Barring charisms that render one a good backwards skater, observation of the human condition is quite enough. Mindful observation is enough to get a clear picture of what writes the news.
Crime, tragedy, refreshing novelty, rags-to-riches, hard-earned success, shame, humiliation, when fat people lose weight, when starlets get fat, when conservative politicians get caught with their pants down, and so on. It is predictable what sells the news beyond obvious headlines. You got a headline like earthquake, tidal wave, WWIII, and then you have the tributaries of the human condition.
It is piteous that the yellow press makes a killing off the morbid curiosity and jeers of simpleton masses. Piteous too, the shallow vanities of gossping lasses. Believe it or not, such as these help sell the lesser news. The rivulets of derision that trickle from babbling brooks. The side streams of scorn that run from ridiculous rivers. The headlines that make journalist ghosts like Charles Dickens and Margaret Mitchell shout, "Get a life!"
