Which is the most important TOP STORY?

Examine the following top stories from the news media. Which is the most important, because it impacts the most people?


Honey, does this drink make me look fat?

We compared the amount of sugar found in some of America's top-selling beverages to the sugar found in common sugary snacks. Are you ready to be shocked? PHOTOS

More:

• Then there's all that salt in restaurant meals ...

Border crisis: Obama likely to delay deportations, experts agree

• Reuters
• ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S first moves toward trying to 'fix' the US immigration system without Congress will almost certainly be to expand on his 2012 executive order postponing deportation for potentially millions of young illegal immigrants, say experts on both sides of the debate.

Extreme’ abortion law vetoed

‘Extreme’ abortion law vetoed

By Irin Carmon

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The law, which Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon called “disrespectful,” would have required women seeking abortions to wait an extra 72 hours. Read this

Now, can you guess which story goes with which network?

Wait, so THIS is the lead story in the news?

Really?

Huh??!! Game had its moments -- off the field

10 best social media moments of Super Bowl XLVIII

Joe Namath's massive fur coat. JCPenney's big spell check fail. Social media had a field day with Super Blah XLVIII. FULL STORY

• Super Bowl ad winners & losers  
• Grading the ads | And halftime
• Opinion: Bruno Mars bailed out game
• Bruno Mars: 7 things we love

But don't worry, there is still plenty of crime in the news:

Convicted killer escapes, takes woman
Dylan Farrow's horrific allegations  
CNN producer caught in gun fight  
Girl kept as sex slave for 14 years  

Close to 50 bags of possible heroin found

Authorities investigating the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman found about 50 bags of what's believed to be heroin in his home, law enforcement sources familiar with the probe say. FULL STORY

More:

• Hollywood's everyman
• Opinion: The one and only
• His roles  
• Hoffman on addiction
• In his own words  
• Heroin's rise and fatal draw
• His finest scenes  
• Memorable roles  

On the debasing coverage of street crime

I have finally figured it out ... how to express it.

The mainstream media's coverage of street crime debases us. It degrades us. It diminishes us.

Take this LEAD story from CNN:

BREAKING NEWS

Ariel Castro found hanged

Ohio kidnapper held 3 women for nearly 10 years

Ariel Castro, who was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years on charges of kidnap, rape and murder, was found dead, hanging from a bedsheet in his Ohio prison cell late Tuesday. FULL STORY

• Cousin: 'Maybe this is for best'  
• 'Your hell is just beginning'   | Pics

 Not to be outdone, this is also the LEAD story on Fox:

Ariel Castro, Kidnapper Who Held 3 Women Captive, Found Hanged in Cell

• AP/Cuyahoga County Jail
• Ariel Castro, who was sentenced to life without parole for holding three women captive in his home for nearly a decade, commits suicide at a state prison facility, Ohio corrections officials say.
• VIDEO: Castro Found Hanged in Cell
• VIDEO FLASHBACK: Judge Sentences Ariel Castro to Life Without Parole
• VIDEO FLASHBACK: Cleveland Kidnapping Victims Break Silence in Video
• VIDEO FLASHBACK: Castro's House of Horrors Torn Down

I ask, why is this news?

Who cares? Why should we care?

Of this I am convinced: Our focus on this kind of "news" is dangerous. It is bad for our health.

And it literally kills us.

It is stressful.

More importantly, it distorts our understanding of what crime is. It creates misconceptions of what is harmful and what is not, which allows very powerful people to continue to harm us with literally no consequences.

You know it's a slow news day when ...

... this is your LEAD story!

Calif. Gender Law: Boys Are Boys,
Girls Are Girls ... and Vice Versa?

• 

 

I don't know what Fox News is trying to do here, but I suspect it is merely trying to shake up its mostly conservative audience. That is, what is more of a challenge to a traditional, status quo audience than learning that a governor (of California no less) is supposedly letting boys go into the girls' bathroom at their choosing!

 

Never mind the fact that the bill only covers transgender children--not all children.

 

But seriously, is this really news? Like the top news story of the day?

 

Here are their other top stories (voted ID law being challenged in North Carolina, will the federal government track our driving, and violent crime!):

 

VOTER ID FIGHT
ACLU Lawsuit Challenges North Carolina Voting Law

• Hillary Clinton Calls for Election Reform in Speech

• FEDS ALONG FOR RIDE?
  Proposed Rule May Put 'Big Brother' in Your Car

  
  
  
  • VIDEO: Proposals Would Put Black Boxes in All Cars

• TRAIL OF KILLINGS
  FBI: Alaska Serial Killer Tied to at Least 11 Deaths

  
  
  
  • Wisconsin Teen Gets Life in Prison for Killing Great-Grandmother
• Calif. Kidnap Suspect Shot at FBI Agents Before Being Killed

So, THIS is a news station?

Seriously?

A so-called news station uses THIS as a headline for its website. For its top story?

BENGHAZI-GATE?

• AP/Reuters
• Newly released emails are raising additional questions about the Obama administration's story-line on the Benghazi attack, showing top-level efforts to downplay terrorism ahead of public statements by UN Ambassador Susan Rice.
• US Military Units on Alert as Security Deteriorates in Libyan Capital
• SEAL Families Rip Gov't Over Crash
• Graham Questions Joint Chiefs' Chair on Benghazi Testimony
• OPINION: What Should Have Happened as Benghazi Unfolded