Here's John Walsh, executive editor of all things ESPN, Sunday morning at the National Writers' Workshop here in Fort Lauderdale: "How do I get people's attention? That to me is the most important currency of the moment."

So how does ESPN do that so darn well?

Well ...

Why do they play up every little everything involving Terrell Owens?

Um. Because people watch him. Ratings say so.

Why do they promote their anchors and turn them into personalities?

Um. Because people watch that. Ratings say so.

They go to great lengths researching the habits of the members of their audience so they can hunt them down, and give them what they want, and unabashedly and unashamedly.

"What kind of country are we?" Walsh asked.

We love stars. We love gossip. We love lotteries and casinos because we're dreamers and we're gamblers.

And opinion: We love people who have a take and take a stance. "Opinion is with us," Walsh said. It's not going away.

ESPN flat-out gives its consumers what they want, and the question, in my opinion, of whether it's "journalism" or entertainment or a combination of the two seems sort of secondary. Sometimes we do it, too, in newspapers -- Debra Lafave, anybody? -- and maybe I'm wrong here, and by all means tell me if I am, but we kind of pretend like we don't, or we try to keep it high-brow hush-hush, nuh-uh, not us.

Why?

Why all holier-than-thou?

Can we afford to stay that way?

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