Gossip Is Never News

It's nice to know, in the media, there are still some broadcasters with principles.
Mika Brzezinski is a presenter on MSNBC in America. In June 2007, Mika refused to read a story about Paris Hilton's release from jail. An hour later in another news bulletin, her producer again wanted the story as the lead, ranking it over an item about the Iraq war, which Mika considered more important. After sarcasm from a co-host, she tried to set the script on fire on-air, but was physically stopped by another co-host. She then tore up the script, and an hour later fed another copy of the script through a paper shredder...

Over the following days, she received large quantities of fan mail, supporting her protest as a commentary on the tension between hard news and entertainment news.
Perhaps more people in the media should follow her example – not in such a dramatic fashion, but by impressing upon their editors that "entertainment fluff" is not news material. The public deserves more respect than to be fed gossip and 'padding' material disguised as news (Lindsay Lohan's recent prison and rehab drama is a classic current example).
Gossip and "fluff" is never news, let alone the lead story in a prime bulletin...