'The State' overblows Phelps' marijuana use

Once again, the media microscope has blown things far out of proportion, this time both literally and figuratively.

If anyone saw a certain local newspaper's front page on Tuesday, they will know what we are talking about. Olympian Michael Phelps's grinning face spread across two-thirds of the front cover of The State, with the headline "Phelps' S.C. Folly," and the sub-head "World focus is on Olympics champion after Columbia party picture surfaces."

This is another classic example of things that aren't that important getting blown up because of a big name.

Phelps has already apologized for his alleged marijuana use, which both the Olympic Committee and his sponsors have accepted. So is it really deserving of two-thirds of a front page and two stories, two days after the fact?

The purpose of the front page of a newspaper is to report the things that are pertinent and important to the lives of their readership that day. Tuesday's addition of The State looked more like the cover of US Weekly than a reputable source for serious news. Phelps's face or his extremely circumstantial possession of marijuana investigation is of little, if any, concern to its readers. Just to get a picture of how little it actually matters to our readers, The Daily Gamecock's online poll asked readers whether or not they care if Phelps was caught inhaling from a bong and 163 of the 213 who voted said they didn't.

The State got so caught up in the hype that they forgot to report on real news. We offer one hint to them - if at any point in an article it needs to be mentioned that rapper Lil' Wayne likes to smoke pot, and the article is not about Lil' Wayne, it is not newsworthy.