"Clintons' beloved dog, Buddy killed by
car."
This was one of the headlines on USA Today on Thursday
January 3rd 2002. It was followed by a lengthy article by writer Susan
Page detailing the events of the death of the former presidents pet. A
eulogy of sorts for the 4 year old retriever. Similar stories also ran
on the front pages of CNN.com, MSNBC, and countless other large daily
nationals. The story was also covered thoroughly on various nightly news
segments. Oh yes, let me reiterate something…buddy is a dog.
I can just imagine the busy newsroom. Phones ringing, people bustling, fingers typing, as the editor in chief slams open his office door.
"Is Kent back from Afghanistan yet?…"
the chief screams.
" No, he's not back till a week Thursday". A lowly errand boy
replies.
The Editor in chief pulls the cigar out of his mouth before he blurts…"Page..Susan
Page!"
"Yes, chief?" Susan replies standing up from behind the mountain
of papers on her desk.
"The Clinton's dog has been hit by a car!" growls the chief
with a slight tone of despair in his voice.
A hush goes over the newsroom.
"I'm on the first plane to Chappaqua!" Susan says while grabbing
her jacket.
"I need it on my desk by 9pm tonight Page…don't let me down!"
The chief grunts.
…Boy, I'm glad I got into journalism. I can just taste that Pulitzer.
Now I am not the insensitive sort and I admittedly have a very strong affection for pets, dogs especially. But is this really headline newsworthy? Global newsworthy? It is the man's pet, sure he is the former president, but it's a dog nonetheless. I am sure the Clintons are upset over the loss of the family dog but does this really necessitate a media frenzy? I guess if this was some act of hate crime against the former president I could understand, but no offense dogs die all the time. Was this really something, outside of the Clinton's social circle, that we the general public needed to know? Is nothing sacred? What's next…
"U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld feels he over-eats during the holidays and continues to suffer with gas and indigestion."
Why are we as a society so obsessed with knowing every intricate detail of public figures private lives? Is it our fault for constantly craving to know this private and somewhat pointless information? Or is it the media who seem to mass produce an endless supply of this voyeurism? Either way, we are both guilty. Because we are getting to the point where we are confusing news with simple invasions of privacy. There are some things that should be left out of the headlines and left within the households. Even if the household belongs to a former president. How many important newsworthy stories were bumped in order to cover this dog being hit by a car? Think about that…we need to get back to delivering REAL news. RIP Buddy…but sorry pooch you aren't that important.
…but that's just my opinion.
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