So, apparently, the most important news we’ve had in the past few days is that Miley Cyrus put on quite the show at the VMAs.

Imagine, a young, over-priviliged starlet trying to make the child-to-adult star transition behaving badly. I don’t think this has happened before! (Ahem, Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Bynes, etc. etc. ad nauseum).

In fact, I think the whole idea of “twerking” is pretty novel too. You know, because it’s nothing at all like the lordosis behavior  that virtually all female mammals engage in in order to display their sexual availability. Twerking is new. Let’s make sure it gets ample coverage. Great work, CNN!

But here’s the thing, and I love the way Miley Twerking on Reality Tumblr (the folks who created the photo above) highlight this:

We are seeing a giant collide between public apathy and journalistic integrity and it’s getting ugly out there.

We see it on major news sources; we see it on elephant journal. The crux of the problem is that people have stopped thinking for themselves, stopped educating themselves and instead look to the media to spoon-feed them what’s important. And the media, in turn, has decided that the way to succeed is to pander to the lowest common denominator in order to get views. Because everyone knows, views are more important than things like truth, integrity, accuracy or even…I don’t know…having a point!

What it comes down to (though it’s a fictional newsroom) is this:

Until as readers we stop clicking on superficial garbage, media outlets are going to keep cranking it out. Until we as writers and editors stand up and say, “Let’s elevate things. Let’s show people what’s really important,” people will keep believing that where Miley shakes her ass is news.

So let me tell you what’s more important that Miley Cyrus:

Syria. Egypt. The Wildfires in Yosemite. The way we are addressing gun violence and mental illness. Our education system. Finding a cure for AIDS. Or cancer. Or even the common cold. All the changes in voting laws this year. The fact that there are NSA agents now admitting to using their clearance to spy on people they know. The Fukushima leak. Our healthcare system. The fact that we have a two-party political system that’s broken, and yet too many people are scared to vote third party to actually change it. Our spiritual lives. Our families. Talking to each other. Honesty. Love.

That’s not 1001 things, but it doesn’t really matter because I could sit here and list a million things that are more important than bad celebrity behavior.

Let’s stop pretending it’s important. Show the media what matters by what you choose to click on.

And pray for a peaceful resolution in Syria.

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Ed: Sara Crolick