I've always known that news is nothing but entertainment. Their job is to keep you glued to your TV set so that their advertisers and sponsor can make money. But you rarely see anyone in the news media admit that. They always talk about a higher purpose, and other holier than thou bullshit.

But their actions show that they face a definite conflict of interest. For instance NBC's the West Wing used NBC News logos and branding to make their televised debate seem more realistic.

An on-screen NBC News identifier for a fictional debate on "The West Wing". . .shows how fuzzy the lines between news and entertainment have become.

An NBC News "bug" was kept on the screen Sunday night during the live debate between presidential candidates portrayed by Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits on "The West Wing." [...]

The news insignia was requested by "The West Wing" episode's producer, former real-life Washington insider Lawrence O'Donnell, to help make the presidential debate seem more realistic. Jeff Zucker, the NBC Universal executive who has run NBC's entertainment division and produced "Today" for NBC News, gave the OK.

ESPN pulled a similar stunt by "interviewing" a fake BoSox executive on ESPN. Then there's this:

By 2-to-1, Sunday's viewers told Zogby that they preferred watching a fictional presidential debate to the real thing.

Well, who wouldn't enjoy watching their favorite TV program more than an actual political debate. The bigger question though is whether or not people are willing to educate themselves on the issues prior to pulling the lever for any particular candidate. It's sad to think that more people know who Madonna is sleeping with this week, than know the name of their Congressman.