News is based entirely on novelty, which is much more closely tied to entertainment than it is to importance. Not only do you miss out on the all important back

News is based entirely on novelty, which is much more closely tied to entertainment than it is to importance. Not only do you miss out on the all important background information for reported stories, but you miss out on very important stories all together if there doesn't happen to be anything new about them. Tens of thousands of people dying of cancer or car crashes is not news, but a single person dying in a terrorist attack is not only front page news, but a reason to turn your life upside down. Popular notions of what matters and what doesn't are really screwed up. That's largely human nature, but Journalism certainly reinforces it.