By Sayeda Ghazanfar / Staff Writer

By Sayeda Ghazanfar / Staff Writer

A devastating earthquake and tsunami hits Japan. Unrest in Egypt continues to shatter a nation. Gas prices are obnoxiously raised and getting higher. Charlie Sheen loses his job and rants on a social networking site.

Clearly, one of these statements is not newsworthy.

Yet the media, most specifically, television broadcasting, cannot resist the temptation of writing another news story about Charlie Sheen and his unusual life.

Even the prestigious New York Times newspaper wrote an article about Sheen’s recent rant and termination from the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”

Sure, some news can be novelty, but so many more important issues surfacing around the globe should be covered to a deeper extent.

Shouldn’t the media take it upon themselves to be the “watchdogs of democracy”, not the hound dogs of Hollywood?

Although it may be entertaining for us to watch the unfolding of Charlie Sheen’s madness; there really are more important topics to be covered in the media.

In a society obsessed with celebrity, when will we move away from making what happens in Hollywood top priority in the news rooms?

When will stories about the individuals in places like Egypt and Japan be covered in more depth? When will the celebrity stories be thrown out to make room for actual stories of worth to the public? When will the arts stop being forced to take a backseat in broadcasting?

The media, in all forms, should be giving the news stories that will affect us and our communities one way or the other.

Instead, they continue to include Charlie Sheen’s rants and outrageous behavior among top stories like Libya, Japan and gas prices.

Perhaps even more outrageous than the constant coverage of Charlie Sheen’s rage is Charlie Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo of Truth” tour.

His tour will be similar to what Conan O’Brien did after he was released from NBC as the host of The Tonight Show.

It seems that the media coverage that he has gotten seems to just fuel that rage.

At the very least, he is donating some of the money that the tour generates to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

In any case, this is not newsworthy. Most of us watch the news. At times, it can be extremely depressing.

We do not need news stories focusing on Charlie Sheen.

Instead, there should be more stories about more important things than celebrities, such as music, art and books.

Many of us are much more interested in these things than Hollywood psychobabble – give or take a few housewives.

This generation would rather read an article about an up-and-coming author than Charlie Sheen’s tour schedule – which, by the way, sold out in two minutes!

Charlie Sheen is not worth our time. Japan is worth our time. Egypt is worth our time. Gas prices are worth our time, because these things actually affect us as people and as a nation.

We should not care about Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. We should care about our fellow people and try to do what we can to help.

And if we cannot help, then we should at least take the time to hear or read about their struggles so that we can send them our love.

Charlie Sheen does not need our love and attention, he needs rehab.