Why it is no longer possible to take "The News" seriously

Aside from the 24 x 7 news coverage of such relative minutiae of the Terri Schiavo death watch, the Michael Jackson trial, and who's going to buy the farm on next week's season finale of Lost (I say buh-bye, Boone, you're boring and simpering and I say good riddance), it's because they think stuff like this is news.