Archive for June, 2007
Newer Entries »
PersecutingParis
June 14, 2007
As MondayMorningMediaQuarterback suspected, Paris Hilton will actually serve more time than 80% of those convicted of similar DUI/traffic infractions. More than 72% of those convicted of similar DUI offenses serve 10 days or less; the judge in the case has mandated that Paris serve all 23 days of her sentence.
But a vemgeful public still seems to want to burn the witch at the stake: An LA Times polling question asked &;Do you think Paris Hilton deserves to do more time for her offense?&; and 64.7% answered yes.
She may not have meant to do it, but Paris Hilton has already brought attention to issues of jail overcrowding, poor medical care, equitable punishment and of course unequal application of justice.
I just hope she doesn&;t become a material example. The LA Sheriff&;s Department has a lot to answer for with Paris; not only do they run the LA jails, but the very same department may have been profiling her in their street stops. The last thing Sheriff Baca needs is Paris dead in one of LA County&;s &;Hiltons.&;
Posted in Brandy, Lane-Garrison, lindsay-lohan, Mischa-Barton, Paris-Hilton, paris-in-jail, paris-in-prison | 1 Comment &;
Quote Whores and TrainedSeals
June 14, 2007
Every journalist needs sources for his stories. The three-source story is the model, although abandoned in this LA Times piece on Tom Cruise.
Let&;s say you were doing a business story on the new Apple iPhone. (A flood of these are coming.) You&;d interview someone from Apple (&;the vendor&;), an industry analyst for third-party commentary, and an end user, a partner like AT&T or a competitor. Story&;s done, on to the next.
Because reporters can&;t interview themselves, they cultivate sources they can get to say the stuff they want, or at least interesting stuff. They usually have to have some standing as an &;expert&;, such as a professorship or authorship of a book. Some of these &;quote whores&; are quite promiscuous in who they talk to, and often they&;re promoting a book, their brokerage if they&;re a stock analyst, etc.
Prof. Robert Thompson of Syracuse University is considered the king of media quotes: from 2000-2002, he was quoted 972 times in articles about popular culture. One poster calls it &;&;dropping the Thompson bomb&;- something you did when you needed someone else to say the things you were thinking. &;
At the Enquirer, we had a group we&;d call &;trained seals.&; Any kind of quote you wanted, they would give you; the standard &;honorarium&; was $250 per story. The best were psychologists, usually a clinical assistant professor or higher or a book author. They&;d earn their fee spending an hour with you on the phone, as you pushed them to explain &;how your favorite color reveals your personality.&;
Posted in Apple-Computer, Journalism, Los-Angeles-Times, National-Enquirer, Robert-Thompson, tom-cruise | Leave a Comment &;
Lou Dobbs Rips PresidentBush
June 13, 2007
CNN &;journalist&; Lou Dobbs attacked President Bush today on CNN.com for the immigration bill the President supports. Money quote:
President Bush is building his legacy, adding another unfortunate line of hollow bravado to his rhetorical repertoire. To &;Mission accomplished,&; &;Bring it on,&; &;Wanted: Dead or alive,&; and of course, &;I earned &; political capital, and now I intend to spend it,&; he has added &;I&;ll see you at the bill signing,&; referring to his own ill-considered push for so-called comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
I&;m no Bush fan, but I&;m troubled when a network&;s leading anchor foregoes journalistic objectivity to blast a President, particularly when that President is trying to address the immigration issue with a bipartisan solution. A current poll reveals that &;a strong majroity of Americans-including two-thirds of Republicans- favor allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements.&;
That doesn&;t stop Dobbs from dancing on the edge of paranoia, xenophobia, and yes, racism, once again.
In what other country would citizens be treated to the spectacle of the president and the Senate focusing on the desires of 12 million to 20 million people who had crossed the nation&;s borders illegally, committed document fraud, and in many cases identity theft, overstayed their visas and demanded, not asked, full forgiveness for their trespasses?
Illegal aliens and their advocates, both liberal and conservative, possess such an overwhelming sense of entitlement that they demand not only legal status, but also that the government leave the borders wide open so that other illegals could follow as well&;
Does this help CNN maintain its hard-won reputation for integrity and credibility? And is a ranting Lou Dobbs the face of TimeWarner that CEO Richard Parsons want to show?
Posted in Los-Angeles-Times, Lou-dobbs, President-Bush, public-relations-disaster, Richard-Parsons, Time-Warner, Time-Warner-CEO-Richard-Parsons, Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;
Protecting Movie IndustryDogs
June 13, 2007
Even the movie industry&;s dogs need protection from pirates. No, counterfeiters aren&;t keeping their DVD burners going day and night for dogs like Gigli, The Island, Zodiac or Basic Instinct 2.
It&;s the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adorable black Labradors, Flo and Lucky, that need protecting. Flo and Lucky have the amazing (some might say unbelievable) ability to sniff out the polycarbonate chemicals used in making pirated DVDs (as well as all other kinds of DVD copies.)
So the always-creditable New Straits Times reports that Malaysian pirates are protecting their lairs and wares from the noble chocolate Labs with aggressive bulldogs.
Undeterred, the pair of public relations dogs have allegedly helped bust over one million pirated DVDs.
Posted in animals-in-the-news, heroic-dogs, Hollywood-dogs, Hollywood-turkeys, MondayMorningMediaQuarterback, Pets, piracy, Public Relations | Leave a Comment &;
Kevin Bacon: Too Old forPlayboy
June 12, 2007
Sorry BabyBoomers, you&;re too old for Playboy. It&;s not an indignity limted just to women born in &;64 and before; the tyranny of youth applies to guys as well.
Actor Kevin Bacon was summarily dumped from a scheduled Playboy interview because an editor decided he was &;too old.&; Miffed that he couldn&;t join his acting idols Lee Majors and Telly Savalas in its hallowed pages, (he apparently read Playboy for the articles), Bacon wrote this song.
Oh, Playboy will gladly take your money, even if you&;re out of its desired demographic. But then you&;ll end up writing letters like this:
Having passed midcentury a few years ago, I believe my tastes may not reflect the average reader&;s. I find WWE diva Ashley Massaro&;s lip rings extremely unappealing. She looks like a vampire.
Ronald Solomon, State College, Pennsylvania
Good thing Playboy&;s editorial policies don&;t apply to the frolics of its founder.
Posted in Ashley-Massaro, Hugh-Hefner, Kevin-Bacon, Publishing, Secrets of Men's Magazines, Sex and Society, WWE | 3 Comments &;
War Protest for Sale,Cheap
June 12, 2007
“Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford, Texas ? I will consider any reasonable offer. “ This CraigsList.org-like ad actually ran on the liberal Huffington Post. The poster was war protestor Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, saying she was dumping her 5 acre ‘Camp Casey’ near George W. Bush’s ranch. She ended up with $87,000.
Candy Crowley of CNN describes Sheehan as “the first recognizable face of the anti-war movement” but the left (and the media) eventually soured on her for saying George Bush is a bigger terrorist that Osama Bin Ladin, and that the U.S. is in danger of disintegrating into “a fascist corporate wasteland.” You can read her letter dropping out of the war protest here.
Not only has no other popular spokesperson emerged for the anti-war movement, but Sheehan’s ‘garage sale’ shows that a broad peace movement has never really developed, even after more than four years of war.
I was a child during Vietnam, and I remember watching rallies at the Capitol on television that were over 250,00 like this one on November 15, 1969. Such demonstrations persuaded Lyndon Johnson not to run for re-election, and continued into the 1970’s until most U.S. soldiers were out of Vietnam.
By contrast, rallies against the war in Iraq peaked almost two years ago, when more than 100,000, including Sheehan, (organizers claimed 300,000) marched in Washington on September 24, 2005. Back then, 1,911 U.S. soldiers had been killed in the war. By June 2007, over 3,500 had died in Iraq, and the number of troops in-country had actually risen with the surge.
Yet the protests have died down, and Cindy Sheehan gave up, ‘tired of being called an attention whore.’
Why are there so few other leaders and symbols of an anti-war movement? Why are demonstrations limited to fringe groups seemingly more interested in making a statement against the Republicans in September 2008 than trying to stop the war now? Are Americans selfish, apathetic, or do they actually support the war in Iraq, despite what the polls say?
The media may have helped in building Sheehan up and tearing her down, but the media is just a mirror to society. Although I don’t agree with her on many issues, it’s hard not to sympathize with Sheehan’s pain and frustration, or to analyze the lack of protest without thinking of the selfishness of one generation or another.
Were the Babyboomers selfishly demonstrating during the Vietnam War, out of fear of being drafted? Or are today’s young Americans the selfish ones, too inwardly directed on their iPods, cellphones and instant messaging to care?
It’s hard to motivate people to get out in the streets and away from their computers. But it’s easy to understand why people (over) focus on Paris Hilton or American Idol, when the news from Iraq is this grim.
Posted in Cindy-Sheehan, CNN, Iraq-war, Iraq-war-protests, Journalism, Paris-Hilton, Vietnam-protests | Leave a Comment &;
Paris Hilton: Media Can&;t GetEnough
June 12, 2007
Early in my journalistic career, I spent five years writing for the National Enquirer. People asked how I could live with myself, instead of writing for a &;real&; newspaper. I tried to tell them that standards of verification at the Enquirer were just as high as the New York Times. Indeed, it was not the Enquirer, but the NY Times, that named the alleged victim in the 1991 Patrick Kennedy Smith rape case.
So I like to say that the rest of the media has jumped right down into the gutter with the Enquirer. It started with Presidential candidate Gary Hart being &;outed&; for his extra-marital affair, picked up steam with the orgiastic OJ Simpson coverage, and snowballed to the bottom of the hill with the airtime and precious ink devoted to Paris.
Some outlets pretend their Paris coverage is about &;issues&;, such as this LA Times Paris Hilton story (one of three they run each day) how rich and poor are treated in jail, but most just go for the breathless pandering.
The NY Times had a front-page story on Paris. And yes, it was an &;issue&; piece about &;celebrity justice&;&;a figleaf for their naked ambition covering the woman they so primly call Ms. Hilton.
Donna Rice and Gary Hart on the yacht Monkey Business.
Posted in Donna-Rice, Gary-Hart, Journalism, National-Enquirer, New-York-Times, O.J.-Simpson, Paris-Hilton | Leave a Comment &;
Let ParisGo
June 9, 2007
Let Paris Hilton out of jail. What is gained by breaking a butterfly on the wheel?
For those howling for her head, the point is made. Rich people and girls who just want to have fun suffer too. She did a few days in jail, just like the common people would do for a minor, non-violent first-time DUI. (Many would probably not do any time at all.) Let her do home confinement, or just let her go.
For those demanding she be punished, let he who is righteous, who has never had a few drinks and gotten behind the wheel, cast the first stone. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia&;s daughter, to name only one, was arrested for DUI with three kids in her car. She got probation and community service.
And for those who think &;celebrity justice&; is a joke, remember that not every celebrity gets off scot-free. Heidi Fleiss, celebrity madam, served 3 years in Federal prison; the clients of her prostitution services served not a single day. Oscar-nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. (can&;t wait to see him in Jon Favreau&;s Iron Man) served a hellish year in California state prison for drug offenses.
Who did they&;or Paris Hilton&;hurt?
Posted in celebrity-justice, Heidi-Fleiss, Iron-Man, Jon-Favreau, Justice-Scalia, Paris-Hilton, Robert-Downey-Jr., Uncategorized | 3 Comments &;
The News You Don&;tSee
June 1, 2007
Bloggers often criticize the MSM, or mainstream media, for what gets covered and how. Certainly there&;s a lot to critize&;but not necessarily along the political barricades bloggers typically man.
For example, FoxNews is often criticized as the Orwellian opposite to its &;fair and balanced&; slogan, generally promoting the Republican/conservative line.
But what&;s more interesting in terms of the news that doesn&;t get covered by Fox (and other Fox-owned news outlets like SkyTV and the NY Post) are issues of democracy, religious liberty, human rights, forced sterilization under the one-child policy and anything else touchy on China.
As the world&;s largest Communist country, China, like North Korea and Venezuela, would be a natural target of Fox commentators, but according to reporters at the equally conserative Wall Street Journal, &;News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch has a well-documented history of making editorial decisions in order to advance his business interests in China and, indeed, of sacrificing journalistic integrity to satisfy personal or political aims.&; Fox has been conducting a China news blackout for years.
On the other side of the political divide, the Los Angeles Times is typically seen as a liberal publication. Yet respected reporter Nancy Cleeland is leaving the publication in frustration at the Times&; lack of labor coverage. Money quote:
&;The Los Angeles region is defined by gaping income disparities and an enormous pool of low-wage immigrant workers, many of whom are pulled north by lousy, unstable jobs. It’s also home to one of the most active and creative labor federations in the country. But you wouldn’t know any of that from reading a typical issue of the L.A. Times, in print or online. Increasingly anti-union in its editorial policy, and celebrity — and crime-focused in its news coverage, it ignores the economic discontent that is clearly reflected in ethnic publications such as La Opinion.&;
Of course, she&;s leaving with 55 other editorial staffers, a cutback in the face of structural change and dire revenue loss . But things haven&;t changed much in the 30 years since my father, a teacher&;s union chapter chairman, told me that you&;ll never see fair labor coverage in a newspaper because they&;re employers themselves.
Whether a media outlet is left or right-leaning, commercial considerations always always influence editorial direction.
Posted in China, fair-and-balanced, forced-sterilization, Fox-News, Imus, Los-Angeles-Times, Rupert-Murdoch, Uncategorized | 2 Comments &;
KevorkianWalks
June 1, 2007
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, better known as Dr. Death for his hands-on advocacy of assisted suicide, was released today after 8 years in prison. Even now, cost-conscious HMOs impressed at his efficiency (over 130 assisted suicides!) are no doubt lining up to hire him to create a treatment plan for the coming wave of babyboomers.
Posted in Kevorkian, public-relations-disaster | Leave a Comment &;
Newer Entries »