MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
“What’s News? Plenty!” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, July 12, 2009
Palin’s quitting. Jackson’s gone. Espada’s partying again with Democrats.
Who says the news has no surprises left?
So much of what passes for news these days is purposely contrived – PR-created, pre-digested and focus-grouped to death. In some news cycles, it seems, the publicists are as important as the editors. There’s a whole industry now designed to make some people famous, to tear other people down, to bring public attention to products and trends that deserve none. The pop culture and entertainment worlds especially – not to mention politics – are positively fueled by advertising and public-relations retainer fees.
And yet, the flacks have only so much control.
Weird stuff keeps happening, pretty much on its own.
Gov. David A. Paterson says to himself: “I think I’ll appoint a lieutenant governor.”
Peter King has an idea: “Maybe I should be the chief Michael Jackson moral critic.”
Married Steve McNair dates a 20-year-old. Married Mark Sanford sends a few e-mails.
And all of a sudden, forces are set in motion that no one can hope to direct. Careers are made and broken. Lives are lost and wrecked. People who 10 minutes ago seemed almost invincible, now appear impossible to protect.
Stuff happens. Stuff that’s hard to turn away from. Stuff that’s news.
Good luck controlling that.
NOW YOU TELL US
1. Pedro Espada, party loyalist
2. Bruno, $50-million draw
2. Oscar G. Mayer, no baloney
5. GM, bankrupt no longer
4. Mary Jo Buttafuocco, author
RUFF-RUFF: For years, police have fretted about an “arms race” with criminals, as the bad guys kept packing ever-fiercer guns. But the contest may soon be shifting into the canine realm. Just as police were praising the prowess of their own drug- and bomb-sniffing dogs, three teens were arrested in Flanders after what cops described as a wild motorcycle chase that ended with a German shepherd being sicced on Southampton Town Police Officer Steven Frankenbach. Thankfully, he’s out of the hospital now. But his bosses and other law-enforcement officials can’t help but wonder: Will cops soon be wearing bite-resistant uniforms?
MOVING PICTURES: Animation enthusiasts at the LI International Film Expo seem especially revved this year over “Only Love,” a short tragicomedy about an anguished dictator coming to grips with his own nasty past. Remember this name: Lev Polyakov. The young Russian-American animator, who just graduated from the School of Visual Arts, will rattle your defenses and make you question what you thought you knew – all from a bunch of drawings jumping around. Screening on Tuesday at Bellmore Movies (liifilmexpo.org).
ASKED AND UNANSWERED:How many more hours – or should we be counting in minutes? – ’til Pedro Espada flips again? . . . Mr. Maybe Lieutenant Governor perhaps? What do you call someone who might or might not be a heartbeat away? . . . Are we supposed to believe that a four-month shutdown of Kennedy Airport’s busiest runway, 13R-31L, won’t cause nightmarish delays? Know any free stretches of concrete that could handle 400 takeoffs and landings a day? . . . 64? Was 64 degrees really Thursday’s HIGH temp at MacArthur? That’s 12 degrees cooler than the coolest-on-record July 9! . . . Anything weird happen to you just before 12:35 on Wednesday? Numerologists are still debating the meaning of “123456789,” aka 12:34:56 on 7/8/09 . . . You notice the new Fire Island ferry terminal finally rising in Patchogue? Guaranteed, it’ll be a huge improvement over that dumpy old West Avenue station . . . Now that all Obama staff salaries are accessible at whitehouse.gov, would the Nassau and Suffolk executives care to follow suit on their Web sites? . . . Before the LIRR installs onboard Wi-Fi, will the railroad have a policy against viewing porn? Something a little more formal than, “Quit looking at other people’s screens!”?
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