Some Dead Horses

I think I finally understand why pundits and commentators waste so much time beating dead horses. Like Barry Bonds and steroids, or Democrats and hating America. For one, it’s still news, even if it is made to be that way by the media, and people are still talking about it, even if they are saying how they hate all the talk about it. Secondly, each one of them thinks they can bring something new to the table, that they can say something no one else has yet said.

That’s how I feel about Oprah. I know it’s being talked to death, and part of what I want to say is that it’s being talked to death, to which I automatically contribute to, but I still think I have something to say.

Who Oprah is and what she’s done with her life is really remarkable. She is probably the closest thing this country has had, in terms of a pop hero, since Elvis. That people are excited to see her is not a surprise and it is not necessarily upsetting. The degree to which people are excited is surprising, and the way that media coverage has been is upsetting.

The Telegraph has some fine writers who do a good job. I do not subscribe to the notion that our daily isn’t a local paper, though I am frequently critical of some editorial decisions, like all the farmed out stories that make their way to the front page and where they put some local stories. Whereas Oprah is concerned, it is upsetting that they have three or four writers gathering stories on Oprah, but it is more upsetting that a great piece by Matt Barnswell on Mayor Ellis’s shady charity was relegated to one line below the fold on the front page, and practically buried in the local section.

If you missed it, and you probably did, the Mayor’s farewell party took place the same day as the filming of Oprah’s show. The proceeds of the party are to go into Ellis’s charity. Acting like a reporter, Barnswell went in search of where these funds go and how they’re allocated, to which the Mayor responded with profanity as he refused to explain where the money goes. He said, giving the vaguest of specifics, that the money will go to “families with kids who have special damn needs.” Barnswell didn’t rely only on the shocking way with which our city leader responded, but also dug into what kind of charity it is and how it operates. It’s a good piece of reporting, the kind we need more of here, a throwback to the notion that the media is our fourth estate, here to protect the regular joe. Unfortunately, that issue of the paper, like several before it, were consumed by the stupid tabloid crap that the Telegraph thinks the regular Joe wants to read instead.

I understand it when the Telegraph does revenue building stuff like charging people to submit pictures of their pet then charging them to vote on the cutest pictures and then selling a calendar comprised of the 12 top vote-getters. I get it. Print isn’t the money maker it used to be. I get it when they exploit WRLL’s world championship, selling momentos and giving ungodly coverage well after the heart-warming victory. We all need money. No problem.

What I don’t like is when this means sacrificing the actual news. While you could argue that Oprah’s visit really deserved front page attention (again), I don’t see how you could argue that in the same issue Barry Bonds’ indictment and the naming of the Cherry Blossom mascot also deserved above the fold treatment while a story that sheds light on some potentially shady dealing by our top city official gets pushed down.

Pay attention to shit like this. You’re partially to blame if you’re more willing to buy a paper with fluff on the cover than actual news. At the same time, I wish the Telegraph had a little more integrity in that department.As for Oprah’s visit, I’m still dismayed at how fanatical the city has become. Though I’d debate how good the exposure her show will generate for our city, I don’t think it is a bad thing.

What I realized Friday, as I watched scores of people hustling from spot to spot trying to find Oprah, is that the best exposure she could give us would be internal. Our publisher noted how full downtown was because of her. What I take issue with is that Oprah knew all the cool places to go downtown—the Tubman, the H&H, Ginger Michelle, Nu-Way, etc—but on a daily basis, citizens of this city don’t. During Cherry Blossom and on First Fridays, people turn out. Those cool places aren’t any less cool on regular days, but again, it seems like only outsiders see that.