Kanye West MTV Outburst - is This Really a Global News Story?

Basically, the rapper Kanye West has become headline news after he snatched the microphone from Taylor Swift and essentially stated that Beyonce Knowles should have won the MTV award instead. Understandably, this should cause some controversy with it being a very poor act during someone's moment. The whole controversy has been further encouraged with Barack Obama stating that Kanye West is a jackass for what he did, though admittedly he did not do so publicly but was rather recorded saying it. However, is this really a global news story? Is this really what the press should be covering? Is it truly newsworthy?

Why The Whole Matter Is Ridiculous

The discipline of journalism is meant to focus on pressing matters that are important to both our safety and to our freedom. Freedom of press is of particular importance because it is meant to keep track of threats, both internal and external, to the people of a nation. Furthermore, it is meant to inform us of global issues of concern. Whenever a celebrity issue arises to the forefront of press it robs that space for issues that are significantly more important.

What Could Be Headline News Instead

Now it is of course fine for a celebrity article to be pushed to a headline article when less news is available, but with the many examples of far more important articles and issues having arisen this week it is quite ridiculous. For example, an issue of far more importance could have been the United Nations report stating that Israel has committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip and the consequential backlash against the United Nations from within Israel¹.

Another article that is of far more importance than the Kanye West issue is the lack of support and subsequent protest of African nations in this economic downturn. The people of Africa are already some of the poorest in the world, and as such the economic downturn has made them even poorer². This issue concerns real people dying of starvation, while the news covers Kanye West and the latest celebrity drama.

How Can This Be Changed?

The simple method of reversing this effect is consumer action. If the news of a certain channel chooses to show issues like this instead of more important issues, switch it off or change channels. Generally, government supported news casts tend to focus more on politics and economics, which makes them far superior sources of news.

Related Articles:

Israel Condemns UN's Gaza Report

Poorer Countries Need Bailout Help Too

Video Footage Of Kanye Outburst At MTV Awards