Comments on: Huffington Post Sinks to New Low

By: Amanda Hess

Amanda Hess — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:48:14 +0000

The day that news orgs are forced to stop printing wild speculation about possible future events is the day that John McLaughlin meets his untimely end at the hands of the Zombie corpse of Richard Nixon. Luckily, his obsessively-polished obit is close at hand in my desk drawer, right underneath Eleanor Clift's political Ouija Board.

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:32:56 +0000

The second point was in response to Hess' comment: "They write obituaries for old people, don’t they?" The quote didn't bother me, it was the picture of Dupre--she's background info, sure, but what's the point of pushing that image when Spitzer's experience with Slate has nothing to do with her specifically? Of course he'd still be governor if he hadn't been caught funneling money to a sex worker, but he didn't bring her up, and the interviewer didn't bring her up. She's not the news, so why is she the lead photo?

By: Ryan Grim

Ryan Grim — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:19:32 +0000

Mike, you've gone totally off the rails, dude. How does the prostitute have nothing to do with the story? His involvement with her is the reason he is no longer governor and now leading a life that "sucks." Like it or not, the fall of the New York gov and his attempts at rehabilitation are news. If you don't want it served up like HuffPo serves it, then stick with NYT.com. But there you won't get the juicy "It sucks" quote, which I found amusing. On your second point: wha? The source here is Spitzer himself. I don't follow...

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:41:40 +0000

1.) The picture had nothing to do with the articles they aggregated.

2.) They wait to publish said obits until the people actually die. (As opposed to publishing a mini obit after an anonymous source says, "I think the person could die at any minute.")

By: Amanda Hess

Amanda Hess — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:37:31 +0000

I'm still not sure what's irresponsible about this. Governor loses seat because of prostitution scandal; governor makes comment about losing seat because of prostitution scandal at bar called "Happy Ending"; blogs post picture of governor and woman involved in prostitution scandal. This whole little anecdote is just a joke anyway, from the perspective of Spitzer, the reporter he spoke to, and the aggregators. Ha, ha. Everybody wins! Claiming that another news outlet is "unethical" because of its preparedness, on the other hand, is really reaching. They write obituaries for old people, don't they?

By: Darrow Montgomery

Darrow Montgomery — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:04:28 +0000

Pancake habits should be off limits...

By: Ryan Grim

Ryan Grim — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:49:27 +0000

*Wouldn't want

By: Ryan Grim

Ryan Grim — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:49:03 +0000

And God forbid that an outlet "anticipate" -- righteous scare quotes in the original -- a news event and prepackage its display so that it can move quickly when the news breaks. Would want any planning ahead. And you certainly place no premium on speed, since this post is about 3 years behind, as Hess points out.

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:42:49 +0000

Is "sensational" code for irresponsible?

By: Amanda Hess

Amanda Hess — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:17:05 +0000

Oh, please. The Huffington Post has been assembling sensational photographs/headlines/scare quotes from the outset to make the Internets go clicky clicky, and this is nothing new. This post is like saying, "I can't believe Mike Riggs said something about Florida/libertarianism/screamo again" or "I can't believe Mike Riggs is eating pancakes with his hands."

Plus, Gawker totally beat them to this.

http://gawker.com/5111246/eliot-spitzer-wanders-into-media-party-thinking-it-was-something-else