When celebrities face plights similar to those of everyday folk, the media falls guilty of spending far too much time and resources tracking the latest developments.
This past weekend, actress Natasha Richardson suffered a traumatic head injury while skiing in Canada - a tragedy that claimed her life Wednesday evening. While there is no questioning the pain and suffering currently being experienced by Richardson's family, the media's attention to the story has bordered on excessive.
Sadly, too many members of society attempt to live vicariously through the lives of celebrities by reading the latest issue of Us Weekly or scouring the Internet for photos of Lindsay Lohan's most recent brush with the law. Thus, we see a vicious cycle in which the media feeds the beast of the general public who crave deeper insight on terribly insignificant "stories."
Given the current economic circumstances that surround America, there are far more important issues the media should be covering with greater care and, in turn, demanded by the public. From AIG to the latest updates about the credit market, what really matters in the news has nothing to do with some actress who fell victim to a freak skiing accident.
Of course the attention paid to celebrities is nothing new in the American media, but perhaps it is time for us to grow up and cover only what truly affects the lives of the masses. While the less desirable aspects of fame include being subjected to newspapers, magazines and television, the media must strive to be more respectful of the Hollywood elite in their times of peril.
