STAFF EDIT: Gossip in moderation

No one can feign outrage at the kind of celebrity gossip that passes for legitimate entertainment these days -- newspapers will continue covering local visits by any personality that interests readers, as long as the event does not pander to people's lowest sense of voyeurism. Though news of Paris Hilton's latest hijinx may make for a fun read, there is a point at which honoring an heiress with no real accomplishments crosses into the realm of poor judgment. Some Harvard students crossed that line Wednesday when they named Hilton their Woman of the Year.

Even though the Lampoon honored Hilton as a joke, the tabloid queen likely got the last laugh by promoting her new movie. National leaders -- the kind that attend and graduate from Harvard -- can speak with a well-deserved sense of entitlement because they have the power to influence the lives of Americans from all walks of life. They cannot claim this authority if they use it to imitate Hollywood tabloids, however. One attendee at Wednesday's Lampoon awards raved that Hilton shares much in common with Harvard undergraduates because, like the heiress, they "play up their media image" to their advantage. Though it is true that Hilton has never missed an opportunity to draw attention to herself in any light, even celebrities can't promote themselves without the national media's collusion.

The management at any media outlet, from international journals to student newspapers, understands the need to cater to public tastes to survive the competition. That means printing and airing reports of movie stars' sordid love affairs next to the latest news out of Iraq so that the biggest audience is reached. Publishers often defend lowering their editorial standards by arguing that newspapers have always obsessed over the rich and that they serve the public what it wants. Many newspapers have long devoted pages to the misadventures of rich socialites.

Media leaders seem to have forgotten, however, that they can also influence the national discussion, even if the effects of doing so seem imperceptible at first. Many teenage girls would never have heard of Paris Hilton, much less adopted her as their role model, had the mainstream media not eagerly followed the lead set by tabloid trash. Instead of influencing their audiences, networks like CNN and publications like The New York Times chose passivity over activism. They allowed journalists with worse reputations and less talent drive the bandwagon.

If media leaders do not reverse this trend, who will? The singers and socialites who fill their pages will certainly not control themselves. The general public has some part to play, including parents who allow television fixtures to act as role models to their children. Ultimately, however, only the media has the power to sway the boundaries of acceptable behavior so that children -- and some adults -- do not believe that flaunting one's ignorance while wearing $600 sunglasses passes for success.