The media Dictating the story and its coverage

This is a phenomenon I witness a lot when observing the media and how some members in the media will try to dictate what is said in a story.  Instead of showing the people what the story is, they will sometimes pick and choose facts to present a story more in line with their own or their company's (or network's) own agenda.  While the two examples of trying to control and dictate a story are from the right, it happens just as much on the left with organizations such as msnbc and Huffington Post, I just don't have good recent examples on hand,

Infatuations with Train Wrecks

Americans are infatuated with train wrecks of any kind.  Whether it be an actual wreck (not having to be of a train) or a metaphorical wreck, controversy, insanity, and failure capture the American viewer.  For many of the things I have found in the news on here, this is a crucial topic.  Whether its the insanity surrounding the Casey Anthony trial or the controversy around Anthony Wiener, the "news of the weird" is what gets us to turn on.  Sometimes when controversy isn't there, the media creates it and actively finds train wrecks to shove into the viewer's face.

Happy Meals and Sad Politicians: Its a Good Week in the News

There is finally some good news in the news. Happy Meals will be getting healthier and the Congress solved the budget problem (well, kinda...).  Happy Meals now have reduced the serving of fries and a serving of apples.  There are also more choices on healthy drinks.  This is a good thing, brought on by community and political pressure.  the Happy Meals have been banned in San Francisco and a few other cities had proposed laws.

In many situations, the customers should be free to choose thing, but the problem is here children don't understand their choices or the consequences of those choices.  Children don't understand fries are bad for their health, they only understand they are tasty.  Yes, the parents can choose to tell them they are bad or not let them get Happy Meals, but then you are putting the pressure on the parent.  They either disappoint their child (which no parent wants to do) or let them eat bad food.  The pressure should be on the provider of the food, not on the parents to put them in a lose-lose parenting situation.