Mummy, why was aunty in the paper when all she did was go to a funky show?"

It took some time for me to decipher this question; she was referring to a friend, who recently reluctantly appeared in the social pages of the newspaper while attending a 'function'.

She added quizzically, "I thought you had to save the day or something before you got to be in the newspaper?" I laughed and held back my cynical thoughts that Jamaica would be a different place if you could fill the pages of the daily paper with people who had saved the day.

The mainstream media increasingly have become preoccupied with the lives of celebrities. We talk less about the war in Iraq and global warming than we do about Alec Baldwin's 'little pig' comment to his daughter; the paternity debate over Anna Nicole Smith's baby; and the video of David Hasselhoff in a drunken stupor taken by his daughter.

Reputable news organisations seem to have delved into the world of sensational gossip. The line between 'Entertainment Tonight' and the 'Evening News' is blurred and even the intellectual talk shows embrace this 'suss' with vigour.

Sensationalism

One could comment on the demise of good news coverage and social values that call for a preoccupation with celebrity. A commentator asked the question of his panel, "What will these celebrities have to do to ruin their careers?" After all, it seems with each of these publicized faux pas, the individual's marketability only increases.

The answer was, "The only thing one of these stars can do to lose their fame is put on weight!" Society has become utterly superficial.

Yet, there is value in these sensational stories, they highlight a war that is often not talked about. These fluff stories bring to the fore a devastation that has for many years been sidelined as not worthy of mainstream media.

A recent survey suggested that more than a million men in America or 3.7 per cent of dads (Source: Men's Health Magazine April 2007) were not, in fact, the biological parent of at least one of their children. There are more men directly affected by this issue than there are men who will ever go to war in their lifetime, so it is easy to see why Anna Nicole's story made headlines; her well-endowed physique certainly did not hurt either.

There has always been much debate over the matter of substance abuse. Users will argue that their actions do not affect others, but for the many abusers of alcohol or drugs who have families, especially children, that simply is not true.

Dysfunctional families

The pictures of a pathetic Hasselhoff grovelling over a hamburger were mildly tragic. Known as the 'Baywatch hunk', Hasselhoff has clearly lost the edge.

Yet, the real tragedy was that of a daughter who has to look into the eyes of her father, her protector, her provider and her role model and see nothing but pools of addiction that cannot even focus back at her.

Very little positive will be said about Hasselhoff, but Icommend his willingness to see what he looked like under the influence, because I suspect many substance abusers conveniently feel that they are successful at hiding their intoxication from their children.

This video will hopefully go a long way in busting that myth and presenting the reality that substance abuse not only hurts the addict, it destroys families.

Dysfunctional families create a dysfunctional society; surely we must admit that our social disorder could have some relation to our widely held acceptance of drug use.

Gossip is a form of communication, yet it does not have to remain as gossip once it is used to educate. As readers and viewers, it is up to you what you do with any story - take it for the gossip value, or use the information to save the day.

Gossip is a form of communication, yet it does not have to remain as gossip once it is used to educate.