Media Bitchfest

That Is Not How We Do Business Here

August 18th, 2006 by Justin

Dave Chapelle tells a joke in his classic 2000 stand-up special Killin’ Them Softly, where he imagines then-governor Bush taking the presidency, knowing only that he had a collegiate history of cocaine use. He predicted an addled Bush selling nuclear secrets for $20 and, taking the negotiating tactics of the addict in Menace 2 Society begging a foreign diplomat, “C’mon baby, sign the treaty, I’ll suck your dick.”

It is with that in mind that I direct you to everyone’s favorite salty barnacle Jack Shafer of Slate in his defense of the news media throughout the JonBene Ramsey kafuffle and admonishment for those rushing to make nice with the family in light of the Karr arrest:

If you’re down on your knees for me, gentlemen, please stand up. We have nothing to apologize for. The riotous coverage of the endless murder investigation won’t be recorded as journalism’s finest hour, but the story deserved the punishing scrutiny the press gave it.

And he is absolutely right, if the point of all this is that media outlets shouldn’t be so knee-jerk and reactionary to developments then can we at least wait until Monday to start issuing mea culpa to the weird ass Ramseys? The police botched this hardcore, the parents should have at least been looked at as kooks for dressing their daughter up like one of the girls from Old Town in Sin City to begin with and the journalism community only has what it finds and there was nothing to say that the Ramsey fam was completely innocent.

Besides, by this time next week, ol’ high water pants is going to be revealed as a fraud and everyone who rushed to heal the wounds with the parents are going to have to pick that wound again.

• Stop it, no, stop it [Slate]

• Because you can never read enough about Dave Chapelle [Wikipedia]

Posted in Jack Shafer, John Karr

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