Tynan's Anger: Kanye West and the Formula for New Media Disaster

Days like these are the worst days to be on the Internet. There are glaring problems with the coverage of Kanye West that I would willingly ignore if I thought they'd ever go away. So allow me to address how this story, like dozens before it, has progressed.

Something shocking happens, usually on television. Either we get word of an unexpected death, an exposed nipple, a rapper saying the President doesn't care about black people, or the same rapper saying that someone else should have won an award.
The unexpected nature of the moment leads to hysterical coverage by talking heads. This happens regardless of whether or not the hype is manufactured.
The Internet responds in appropriately hysterical fashion, leading the story to dominate Google trends.
It ends up dominating Google Trends so heavily that even the media outlets with the highest standards feel the need to cover it, whether or not their readership actually cares. This is why the death of Anna Nicole Smith made the front page of the New York Times in 2007, and why The Daily Show, which is allowed to be more honest, is considered to be the most trustworthy news source.
Everyone ends up pissed off and morose over what is essentially a non-issue, and nothing gets changed.

I'm 23 years old. Is that old enough to make me the only one who still cares about music to remember MTV's long history of manipulating hype? At 23, should I be cynical enough to either dismiss this issue entirely, or cash in on it?

I don't want either case to be true, but unless something is done, this is how the media in the 21st century is going to work.