Mormon Media Observer: The media, basketball and religious freedom

I remember one quick study I did contrasting the amount of coverage received by singer Britney Spears in contrast with the coverage of the terrible civil war in the Congo — a war that by some counts has killed five times as many people as the American Civil War. No surprise here, but Britney was nearly as frequently mentioned as the entire country of Congo.

The media has spent page after page evaluating the strange behavior of actor Charlie Sheen while neglecting detailed conversations about — well, how about religious freedom or the intellectual roots of Middle Eastern protests or of government malfeasance or of drastic wars in Afghanistan?

This isn't to say news media don't do extraordinary stories of often deeply moving and lasting significance. They do.

What I am saying is that I wish the news media would take a little more time dealing with important issues and a little less time dealing with celebrity lives. As a media observer, that is the prominent lesson for me of BYU's recent experience in the national spotlight.