Miley Cyrus vs. Syria

Many questions and comments have been raised since what I refer to as "twerk gate" happened. A major one is 'Why do we care what Miley Cyrus does?' We care because there is a large number of larger cultural conversations that need to be had, and are being had, in relation to her persona and that MTV Awards performance. That isn't the point of this particular post though. Perhaps I'll write on those later...
The other pervasive comment is 'While everyone is talking about Miley Cyrus they're distracted from the fact that the U.S. is about to start a war in Syria.' While I understand where this sentiment comes from, it's a really silly statement to make. This statement assumes that people interested in foreign policy and worldly issues are being distracted by pop-culture talk. It also assumes that people interested in pop-culture would be more interested in foreign policy and government if pop-culture didn't exist. That is not real. 
While I find it disconcerting for CNN, a pretty respectable "real" news network to use real-estate talking about Miley Cyrus and twerking, a person coming to CNN.com to catch up on news doesn't become so mesmerized by a fluff story that they forget all about wanting to know what's happening in the world. Furthermore, a person not at all interested in CNNs general content won't be visiting CNN more often if gossip websites disappear.  When the wave of "twerk gate" is over, those who aren't interested in Syria now, STILL won't be interested, and those who always were, will still be. 
The people who don't watch world news coverage don't not watch it because Real Housewives of Atlanta is on. They don't watch it because they aren't interested. That non-interest is what needs to be addressed.