Media Drowns Gonzales Coverage With Vick

But those seeking an analysis of Gonzales’ resignation would have been hard-pressed to even learn about his action from TV news shows. These shows had one focus that day: Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Mike Vick had pled guilty to dog fighting. The avalanche of coverage for Vick’s long-planned plea announcement contrasted dramatically with the absence of reportage of Gonzales’ unforeseen act---providing another example of the traditional media’s twisted priorities.

Thanks to Jet Blue, I had the “opportunity” this week to spend over six hours flipping television channels in the airplane. There may not have been a single minute during this period when one of the stations was not doing in-depth interviews regarding Mike Vick’s guilty plea in the dog fighting case.

I had previously experienced the Vick media blitz the preceding Monday, when my flight to Boston coincided with Vick’s announcement that he would agree to plead guilty. So by my return flight, I already knew all the relevant facts about the case.

But despite the fact that Vick’s August 27th plea had been announced a week earlier, and despite the fact that no actual “news” occurred this week except for Vick’s court appearance and press statement, the traditional media acted like nobody had previously known about Vick’s dog fighting operation. The same legal experts were trotted out to give the same opinions they had given the preceding Monday, accompanied by endless footage of Vick walking to and from court.

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