Japanese Crisis vs. Middle East Crisis

This is somewhat of a random blog post but it has been on my mind throughout this whole situation in the Middle East and Japan. I find to to be quite unbelievable how quickly and easily the American media can shift gears and transfer their focus onto a different crisis/situation. For example, for months we were dealing with the situation in the Middle East and then all of a sudden, the crisis in Japan occurred. As this crisis (Japan) evolved, it seems that the Middle East was put on the back burner while the US attempted to provide coverage of the situation in Japan. I only read one newspaper consistently  (The Wall Street Journal) but this one in particular has made the Middle East seem to be almost a petty issue at this point;  something that will eventually be solved but is not in our front conscience at this time. Does any one else feel this way or am I over-thinking it? Are other countries besides the USA able to switch their media coverage so efficiently and quickly?