Traditional media outlets have spent an inordinate amount of energy chronicling the death of actor Heath Ledger. On Tuesday—the day that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cut interest rates by 3/4 of a percent following the collapse of international markets—the New York Times' website placed Ledger's photo above the fold.

If stories about war, recession and politics can't beat celebrity gossip, perhaps it's time for war, recession and politics to become celebrity gossip.