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.
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