I chose this article about the incessant coverage about Britney Spears because it seems to be the prevailing media topic.  It saddens me that this pop singer's troubles, next to the presidential candidates' primaries, are the forefront of our media coverage.  It is easy for me to blame our media outlets such as the magazine and broadcast news networks, but when I really think about it, this mass interest in Britney Spears and other young pop moguls is due to the American population.  

Let's face it; we all swarm around the television and newsstands when Spears doesn't show up at court or if she is escorted to the loony bin.  We feed off of it and, in turn, give money to the presses.  We as Americans are at fault.  Of course in every media outlet, there are gatekeepers.  These people are responsible for getting information out to Americans, but they are also responsible for making money.  

It literally sickens me to think that 400,000 people have died in the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.  When I looked on CNN, Fox News and other top networks' Web sites, I had to type in a search for Darfur and only about 10 articles came up.  Yet, splattered across the front page is the latest coverage on Britney, "she left her house!"

It even states in this article that OK! Magazine has a 10-person staff dedicated to Britney coverage.  This makes me wonder, what does everyone else do in the office, wait for some celebrity to make a mistake?  That's exactly what they do.  

When I looked on CNN, Fox News and other top networks' Web sites, I had to type in a search for Darfur and only about 10 articles came up.  Yet, splattered across the front page is the latest coverage on Britney, "she left her house!"I am currently taking International Studies.  Every day, we begin the class by talking about current issues around the world.  Sometimes the class is silent when our professor asks what we think about a certain issue because we do not know anything about it.  International coverage in the United States is very poor.  

I believe that this is why many Americans are close-minded and feel that there is nothing beyond our borders.  When asked about the crisis in Darfur, only about half of the class new what Darfur was, let alone what was happening.  The worst thing about that situation is it is not a new breaking story; this genocide has been prevalent since 2003.

There is a popular stereotype held about Americans by other countries.  I have lived abroad twice since being in college, in Spain and Argentina.  When I lived abroad, I traveled around Europe, South America and Northern Africa.  When abroad, I always wondered why everyone talked so badly about America and looked to me for answers to some of the toughest political questions.  Most people abroad think that our population is stupid and very arrogant.  

I did not understand why this was until one day in Spain a girl asked me where I was from.  I replied, "I am from Tennessee.  That's in the United States."  She looked confused and asked me where Tennessee was located.  When I told her that it was in the South, she giggled mockingly and said, "oh Britney Spears!"

Not only do celebrities have influence over our youth population, but they also seem to define our image abroad.  I think that media has the power to affect what we think about.  Our minds are being polluted with these images of drunken teens, lousy mothers and habitual rehab visitors.  I do not feel that the media controls what we think.  I believe that is a theory way too extensive.  Americans are capable of making their own decisions.  So it comes down to the issue, not of influence of how we think about an issue, but what issue we think about.