Anna Nicole Smith died today. I thought I'd let you know that, just in case you have not checked any other sort of media in the past eight hours. Whatever you think of Anna Nicole, it is sad that she died so young, and that her son died at such a young age: that must have been incredibly hard for her. I'd need something serious to deal with that. Like a vodka drip. Sad.

Now that I have gotten that rare bit of niceness out of the way, can the media please move on from this? It's now 10:32 PM PST, and except for the weather, the 10 pm news has been All Anna Nicole, All The Time. I liked Anna Nicole, but this is not Princess Diana or Mother Theresa or Marilyn Monroe. Interviewing Z-list celebrities about it isn't going to make it less sad, pointless and vaguely squalid.

Sadly, the craptaclarization of the news has moved from West to East. When I moved to Los Angeles, I was appalled at the local news. We had local newscasters who would read the teleprompter with apparently not thinking- and god knows who wrote it? Two of the most memorable quotes: "Heavy snow in Chicago and other parts of the northeast" (which I suppose can be explained by the fact that quite a few here don't know anything that's East of Central Avenue; some never go east of Lincoln), and the corker: some botoxed baloon-head nattering on about "the leaning Tower of Pizza, France's most famous monument". The last time I was in New York, I noticed as a former resident that the talking heads they have now make Bill Boggs look like Edward R. Murrow. The reason for this rant? I went to the BBC news website to try to make the point that there is important news out there. That we are far too tuned into the culture of celebrity, and the Brits are showing how it's done.

On the BBC homepage? "Former Playmate Smith dies at 39", higher up on the page than both the LA and NY Times. Right next to it in the right rail? "What fashion tip has Donatella Versace given Hillary Clinton?"

I guess we get the news we deserve.