what news stories/political issues should be in the 'and finally sectiion'?

The 'big' news here, that to me is a complete waste of airtime, are stories of athletes that took steroids 10 or 15 years ago. I understand how dangerous they are, that they are and should be banned for all sports...which they are. But worrying about something that took place so long ago? And wasting taxpayer dollars with hearings about them? I just don't see the point. I think there are better and more currently relevent places to spend the money. What would really be a breath of fresh air is some unbiased reporting for a change. The spins that various networks and newcasters give make watching the news almost a waste of time.

News is a business. That is what they do, sell news. People have this funny idea that 'news' is a special spot in the economy, that doesn't operate by supply and demand. That somehow it is immune to the natural operation of a market economy. Not so. The job of the newspaper is not to 'serve the general public with important information about world events'. No, the job of the newspaper is to sell newspapers. So in reality, the news stories that should be in the newspaper, are whatever stories will best sell the news paper. Why? Because what sells, is what people want to read about. What people want to read about, is what matters. When you try it the other way, you end up with junk. It's sort of like communist propaganda in the old Soviet Union, or Cuba, or China. Papers filled with propaganda crap no one reads. Of course that doesn't matter because the government pays for it. So 300K copies of something no one reads is all over the place.

It depends on the scope of the organizations - national media or international media? Massive natural disasters, like the earthquake in Haiti, get a lot of airtime and attention. What gets reported about it may vary on where it is being reported. Here in the US, I see many stories about the destruction, the medical and aid needs, the efforts to convince the State Department to let Haitian orphans into the US without the red tape, etc. Yet I have heard from friends in the UK that the US is taking over Haiti militarily and US investors are snapping up prime investment real estate there. I had no idea we wanted to conquer Haiti, nor that there were any prime investment areas just waiting for someone to capitalize on. As far as I knew, it was an impoverished nation with a very corrupt infrastructure. Wars in Africa - I agree we don't see much information on the news. I would include all African politics because many are ignorant of the histories and politics of many African nations. Famines are important but I think they spent too much time on the plague-that-never-was, H1N1. House Speaker Tip O'Neill once said that all politics is local. Local elections can be of national importance, so I wouldn't put them in the unimportant category. A celebrity wearing an odd dress or a footballer getting drunk could be more interesting if it was the drunk footballer wearing the odd dress. Ultimately, the media will show what brings in the audiences. Some people just like to watch bears falling on trampolines or hear the list of women who have slept with Tiger Woods. I think the blame is misplaced. They are just selling what the public is buying.

I enjoyed that fluff one about John Major and Edwina Currie. I know, E rate celebrities but it was a good one.