Quote of the Day

"I think it's worth noting that in one of the alleged photos of him, he's pleasuring himself on a bed while wearing Crocs. And if you think about it, is there any better metaphor for the sad state of America today than an over-the-hill white guy lazily masturbating in plastic shoes?"

-- Bill Maher, on Brett Favre's ill-advised decision to send pictures of his penis to a female former Jets employee and what it says about us

You Didn't Buy It, You Own It

As usual, David Carr of the New York Times makes a damn astute point about the mainstream media's unwillingness to pay for stories but absolute willingness to cover stories that have been broken by outlets that have no problem paying for stories.

Case in point: the Brett Favre sex scandal, which was broken by Gawker media, who, you could easily make the claim, violated every tenet of responsible journalism in its handling of the story.

Carr's assertion is essentially that these days the mainstream media don't need to break their own rules and piss all over their own standards; all they need to do us play a little "ethical rendition" and allow the supposed bottom feeders to do what they do best, then make the case that once the story was out there and percolated up, they had no choice but to cover it.

The New York Times: Favre, Deadspin and the New Tawdry Journalism/10.18.10