"News" used to be published and reported by the media which considered itself "the Fourth Estate", and honored its commitment to the American public as a watchdog and guardian over the evils of government. It was its sacred trust: keeping Americans informed about the hubris, evil, arrogance and corruption that (our founding fathers knew) always infested politics.
Over these past fifty years, however, the "Fourth Estate" has become nothing more than the government's pimp, reporting what the government reports without question, skepticism, or investigation. Today's media conglomerates (The News Corporation, Gannett Co., Inc., NBC News, even CNN and especially Fox "News". among others) are only interested in profits.
So it's far easier - and cheaper - to simply "read" the "official" government press release instead of sending investigators into the field to dig out the truth. The last time we've had any real investigative reporting was when two enterprising young reporters dug into the news of a third-rate burglary at the Watergate Hotel. It brought down a U.S. President, and revealed to the nation just how evil, corrupted and shamefully dirty politics had become.
Since then, the beancounters who run 'big media' have crawled into bed with government, snuggled up to their corporate counterparts in other industries, and shown themselves to be nothing more than whores, without regard for trustworthiness, integrity or accuracy when it comes to what they report as "news".
It's far easier to be more "concerned about celebrities" because all media has to do is read the publicists' press releases. Today's "news" is manipulated, contrived, often inaccurate, seldom fair or balanced, and certainly not part of the sacred trust the "Fourth Estate" used to have with the American citizenry. -RKO- 05/09/07