What could be more worthy of our attention than news stories like the refugee crisis? Or the 1 in 6 children who are malnourished in Africa? The Zika virus? The answer should be simple, yet frivolous celebrity news on social media very often attracts far more followers and attention than these real news issues.

The Times newspaper wanted to point out this disconcerting paradox as a way of directing focus back towards the kind of important global news that they have built a reputation for reporting. The kind of news we should be following.