Important things happened last week, and you've never heard of any of them.

Leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is leading in early reports from Brazil’s first round of elections, though he may not be able to fend off enough competition for his re-election to avoid a run-off.

Six reported deaths from Thailand have been blamed on the torrential rains and wind brought on by Typhoon Xangsane. Costal cities have lost over 6,000 structures according to reports. Xangsane wrecked havoc in the Philippines earlier in the week.

Austria’s Social Democrats, led by Alfred Gusenbauer, have upset the incumbent People’s Party to win that nation’s electoral contest with just under 36 percent of the vote. A grand coalition of the two parties appears likely.

Protesters swelled into the streets of Lusaka in Zambia, challenging an Electoral Commission ruling that President Levy Mwanawasa had taken a commanding lead in the vote count of recent nation-wide elections. Concerns about education, unemployment, and a lagging copper market sparked strong opposition to Mwanawasa’s policies during the campaign.

All of these events are quite significant regionally and globally, yet you likely have not heard about any of them. Did you even know Austria and Brazil were holding elections? Did you even know a massive typhoon threatened Southeast Asia? What about armed conflict in Zambia? Doubt it.

And it’s not your fault; it’s the fault of American media, local and national.

Too often, important global stories which garner coverage from European and other international sources are overlooked by the American media, replaced with endless drabble about inappropriate Congressional e-mails and the death of Anna-Nicole Smith’s son. You probably know all about these last two, but thanks (or no thanks) to the U.S. media, you know very little about the previous world events.

While Greta Van Susteren is busy working on the perfect cinnamon tan in Aruba for months on end, Americans who do not choose to go elsewhere for their news coverage are force-fed the notion that Natalie Holloway is real news.

But who needs real news, anyway? “Pretend” news like the three last examples is far more exciting; like a soap opera unfolding in front of us. Unfortunately, unlike “pretend” news, real news has many more real consequences and far fewer missing co-eds.

Though this cycle of covering the make-believe in lieu of the significant is likely to continue, everyday consumers can choose to break the habit by visiting alternative sources. Each of the first four stories mentioned were found on the homepage of BBC News. Imagine, the click of the mouse can transform you from gossip-fiend to a knowledgeable member of society.