The Miami Herald's Fred Grimm takes on a website that revels in cockfighting and underground human fighting. In it he takes some jabs at Miami attorney David Markus, who runs the Southern District of Florida blog and is defending the website's ability to show roosters killing each other with citations about blood sports from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, who once said,
''As long as the Almighty permits intelligent men, created in his image and likeness, to fight in public and kill each other while the world looks on approvingly, it's not for me to deprive the chickens of the same privilege.''
Damn, even his cockfighting defense was elegant. But Grimm says Lincoln's day has passed and that the site, www.toughsportslive.com, is so gnarly that it doesn't have a chance with a jury. Here's the thing: The Herald provides a link to the site, thereby promoting it. Normally, an Official Daily Newspaper of Record would never do that kind of thing, as part of its (partly imagined) "journalistic responsibility." It would be up to a rapscallion like myself to lead people there so they could judge for themselves.
But things have changed and the Herald knows it, so it hyped the sleaze. But you know what? I kind of like being able to count on my town's daily to be lame on these matters, you know, to be the protector of the sensibility of the most sensitive among us. In part because I make hay by filling the gap, I suppose. But mostly because it's a source of comfort, like grandma or a good, well-worn desk.
Oh well, we still have the Sun-Sentinel and I have a good hunch that it will always be lame.
After the jump: Where's The Byline?
The Sun-Sentinel published a story this morning on the local front about Pompano Mayor Lamar Fisher. Overall, it was a slightly negative article, but not in any memorable way. It brought up some very old allegations and meandered about whether he was a good politician or not, with the requisite matching pro and con quotes. One of those stories that the biggest question you have when you're finished with it is why it was written in the first place.
But the weird thing is that there was no byline on it. I thought it must have been a mistake and expected to see the reporter's tagline at the end. Not there. Then I checked the Internet version, thinking it would be there, but again, no byline. It makes me think it was intentional. But why?
-- Oh, and this just in: Miami Herald web headline, recently posted: "Miami officer comes upon fatal shooting."
That is one sick cop. Disgusting.
That was the first thing that struck me about the Fisher article, too. I would think that Melissa Hoyos was the reporter, but why not give her credit.
On the other hand, there was nothing new in the article -- every charge had been in the newspaper earlier. Maybe a story they were working on didn't pan out at the last minute and they had a hole to fill.
Nevertheless, it is odd.
Posted at: July 16, 2007 9:49 AM