What's News?

It doesn’t matter if you listen to the radio, watch TV, read a newspaper or log onto your computer because it’s everywhere and you can’t avoid it.
The real question for me is do we care or is it simply because we can’t escape it and it’s almost forced down our throats. I’m talking about gossip or entertainment news or call it what you will but it’s like a bad rash…it just won’t go away.

What’s amazing to me is not the amount of this so-called news but the fact that often it’s treated like it has great importance in our society. At the same time you have impact stories like the economy and health care and more you’ll find more time and space devoted to things like Dave Lettermen’s sexual escapades. With the exception of a handful of people who could possibly be affected and impacted by Lettermen’s infidelities but yet he got more air time that President Obama for those few days.

And it’s not like this is only once-in-a-while because it seems like we’ve become infatuated with lifestyles and the often boorish behavior of celebrities and star athletes and even those who fall into the category of “want to be’s.” But I again come back to the question of whether we really care or just can’t avoid all this garbage and make no mistake about it….this is real trash. The bottom line is most of our lives are fairly routine and maybe even mundane and listening, watching and reading about the famous might be an escape from reality. It just seems like more and more we treat stories about them like its real news. Frankly I don’t care who just entered another rehab program and who was arrested for starting a fight in a nightclub and who just broke up with his girlfriend. I also have no interest in the opinions of celebrities when it comes to politics and national issues. Just do what you allegedly have talent for…whether it’s sing, act or hit a baseball.

By the way have you heard the latest? ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips had an affair with a 22-year old production assistant who later called the wife of the former Mets General Manager and told her what was going on…kind of like “Fatal Attraction.” Don’t worry you’ll hear about it everywhere before the day is over.