“Suffering News Burnout? The Rest of America Is, Too.” Or so The New York Times headed a story by Jim Rutenberg last month which purported to show that Americans were weary of serious news stories because they were tuning out the network news shows.

American soldiers are dying in Iraq almost daily, questions are continuing to swirl around the Bush administration’s case for the March invasion, and United States Marines are poised off the coast of Liberia.

At home, decisions by the Supreme Court prompted national debates on affirmative action and gay rights, a basketball star stands accused of sexual assault, and the California governorship suddenly hangs in the balance. And yet, television news viewers are tuning out.

Imagine how fed-up we must be with the news if we’re not tuning in to something as exciting as those swirling questions about the administration’s case for ...

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