna Nicole Smith's unremarkable anus? Something needs to change.

The news reflects what we as a society deem important and newsworthy. The lives of these unimportant people who don't do anything but rap, sing, pose or take clothes off are taking the time slots for real news to get out there, even if the time slot is only 2 minutes long. America seems to be in a downward spiral of laziness. When the news covers an issue, it's usually just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to know. Nonetheless, many people depend on these news sources for all of their information. As if that isn't already deplorable, now the news isn't really even news anymore.

Not only are there international crimes being committed everyday, there are amazing advances in science, presidential candidates, and important facts about the current state of the world. Have you ever heard of the Large Hadron Collider? How about the foundation for the cure for sickle cell anaemia? This is exciting news that everyone should know about. When was the last time you heard about slavery? In many cases the last slavery topic most people have spoken about occurred in history class. But today there are more slaves in the world than there have ever been in the history of mankind. Human trafficking is a big deal, but it seems that many people care more about the "liberation of Paris" and that's not a reference to the country.

Perhaps television has disconnected people from things they should really care about. Perhaps an overload of the Real World, American Idol, and Laguna Beach have gotten so popular that the interest in other people's problems, successes, and daily lives have become overly important to us. There are many issues the government fails to solve unless the public shows concern and demands answers. Despite the reason for this growing trend of pseudo news, the genuine problems of this world will not go away unless addressed by the people.