What John Edwards Scandal? (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Gawker ^ | July 24, 2008 | Staff

[abb]

The Drive-By Media becomes increasingly irrelevant.

[abb]

ping

[abb]

ping

[sauropod]

ping.

[imintrouble]

I am going to enjoy watching them savage each other into oblivion -

Sniping seems to be a precursor to the death rattle and final essay of adieu.

[Devilinbaggypants]

It’s to the point that the NE is more credible than the MSM. You don’t see their profits sliding 82% in a Q...dumbsh!t’s!

[mewzilla]

The Drive-By Media becomes increasingly irrelevant.

Makes you wonder what the heck their shareholders are thinking.

[Alia]

Thanks, abb. This is a well written rebuttal to the silence from the MSM.

The there's Roberts' line about the Enquirer lacking "sensitivity." With five reporters scrambling to ask Edwards about his alleged affair, the Enquirer was certainly showing sensitivity to the truth in all its shades. Or maybe she's saying the tabloid should be sensitive to Edwards' feelings by ignoring the story, as the Washington Post and Times and others have done, as though the truth can be kept bottled up at whim, and as if it's a newspaper's role to help perpetuate a lie, to keep Elizabeth Edwards in the dark until — what? — until she passes away?

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere that the other news outlets might be afraid of backlash. They are already on the ropes over inaccuracies and bias, maybe they don’t want to do tabloid-style stories (such as the recent McCain story that backfired) or stories that would make them appear extremely insensitive to a woman stricken with cancer.
What hurts the media reputation, hurts the sales.

[abb]

Makes you wonder what the heck their shareholders are thinking.

Any rational investor that didn't see the meltdown coming in newspaper companies a year ago is too stupid to be fooling with the stock market. They should stick to CDs.

[Gorzaloon]

Well, it is NOT like Edwards was TAPPING HIS FOOT when he was hiding in the bathroom, right?

[Haddit]

I have not watched Fox News since they cut Duncan Hunter from the debates. Surprise, Edwards isn’t in their news either. So much for “We Decide”.

[abb]

Here's the killer graf, imo.

It's important to keep in mind, when reading this odd answer, that traditional news media used to have something of a lock on the dissemination of information, and allowed themselves to be convinced that they had a bizarre duty to filter even accurate information of interest to their audiences, and to do so in the service of reinforcing various social institutions and norms, even though their jobs, their Constitutionally-protected jobs, were to do just the opposite, to disseminate information and challenge long-cherished moral codes.

[geezerwheezer]

Their shareholders are thinking “who the hell is dumb enough to buy my shares?” They are stuck between a rock and a hard place as the MSM stocks continue to fall. This could not happen to a better group of losers either!

[Fundamentally Fair]

It’s to the point that the NE is more credible than the MSM.

I disagree. The Enquirer is the Enquirer. Pointing out 3 or 4 times that they have been correct over the last 15 years doesn't change that.

Of course, the MSM is the MSM...

For the record, this will be very easy to verify and I think it is very likely true.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

As to why the Enquirer IS on the story, they’ve got nothing to lose in the way of reputation for sensitivity; but they have a stake in staying on the story just in case. It’s only good insurance, to keep a tail on Edwards; there might be vindication of the Enquirer and no further threat of a lawsuit.
Who doubts they were threatened with legal action? And if they were, it’s quite reasonable to have someone watching him 24/7.

[abb]

More DeathWatch™ stuff.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003830471
‘Denver Post’ and ‘Pioneer Press’ To Run ‘Politico’ Coverage

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=87236
How’s 2008? Disaster For Newspapers, Magazines and Radio

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/
Perilously funded papers hit the wall

[Diogenesis]

Can you say 'long term fawning relationship'?

Caption to third photo [November 17, 2006]:
"Up close and darn cute! John Edwards yesterday.(Roxanne Roberts - The Washington Post)"
"The people have spoken: John Edwards is still hunky enough to give that presidential thing another try.
"Oh my God, he's even cuter in person!" gushed one woman at Borders on Wednesday night. ...
Edwards, sporting a blazer, open shirt and green "Save Darfur" wristband,
fielded questions from the overflow crowd of 500 and then signed books for two hours."

[SlapHappyPappy]

The problem is that this is a story that has been out, waiting to be researched, for over a year. Only the Enquirer did the homework. Now why could that be? Such a major potential story on a man running for President, and they don’t even research it?

The Enquirer even says they have been researching this story literally for months, and when they had the chance to place Edwards at the hotel, with the woman and the child (leaving at 2:40 AM) they jumped at it.

There is a lot more evidence to this story than to what Woodward and Bernstein used.

[Devilinbaggypants]

I guess the point I was trying to make was that at least the NE doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not.