Everyone knows that when there's a train wreck, it's impossible to turn away. And when local news anchors reporting on these disasters become the train wrecks themselves, it's even harder. The gods of guilty pleasure are surely smiling down on us, allowing this calamity to play out right before our very own television-strained eyes.

Drama found its way to Philadelphia's NBC affiliate NBC 10 in the last couple of weeks. Former morning news anchor Lori Delgado dropped the bomb when she announced that she quit her job because of a two-and-half-year affair with another NBC 10 anchor, Vince DeMentri. Delgado claims she felt threatened by DeMentri, who allegedly called her home repeatedly and keyed her car. She dramatically fled to New York; whether it was to escape embarrassment or to continue her soap opera-esque behavior is unclear.

This straight-out-of-the-romance-novel, live-in-primetime love saga comes in the wake of another melodramatic mess in the world of local news. Recall the famed incident of CBS 3's Alycia Lane sending racy bikini shots of herself to a married coworker and later sucker-punching an undercover police officer in Manhattan.

Lane spent the night in jail - a fate that may befall her co-anchor Larry Mendte.

Mendte, who admitted he hacked into Lane's personal e-mail almost 600 times and leaked her personal information after a series of "late nights out" together, awaits his sentence next week.

You just couldn't script this stuff if you tried.

As the networks succumb to Passions in the Days of Our Lives, and as we watch with bated breath, we might be taking away some twisted bliss but losing out on what's really going on. What happens when the news becomes the news, and what does it mean for us?

For one thing, it's distracting as anything. Who can pay attention to the anchor solemnly reporting about the City's budget crisis when we think that reporter knows the juicy details of Delgado's affair or might be carrying on with their own extramarital activities in the newsroom. It's an assumption that's not that big of a leap.

The sex and scandals and salacious details reroute our attention from real reports to gossipy tittle-tattle, and it makes us look at the reporters differently. These lapses in judgment not only distract viewers; they make them distrust and dislike the anchors.

How can I trust a man who sneaks into someone's personal e-mail or drunkenly assaults a cop to bring me my news?

It seems a bit duplicitous, too, for anchors to investigate the wrongdoings and lies of others while concealing their own indiscretions.

I don't want to watch a reporter dig up the dirt on someone else - reporting on the Vince Fumo hearings or Penn's own Bonnie and Clyde scandal - if they're burying their own dirt.

College senior and Communications major Ruben Henriquez agrees, saying, "There should be some sort of standard. We still have to look to these individuals for the facts."

"Bill Clinton made this nation realize that you can't separate personal life from professional aptitude. After a certain point it's difficult to watch these people on television with a straight face."

No one is immune to temptation, especially in a world where everyone is well powdered, well lit and well spoken. The enticement there is even stronger. But journalism is a business with its roots in morality, steeped in its ethics and grounded in its integrity and honesty to the public. And when our local news anchors so flagrantly flout these principles, the public has no reason to trust or to take interest in what they say.

What they're bringing us is entertainment, not news. I can feel Edward R. Murrow rolling over in his grave.

If we wanted our news from dishonest characters - like Delgado, Lane and Mendte have proven to be - we'd tune into our local station at 2 p.m. every weekday. There are plenty of soap operas to choose from.

Emily Fox is a College sophomore from Merion, Pa. Her e-mail is fox@dailypennsylvanian.com. Seen and Heard appears on alternating Fridays.