The media have done went and done it again.

World affairs, inverted and topsy-turvy and in utter confusion as they are, have been placed on the back burner.

Sports and sports-related happenings along with sex have been assigned the lead role in the news of the moment.

And what, you may ask, is as important as John Rocker's shenanigans on the mound, Charles Barkley's ailing back or the bumbling, stumbling of our beloved Braves?

The fact that the world is in the process of coming apart at the seams, apparently, is of small moment when contrasted with dribbling, slam-dunking and blasting home runs.

Barkley's defection from the "sport he loves" takes precedence over any and all world events, even those that threaten to annihilate civilization.

It's true that a goodly portion of the news reports are devoted to the world crises that exist, but who's listening?

How can we listen intently when we are anticipating the play-by-play coverage of the various sporting events.

With only half an ear attuned to the reports that forewarn us of our certain doom, we go blithely along wondering, as the man says, "what's for dinner?"

Another item that takes up a lot of footage and a considerable amount of inconsequential hot air is the question of harassment.

We are constantly besieged by accounts

involving the sexual misbehavior practiced by those of the masculine persuasion in encounters with those of the other gender.

Like the lady said, and we stress the work "lady", many of the advances men may take toward women are the result of enticement and flirtatious

conduct

on the part of the female that invite such machismo activity.

Whatever triggers such "impositions" and the resultant notoriety

compounded by the press, we are experiencing a plethora of lawsuits, both real and frivolous.

Despite the emphasis being improperly placed, in our opinion, we are of a mind that would seek a downplay of today's obviously inflammatory news.

This is in favor of, as William Allen White might have said, a lot of plain dealing.

Sports and sex have become the media's top drawing cards.

(Note: This column is directed toward those of the national and international press, exclusive of such community journals like The Advocate.)