Quote of the day:
“Torture, unlike paid sex, doesn't have legs as a news story.”
--Robert Scheer, referring to the Eliot Spitzer story, at thenation.com
Another week, another wacko feeding frenzy. Target: Eliot Spitzer.
Yes, what he did was tawdry, hypocritical and wrong. But why exactly has every sense of scale and proportion left the building?
It’s easy to blame the media, as Scheer does in his excellent piece quoted above. He’s right.
I’ve always defended the news industry, saying that media were just telling the story, and giving the public what it wants.
What it wants is defined very simply as what it always pays lots of attention to. Sex. Especially when it is combined with bringing the powerful down to our level.
Challenge of the day: click on this link to one of the BBC’s news sites. Spend five minutes looking at some news stories.
Question of the day: aren’t a few of these stories significantly more important than what Eliot Spitzer has done?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Both Spitzer and Reason Have Left Us
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2 comments:
Yes, I agree. Did you hear what Dr. Laura Schlessinger had to say about this on Good Morning America (simplicially, well-cared for husbands wouldn't be doing this). That woman is a menace. My heart goes out to his wife and family who's lives have been ripped apart by this.
And Laura Schlesinger should talk. Let she who is without sin cast the first stone.
To those adversely affected by his resignation, I'd add New Yorkers, and, ultimately, maybe all of us.
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