We are drowning in celebrity culture and certainly no tabloid topic has been as big as Paris Hilton. Her incarceration — not to mention, initial release, re-incarceration and final release — left us knee-deep in her life. Famous for doing nothing, she is the ultimate manifestation of our obsession with celebrity culture and the massive profits that it wields.

When the young socialite emerged from jail, everyone wondered who would be lucky enough to score the first interview. NBC reportedly offered $1 million in a failed bid for the big scoop. Being the first with a celebrity scoop has been the stock and trade of the tabloid magazine business, but only in recent years has that competition spilled over into the traditional news business. Pushed by the surging popularity of entertainment and gossip sites on the Internet, the media landscape is being reshaped by the world of "dish".

The ethicists may howl, the columnists complain, but viewers rule and celebrity machine is more than ready to oblige. As long as we are willing to watch and read, who can resist feeding our habit?

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