Media Reading

So, for one of my classes this term, I have to keep track of my "media reading habits", then write a paper on it. I thought "why not take it one step further" and turn my media reading habits into actual media?
So here's my first piece of observation about my own habits: I'm obsessed with Sarah Palin. Or, more to the point, I'm obsessed with bad news about Sarah Palin. Here are the headlines from the Victoria Times Colonist website this morning:

• Drug addicts shun mobile needle exchange
• Canada's reputed Godfather pleads guilty in mob case
• Air Canada drops second bag surcharge
• BC NDP candidate Larsen quits over drug links
• 11,800 infractions in parks, but just 30 tickets issued
• Pro baseball coming to Victoria
• Victoria man's Craiglist ad to sell vote draws rebuke from Elections Canada
• Kids left in unsafe homes: watchdog
• Hackers infiltrate Palin's email account
• Probe of Liberal MLA linked to accused in legislature raid
• Convict banned from prison after spying on conjugal visit

I head straight for the Palin link.
Why?
One, because she's big news right now.
Two, because she's a woman and she's big news right now.
Three, because she's hypocritical and a woman and big news right now.
Four, because she's the antithesis of everything I stand for, hypocritical, a woman, and big news right now.
Five, because I'm a woman myself, and women love to hear bad things about each other.
Six, because the name "Palin" is associated with a few key words: oil, abortion, hunting. I disagree with her on all three of these things. I passionately disagree with her on the second and third ones.

I think I'm focused on a few particular issues, and that my reading habits tend towards them. I'm interested in feminism (and let's put reproductive rights under this heading as well), immigration, education, and pop culture. Although I've stopped reading tmz.com - it's too exploitative.
Why am I focused on these issues? They all personally affect me. I'm female, I'm a student, I'm married to an immigrant, I used to work in the "film industry". I've been touched by all of these things at one point or another.
Hmmm. Can't go much deeper than that at the moment except to say that the Palin link is the only one that had anything to do with my "key issues", and in fact it touches on ALL of them except immigration. Palin drives me crazy, as does McCain these days, because I don't understand how these two can live in THIS WORLD and have THEIR VIEWS. Have they never been outside before???
Oh... here's another issue, something I used to get really mad about. I'm Canadian, Canada's about to have an election too, shouldn't my efforts be focused on that instead of on the country next door? Yes, it should. But.. well... the truth is... Canadian politics is BORING. I don't know if that's because Canadians in general are boring (I don't think so) or because Canadian politicians are much too polite, much too polished to generate any buzz. Bring back Chretien, I say! At least he was interesting. At least he punched a guy in the face, not to mention the whole "No George Bush we're not going to help you invade Iraq" thing. Canadian politics these days seem to have replaced passion with douchiness, and when I hear a douchebag speak, I can't listen to anything coming out of its mouth. It turns into the "wah wah" of Charlie Brown's teacher. I can't relate to any of the candidates, for two reasons: 1) I don't know much about the candidates personally (they're all so professional, aren't they?) 2) They're all white men (except for the Green Party, who have no real chance of winning) and they spend their time slamming each other's policies instead of trying to make a difference.
Okay... that's about all I have for now. Need more coffee.