There is a basic way to explain this article. Three duke students, normal upper-class white boys, are accused of raping a stripper. While Imus, with a national radio show, makes a racist remark against the players of a national women's basketball team.
Which news story does America give more attention to? Of course, the one full of celebrities.
The story on Imus does deserve attention, he should be held accountable for what he said and I'm not devaluing this story in any way.
However, in America we do have a sick obsession with celebrities. Whatever happens to them is much more important and exciting than anything happening to any old Joe.
Much like the death of Anna Nicole Smith, this story completely took over the media. While we are still fighting a war in Iraq and people are being murdered and racist remarks are being made everyday, news coverage on smaller stories nearly stopped and we, as a nation, tuned into the 6 o clock news to debate about who Anna's babies father is. Pathetic.
As an aspiring journalist, I truely hope that I uphold better values. I hope that I refuse to drop everything to cater to these celebrities and keep my eye on stories affecting real people everyday.
If one watches E! News and then watches Channel 4 they'll most likely get at least half of the stories overlapping. America needs to wake up. Our news is turning into a show getting closer and closer to Jerry Springer quality information.
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
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