Substance of interest

Classic journalism requires the author to find the inspiration in the majority of their readers. It’s no secret that some topics should be given more coverage than others. I remember also most a year ago when Don Imus’s made a racial remark during one of his broadcasts and the coverage was almost everywhere. Recently, Don Imus’s had another brush with a racial comment but this story didn’t get quite get the same press coverage. Jouranlism.org posted an article and a graph comparing the coverage of the Imus to other topics. Similarly, Journalsim.org has another article, called Media Passes on Times Pentagon Piece, that compares its popularity with less newsworthy stories. It would appear that a personal scandalous story gets more attention than those stories with more depth and substance. Maybe readers are acclimated to the government issues and the lack of resolve. Could readers just be fooled by less credible stories purely for the entertainment value versus spending a few minutes getting their minds wrapped around a story of substance?