The impending presidential election will affect our entiresociety, yet Michael Jackson’s trial is a dominating newsstory in our nation. It is hard to get through a day withouthearing another juicy element of the King of Pop’s legaltroubles.

Will Jackson sue the Santa Barbara police department for allegedabuse during his five-second arrest?

What time and place will the Jackson family start its caravan tothe first day of trial?

What does a person who came into contact with the allegedvictim’s family years ago have to say about them?

Major newspapers and networks are joining tabloids in pursuit ofanswers to these questions.

Think back over the last year. What major stories come tomind?

Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart and Kobe Bryant were the bignames in the news. The topics, while in some aspects important forsociety to know about, were also blown up to soap opera-likestorylines.

These three cases’ subtopics include but are not limitedto adultery, alleged abuse and cult involvement.

Next week’s Iowa Caucuses can easily lose media coverageto celebrity mug shots and arrests. The issue is that our societyfinds these topics interesting and newsworthy.

By in large, these subjects are not life changing. Nor willknowledge of them improve society. These topics are partlyentertainment for the masses, and should be a part of networkproduction lineups rather than news. The most important factor isthat these topics are tragedies for those actually involved. It istroubling that our society thinks differently.

The blame cannot rest alone on the news media or those peoplewho view People magazine as a credible news source, rather itbelongs to all of us. This is because society gobbles up thesestories making them more prevalent. The sensational story issue isnot only a supply problem, but also an issue of demand bysociety.

Let’s just stick to reality television when we are lookingto be mindlessly entertained.

Let’s not look to the tragedies of others for something totalk about over the water cooler.