Andy and Ali... I is very entertained.

If you're like me and find yourself obsessed equal parts with both Ali G (aka Sasha Cohen) and YouTube, you may have found the clip I'm going to discuss already. If not, it's worth checking out. As part of his famous show, Ali Gtakes time to interview media edifice Andy Rooney. Rooney, obviously unaware of Ali G's antics, takes on the interview as a disdainful experience. Particulary entertaining is when Ali G poses the question to Rooney about how the media avoids delivering the news on the wrong day, revealing events such as elections before they actually happen.
While this topic may not seem to be as serious as job slashings and the multi-faceted desires for media employers today, the Ali G clip brings up some good issues. Too many prominent characters in media today (Rooney included but certainly not standing alone) find themselves as stalwarts, pompus and self-assured, unable to be related to by any of other generations, (the Ali G crew, if you will). Perhaps if Rooney had loosened up a bit, and used the interview to gain notariety with younger viewers instead of attacking Ali G's poor grammar, the clip would have taken a much different turn. Then again, it also wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

To create, trap and catch a predator...

This week, MSNBC.com is outlining Dateline's upcoming coverage of it's hit show, To Catch a Predator. The series works by creating an elaborate scenario in which a child predator is lured to a specified location (set up by the Dateline crew) by communicating with a "minor" via the Internet. The show also uses an 18-year-old actress to set the scene:

The girl is an 18-year-old actress hired by Dateline. She’s inviting suspected sex predators to sit at a bar in a backyard that is wired with hidden cameras.

The show has been sucessful in capturing a number of these supposed pedophiles. But the real question lies in the legality, and if not the legality, the ethics of the show's tactics. Is this really right? CBS doesn't think so, and posted a blog on their disagreement with the show's tactics, and addresses whether or not Dateline is using entrapment during the process of filming.
In no way do I sympathize with pedophiles, but if it is ethical to use such intricate tactics to lure men into situation that will forever ruin their reputations, what other situations will the show be able to create in the future. Also, is this show catching predators or creating them?
I don't agree with this show. While I realize that pedophiles are a real threat to our nation's children, I don't agree that television shows should be allowed to air to the nation sting operations that are quite possibly more for ratings than for actual concern for the protection of children.

Farewell, Ed Bradley

An article on USA Today's site pays tribute to the late Ed Bradley, who passed away from leukemia this week at the age of 65.

Left in Bradley's wake is a legend of sorts. The mere sounds that accompany Bradley's memory are clear; the faint, yet ever-present "tick tick tick" of the 60 minutes clock seems to be as closely associated with Bradley as his smooth, debonair voice. This voice was the sound, to millions, of a trustworthy newsman delivering a mellow commentary of America into the living rooms of millions of viewers, young and old.

While the Katie Courics of the news landscape may come and go, and the Rosie O'Donnell's may disperse their views, it may be a very long time before we see a presence as calming and effervescent as Bradley's.

Farewell, Ed.

Don't shoot the Paperboy.

In an article on The Baltimore Sun's Web site, I found an interesting case. Joel L. Levin is saying he cannot get The Examiner to stop throwing unwanted papers in his driveway each morning. The Baltimore lawyer has asked the County Circuit Court for a temporary restraining order to force an end to the deliveries.

"They're trespassing, technically," said Joel L. Levin, referring to the carriers who deliver the papers in his Pikesville neighborhood. Almost a month ago, he said, he began calling the paper's circulation department to have them stopped, but they keep coming.

This story was surprising to me at first. Then, I found myself wondering why the same issue hasn't presented itself before. I wonder if, in the end the theory of "trespassing" truly will be able to apply in this situation. Still,with the barrage of unwanted literature constantly presented to us, it was only time before someone painted the paperboy as an unwanted solicitor.