Poor Cannon Smith

Now those are three words that are seldom used together, but today I have to feel some sympathy for the son of the richest man in Memphis.
Cannon Smith is a student at the University of Memphis. He is a member of the Tiger football team and for a time was the starting quarterback. The son of Fed Ex founder Fred Smith would have been a big man on most any college campus, but at the University of Memphis, Daddy's company's name is over the school's shiny new building.
Apparently Cannon Smith went out with friends last night, got drunk, and landed in jail. College students get drunk and jailed every day. The overwhelming majority of these arrests never make the headlines. But if your name is Cannon Smith, there will be a dozen reporters and cameras waiting for you when you make bail. When this kid makes his walk of shame for the 5 pm news, he may wish he'd stayed safely tucked away in a cell.
On some level, I can justify the news media for reporting the arrest. But I really can't understand the breathless way Memphis media will jump on so many minor stories. If Cannon Smith was a pilot for Fed Ex, this would be a legitimate news story. But poor Cannon Smith isn't a pilot. He's the second-string quarterback on a very bad college football team. By this time tomorrow, thousands of people who had never heard of Cannon Smith will know that he was arrested.
Cannon Smith is a college kid and a jock. College kids and jocks tend to get drunk and obnoxious at times. This isn't news. If the media is going to report minor crimes such as public drunkeness, are there any minor violations that do not merit media attention?