Anna, Diana, and Sanjaya

Michael. Oprah. Mariah. Shaq. Diana. Tiger. Denzel. Elvis. Sanjaya. Sanjaya?

They say that you’ve made the “It” list when people only have to use your first name to refer to you. “Michael” once referred to Michael Jackson, but now it refers to Michael Jordan. The others are Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Shaquille O’Neal, Princess Diana, Tiger Woods, Denzel Washington (smile, ladies!), Elvis Presley, and American Idol’s Sanjaya Malakar.

This year marks the tenth year since Princess Diana’s death, and yet she’s still on our “It” list. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (“The Summer of Diana,” April 26, 2007), at least fourteen new books on her life are set for publication this year. In his book Serious Times, Dr. James Emery White states that on the day before Princess Diana died, Mother Teresa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, passed away. The sad fact is that Newsweek magazine dedicated forty-seven pages to cover Diana but only four to Mother Teresa, a nun destined for sainthood in the Catholic religion; the coverage proportion occurred in the rest of the media as well.

Anna Nicole has been deceased two months, and yet she’s still one of the hottest news topics. Compare news coverage of her death to that of the death of former president of the United States Gerald Ford, which took place around the same time. Mother Teresa, Gerald Ford, even Elvis Presley have all accomplished something that makes them newsworthy.

Princess Diana and Anna Nicole? What makes them so newsworthy? Is a woman who simply married into royalty more newsworthy than a nun who inspired 4,000 nuns to dedicate their lives to helping the poor in over ninety countries around the world? Is it more uplifting, educational, and inspiring for us to know the accomplishments of a former president or a stripper who married a ninety year-old billionaire? And what are we to make of Sanjaya Malakar? Is the news media reporting news to us, or simply telling us what should be considered news?

More importantly, we must consider our young people. What is the effect of the media constantly telling them which people are to be considered important, at times offering individuals that are neither good role models nor newsworthy? How does this affect the way people think in view of the Bible, which tells us “Do not let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold (of thinking)”? (Romans 12:2, J.B Phillips Translation).

Are we being squeezed and molded to think a certain way? I invite your thoughts.