Keep it in the court and out of the papers

By:

Shandra Jordan, editor in chief

Colleen Buhrer, managing editor

J.J. Babb, design managing editor

Liz King, assistant design managing editor

Christopher J. Ortiz, opinion editor

It’s happening again. Another media circus has opened up. Again

a professional athlete is being accused of a serious crime has

allowed the networks, newspapers and every other imaginable medium

to pop up the tents and the ringmasters, letting loose the

unrestrained and irresponsible coverage.

Every day, Kobe Bryant and his defense attorney make the front

page of every circulation out there, boosting the smallest breaking

news. Today’s unworthy Bryant headline in the Coloradoan: Bryant

hearing resumes today.

A hearing resuming now validates top headlines? We know it is a

particular case and because it involves a popular and public

figure, it merits some special attention, but all this coverage

just narrates how engrossed we are as a society with celebrity

“news.”

The circus has gone so far that Saturday Night Live did a parody

of the incident when Bryant’s attorney said the name of Bryant’s

accuser not once, not twice – but five times during the hearings.

It is only a matter of time when the parade of books, exclusive

interviews and movies come out.

This attention should be paid when the verdict comes out – that

is the real news, not when Bryant’s attorney gets a haircut or when

Bryant flies out to do his day job.

One Aspen newspaper has gone as far as making a pledge to its

readers to not cover the fiasco until the verdict is read.

While we think this might not be the best solution, it’s better

than the over-saturation of coverage now. We are sure some more

pressing, more important, more significant news is being pushed

down the page to make room for this three-ring circus.

At least Benifer is getting less coverage now.