Media's Crown Jewell

It happens all the time. Something newsworthy happens. The media blows it up. The public gravitates towards it and the sensational coverage spirals to disproportionate measures.

Although it wasn't a major national story, Richard Jewell, of the Atlanta Olympics infamy and heroism, died today in Georgia.

With his death, the story of a man who's heroism was falsely identified as terrorism and the eventual media blitz on his name brings to mind just how easily the media (and the public who feeds their reporting tendencies) ruined a man's good name and eventually his life and legacy.

The stories like this are rampant. The media will latch onto a story like the OJ Simpson case or the Vick case and just feed the beast that is the American (and World) viewing public.

Sure, many of these cases are severe and deserve the attention, but when Paris Hilton's saga after saga gets more coverage than the American soldiers giving their lives overseas or other more important issues, it proves that we, as a country, are very childish in our consumption of news and "news".

It's a sad time when faux-celebrity or over-inflated stories captivate us, while more important, crisis-like issues routinely go unnoticed, or at the least, under reported.

Jewell's death brings a haunting reminder that unless the public turns it off, the media will continue to glamorize the "Hollywood" story and sensationalize any news item to keep your eyes peeled.

Our viewing decisions fuel the machine that is tabloid journalism.

Choose wisely. Someone's life and legacy could be at stake.