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Have you ever played a sport marred with bad officiating? The referee, umpire, line judge—pick your sport—constantly botches calls.
Then recognizing he has missed a penalty, the official starts blowing his whistle at the slightest hint of contact. These are makeup calls. The official is overcompensating—making up—for the calls he missed earlier in the game.
Makeup calls ruin a contest.
The media are bad officials who rely heavily upon makeup calls. Just look at poor Tony Snow. His death made headlines. He was, after all, White House Press Secretary. Many media and PR pros insist he was even one of the best.
But his death couldn’t rival that of Tim Russert, who, I think was sainted—or was it martyred? I can’t remember. The media did this hilarious thing with Russert coverage. They broke it as if it were news the moon had exploded.
A couple days later the backlash arrived. And the press were backlashing themselves. Too much Russert coverage, they screamed. As if they never give meaningless events—at least in terms of the world—too much coverage.
And Tony Snow is the victim. He was a makeup call, an easy one too. Coverage of his life and death would be respectful, but pundits and columnists wouldn’t spend too much time on it. They don’t want the Russert rap again, plus Snow was just a shill for Bush, right? And Bush is so 2003 anyway.
If only Snow had some connection to Obama—or that new Batman movie.
Poor, poor Tony Snow, I don’t even think I remember who he is anymore. Isn’t he that motivational speaker with the big smile? That guy died? Man, I loved that guy.
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I have to think today's media would have uncovered all or most of this WAY before Abe was even handed this questionnaire...
Comments (7)
For all commenters that can't seem to pass up the oppotunity to hyperventilate about the war, the Bush Administration or the country in general: I'm sure there are some message boards at moveon.org that would love to have you.
Just a thought.
Posted by Anonymous | August 18, 2008 8:52 AM
Posted on August 18, 2008 08:52
didn't pay attention to their deaths, it didn't affect me. people die every day no big whup.
Posted by ann | July 23, 2008 9:47 AM
Posted on July 23, 2008 09:47
Tony Snow got a good amount of respectful coverage and a certain degree of disrespectful coverage in his death. Tim Russert got better treatment. Both seemed like good guys and upon their deaths, you couldn't have run enough good stuff about either in my opinion. The only attention they were stealing was from the likes of Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears in the celeb-crazed media.
The one thing that may have hurt Snow in the media, other than his status as a conservative, was his positive confidence in maintaining control in his dealings with the media. His skill in this area was something every PR person should aspire to, however, reporters who are used to always having the upper hand tend to resent guys like Snow and look for the first opportunity to bring them down. In this case, a few had to wait until Mr. Snow couldn't speak for himself.
Posted by T.O. | July 22, 2008 8:27 AM
Posted on July 22, 2008 08:27
You can't win for losing, huh? Both Tim Russert and Tony Snow seemed like nice, genuine guys. And it's sad when folks die young like they did. Legitimate story, at some reasonable level.
But here's an interesting question for you PR folks: when someone like Russert or Snow dies, well-liked and respected within the industry, at what point is it allowed to point out that both of them helped lie the country into and continue an unjust, brutal, society destroying war?
Posted by Mac | July 21, 2008 5:29 PM
Posted on July 21, 2008 17:29
So an Obatman story is akin to a flagrant, can't-miss technical while everything else is tickytack, homer, and/or dependant upon who the media has their money on.
Foul indeed.
Posted by Melvin McCoy | July 21, 2008 4:41 PM
Posted on July 21, 2008 16:41
Thanks Wilma! As you'll notice, the changes were made.
Posted by Michael Sebastian | July 21, 2008 10:55 AM
Posted on July 21, 2008 10:55
"Media" is plural; "medium" is singular.
"The media are bad officials who rely heavily..."
"The media are bum referees"
Posted by Wilma Mathews | July 21, 2008 10:46 AM
Posted on July 21, 2008 10:46