Wag the Watchdog
What does it mean when the entertainment media does a better job than mainstream journalism or the federal government as watchdogs of the financial and banking industries?
That your government is broken. And the news media sucks.
No doubt most of y’all have watched the “showdown” between Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer. But how many of you were aware that TMZ busted Northern Trust, a bank that received a $163 million bail-out, spending millions of dollars on a golf tournament and a party featuring Sheryl Crowe and Chicago? Not only a frivolous squandering of taxpayer dollars, but $100,000 for Chicago? Was Billy Squier busy? (Er, actually — is he still alive?) It’s like a black hole of bland.
According to the NY Times, the sensationalist and gossip media have taken on a more active role documenting the excesses of corporate elites who received federal money, despite driving their businesses and the economy into ruin. Populist outrage sells. Duh. Lou Dobbs coulda told ya that. And the likes of TMZ are not likely to provide more nuance or subtlety than that blowhard. But when Larry Summers throws up his hands in despair over the notorious AIG bonuses, we should take what we can get.
March 17th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Billy Squier had a stroke.