How bad is the recession?

Just how concerned are people about the recession? Right now the most viewed article on the Telegraph website is "Giant rat caught in China", on the BBC "Police hospitalised over HP sauce", and on the Guardian "Rihanna assault photo leaked online". (Rihanna is an R&B singer, I hadn't heard of her either).

Are we all tabloid readers now? 

PS Check out the giant rat photo, it's great...