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John Kennedy's Memory
Disgraced By The Media

John Kennedy, Jr. was an American civilian. He was not a world leader. He was not a power player in Washington. He was simply the child of a former President. And he tried very hard to live as much of a normal private life as he could. He took cabs instead of limos. He skated freely in Central Park. He did much of his own shopping. John made it clear with his deeds and his words that he wanted to be treated like everyone else in this country. He even refused to sit in the press box at baseball games, preferring to sit in the bleachers with the other fans. He certainly showed a great deal of contempt for the news media. Smart man.

But, the media constantly disrespected his wishes by stalking and harassing him everywhere he went. Any morsel of information that reporters could find out would routinely show up on tabloid news shows like Hard Copy. Even the so-called legitimate press saturated us with his personal relationships. No matter how hard Mr. Kennedy tried to keep his personal dealings private, there was always a reporter sneaking footage of him just living his life. There never seemed to be a time or place that the press was not harassing him. It is sad that even in his death the media ghouls would disgrace his memory with this frenzy of obsessive publicity. So why do they do it?

The press says they are giving people what they want. And to their defense, people complain about the coverage but they are still sitting in front of the television watching it. Media consultants say that it is an issue of supply and demand. As long as people are watching they will continue to supply it. This doesn't excuse them for inaccurate and intrusive journalism. But it does raise an interesting question. Why do people tune in to this media circus when an event like this happens? People crying in the streets over a man they never knew? People throwing flowers to the ocean in his memory?

This is exactly what the extremely private JFK Jr. did NOT want! Do people need to feel like they belong to something so badly, that they have to spend money on flowers he will never see? If they really wanted to do something to honor him, all that money spent on flowers could have gone to start a homeless shelter in his name, or an Aides hospital. When I saw people crying on the beach who admit they never knew him I could just imagine John-John looking down and laughing "STOP IT! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

As it became evident that Kennedy would not be found alive, the press coverage got even worse. Programming was interrupted so that channel seven news could tell us that a suitcase had been found on the cape. The next day, programming was interrupted so a reporter could show us a helicopter landing at the Kennedy compound. Because THAT'S important. And then the "reporter" filled airtime with speculation and guesswork as to what was going on.

All this has confirmed my belief that news is no longer about presenting clear and accurate facts to the public so our citizens can be informed. The American press and specifically television reporters (who dare call themselves journalists) have made a mockery of the information business. They PURPOSELY painted Richard Jewel as "THE Olympic Bomber", and dramatically disclosed that the FBI had found steel shavings and duct tape in Jewels home similar to what a bomber "might use to make an explosive device." Does anyone out there NOT have duct tape and steel shavings somewhere in their basement? The press made him guilty and when Jewel was found to be innocent members of the media shrugged it off and moved on to the next profitable crisis.

Who can forget the way reporters climbed over each other to memorialize Charles Stewart and his pregnant wife when a shooting occurred in Boston years ago? Truth, accuracy, and the patience to get the real story were all thrown to the wind so those reporters could present their manufactured melodrama. Plain and simple, they hyped the public into hysteria to make money. And when it was over we learned from police that Stewart himself had shot his wife. Every paper in America declared that this incident was going to change the way FACTS are presented to the public. Columnists and press organizations unilaterally promised the American public that something good was going to come of the "mistakes" that they had made.

Well, it never happened. The media is not in the business of informing the public. Let me say that again "the media is not in the business of informing the public." Newspapers and TV news promote THEIR agenda with only one side of the story. They are not in the business of being fair. And they clearly have no intention of doing so unless they see a financial benefit from egging on both sides of a debate into conflict. Don't let these misinformation brokers fool you. They couldn't care less about John Kennedy or the welfare of other people. They pretend that everything they do is a public service because people's lives are being affected.

Where was the mass concern among Boston news organizations when a teacher was missing a week prior to the Kennedy incident? Instead of making this the top news story and using the power of the press to really do something good, the top story was about the all star baseball game. Channel Seven spent their first eight minutes on ticket scalpers, the party Mayor Menino threw in City Hall Plaza, and even interviewed out of towners about their thoughts on Boston. Even the weather and two other stories took precedent before the missing teacher was ever mentioned. That is how much the media cares about helping people and presenting facts. They are about making money off the hysteria of tragedy and entertainment. The truth, decency, and accurate information are all simply side issues to these people who want so badly to BE the important part of the story, while they are stuck only covering one.

No one knew how self-serving and phony the American press was than the late John Kennedy Junior. And because of that he requested in his will to be cremated and his ashes spread over the ocean. The reason was simple. He said he didn't want there to be a place for people to gather and make a public spectacle over his death. The ultimate indignity for him and America is that no one in the press cared enough about his memory or his wishes to treat this event with a little respect. Even as his ashes were scattered at sea, live broadcasts on every channel showed the ship carrying his remains. Don't be surprised if some time in the next month somebody finds a flake of dust on the beach that MIGHT be one of the ashes of JFK. If that happens, you can bet that the press will flock to DNA experts and waste more of our time with live beach footage and silly interviewerss asking the guy where he found the flake of dust and what he was doing when he found it.

Some have talked about the potential that is lost with the death of JFK, Jr. The real potential lost here, was the potential for reporters and editors to act like human beings first, and media ghouls second. But then again, there is a buck to be made.