Paris Hilton: Media Can’t Get Enough
June 12, 2007Early 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.