On Monday, the front page of The San Diego Union-Tribune carried a front-page story on ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt's injuries from an IED attack in Iraq.

Slow news day? Or is it really that journalists are better than you hoi polloi?

If I were in charge -- and it should be plenty clear that I'm not -- this goes on the Iraq page inside the A section.

Why? Because this sort of front-page treatment is so out of whack when it comes to dealing with people like Sgt. David L. Herrera. You see, Sgt. Herrera died Saturday in Iraq from a roadside bomb attack, yet his story appears inside the metro section.

I understand the thought process that puts Woodruff and Vogt on the front page -- Woodruff is famous, newspaper readers are older and largely still watch the Big 3 network newscasts and so would know of Woodruff -- but I tend to believe that our preoccupation with celebrity gives undue weight to our decisions on how to present the news.

Most people didn't know Sgt. Herrera, but he's the sort of man that we should know.

“I'm here to tell the story of my son,” said his father, Marcos Herrera, 55, a sergeant major in the Army Reserves and Vietnam veteran.

“We love the Army. We're an Army family,” he said. “We believe in our country, we believe in the president, and we believe what our soldiers are doing is important. . . . He's a hero. He paid the ultimate price for what he believed.”

David Herrera, described as polite, fun-loving, a great dancer and singer and a devoted father, grew up in Oceanside. He had lived in Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, for three years with his family.

Herrera leaves behind his wife, Tonya, a teacher, and their daughter, Emma, 3, whom he kept in touch with from Iraq through e-mails and video.

The couple is also expecting a second daughter in April, said Angelina Herrera, David Herrera's grandmother in Oceanside.

“He loved the military, that much I can say,” Angelina Herrera said. “He was a wonderful soldier . . . a wonderful grandson.”

Pray for Sgt. Herrera's family. Pray for Woodruff and Vogt too as they recover from their wounds.

And while you're at it, you might want to pray that the news media gets its priorities straight.