Our Declining Values

What do we, citizens of the modern world, consider more important? Do we go by what the media tell or show us, or are we able to form our own judgment?  Is the life of any celebrity and their sordid adventures, i.e. Paris Hilton, so fascinating that we immediately focus on the Hollywood show? Is Lindsay Lohan's fall from grace and what the judge said to her "How well she is behaving during her probation" so earth-shaking that millions of viewers will hit YouTube? What does such behavior say about our society?