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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
July 29, 2011
27 Tamuz, 5771
In Praise of Tabloids
By
Suzanne Fields
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What would a world without tabloids look like? Not as much fun, for sure, if the tattletales and snoopers and others of irreverent ilk lost their voices on the printed page. Who would supply headlines such as, "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar" (New York Post), "Ford to City: Drop Dead" (New York Daily News), or perhaps the pithiest of them all, the show biz tab Variety on the stock-market crash that announced the Depression, "Wall Street Lays an Egg." Who among us doesn't get a touch of schadenfreude watching feet of clay crumble in shoes?
This is not high art, but it's the stuff that's sold in the penny press (as it was called in less inflationary times) ever since Johannes Gutenberg and his famous press shortened the time between illumination and publication. Most of us don't lust after the lurid details of the grotesque, but we don't mind a little titillation.
The line between what's pubic and what's private in the prints is something like pornography — you know it when you see it. We've come a long way from days when high society was off limits because good taste demanded it. The tabloids have always known what you can get away with, just, and the tabs have been the arbiters of what passes and what's over-the-line. Vulgarity drives the mainstream press now, and the new social media are as much about exhibitionism as communication, so the boundaries have been blurred in a lasting way.
In a defense of tabloid exposure, Ryan Linkof, a history instructor at the University of Southern California, makes a good case in The New York Times for the way the tabloids persist in breaking down the wall between the social elites and ordinary people. This, he says, benefits democracy in the pursuit of truth. Newspapers are content with the less noble pursuit of mere facts, which is usually very different from truth.
Citing the excessively protective treatment of the royal visit of the newly married Prince William and Kate Middleton, he observes how we long to get beneath the banal shields of the rich and famous. Exposure mitigates tension between social groups.
The appetite for the follies of royals as well as Hollywood celebrities reduces envy, giving lower-rung watchers a less obstructed view and sometimes even that precious schadenfreude, the taking of delight in the troubles of others. It's the price the privileged pay for their luxurious toys and celebrated distinctions and the price we pay for allowing the press to satisfy popular curiosity. The passion of the tabloid press for a story come hell or high water — within legal limits, of course — occasionally breaks a significant story that the prim and proper press misses.
It was the supermarket tab National Enquirer, after all, that invaded the privacy of John Edwards, ending forever his presidential dreams. Had Edwards not been exposed and had he been nominated or, horrors!, elected — he would have been at dangerous risk of blackmail, with the rest of us consigned to suffer, as well.
The Pulitzer Prize Board thought the story merited its recognition and accepted the Enquirer's submissions for the prize in both "Investigative Reporting" and "National News Reporting." (Some other paper won.) While the emphasis on exposing sexual behavior appeals to prurient interests, it prevents blackmail and makes up the public's right to know. Transparency has its embarrassing advantages.
Isolated success stories, of course, hardly lend forgiveness to the London tab News of the World for its illegal hacking into the cell phone of a murder victim or illegal intrusions into the lives of grieving families. These episodes remind us of the importance of a free press with hopes that those in charge will exercise responsible judgment.
Rules of political privacy require the exercise of good judgment from both the press and the politicians. Privacy as an issue flared recently when a reporter asked Rahm Emanuel, the newly elected mayor of Chicago, where his children would attend school. He lost his temper and screamed at the reporter that such news was a private family matter. That may be true, but nothing so separates the elites and the rest of us as the schools our children attend. It wasn't always so — more's the pity.
Mayor Emmanuel chose one of the best (and most expensive) private schools in Chicago for his children, and no one begrudges him that. But it should be public knowledge because most public schools in Chicago, like so many urban public schools elsewhere, are lousy and because the political elites insist that vouchers and charter schools are verboten. Inquiring minds need to know. We don't need tabloids to prove that point, but it's good for everyone that the tabs are there.
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Suzanne Fields Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
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