http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/16/marthastewarts.dog.ap/index.html That was on the main CNN page. What the fuck is this world coming to?
Well, a few days ago they had "Britney Spears in a minor accident in Mercedes" on the main CNN page. :-\
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news Little old now, but still very applicable from the look of things.
What else is there to report on? It's not like we're in the middle of an election or a major police action/war or anything.
Almost as bad as when Fox "News" broke into whatever and started reporting "BREAKING NEWS!" that dealt with a dog that was stuck on the ice and the firemen had to go get him. It lasted 20+ minutes, most of the time the dog was on some rocks near the shoreline. It ended when the dog walked off the ice and wondered away. I don't think the firemen were ever within 50 feet of the dog.
Well, what do you expect the /Entertainment section to be used for? More Brittany stories? That's better?
The worst part is the Iraq war has become yesterday's news. I guess it wasn't making money anymore so it's regulated to a minor blip on the radar. Now it's all Spears/Hilton/Stewart, all the time.
MSNBC, at least, had the breaking news being that Obama made 4.2 million dollars when I checked it earlier. Weeks earlier it was "Brittney Spears to Appear on How I Met Your Mother"
The news industry is not primarily concerned with informing people of important events and issues. It is primarily concerned with engaging its audience enough to motivate them to read, watch or listen to sponsors' advertisements.
I am wondering what creative use she will find for it. Maybe she can turn Paw Paw into exquisite little napkin holders.
Except the Britney Spears news item I mentioned earlier was listed at the top of the page as part of Latest News (and stayed there for a long time). I'm guessing the news item T'Baio mentioned was also like that (although I didn't bother checking at the time).
That's because the the news scroll on the main page is chronological. It updates as stories are added. It's not about the importance attributed to the story.