Meritorious or meretricious?

There's an amusing column by Matt Frei on BBC Online today, about why crappy items made headlines, like the balding of Britney Spears, a blubbering judge (also bald), and a jealous astronaut (not bald), although it was not exactly a slow news week. Frei's explanation: "if war, war, war is your daily porridge, who can be blamed for indulging in something totally frivolous yet utterly genuine?"