Entertainment of the Western world

Sometimes, when I listen to NPR as I am driving, or when I read CNN.com or when I read any of the mainstream newspapers in the US, I have started realizing that although the material needs/greed of the Western world is one of the prime contributors to the strife around the world, a close second is the need to keep people entertained. And when I say "entertained", I am not referring to activities that would bring joy to people but just things that would keep a person's mind occupied.

Is there really a need to have so many journalists embedded in Iraq ? For 3.5 years ? Is it really that important that people can get their news about Iraq from a 100 different sources, while the existence of these journalists in the Red Zone lead to their kidnapping followed by Marines-led rescue operations that have a minimum collateral damage of 10 lives ?

Does the need for Americans to know about "What makes a muslim smile" require them to land in India and Pakistan and film the local people without adequate understanding of the environment, leading to some loutish director mouthing off on NPR about how he caused a mini-stampede in India ?

Is the third world the new source of entertainment ?
Thank God for video games, otherwise some dumbasses would be pushing for an invasion of Iran right now...