It's the top story at noon, five, six and ten: Kirby Puckett died last night from a stroke he suffered Sunday afternoon. Every place I look around the newsroom, someone is researching facts, double-checking them, hunting down interviews, and disecting every possible angle of Mr. Puckett's life to cover in the news. Every angle, that is, except one. It seems as though everybody has either forgotten about or is scared of mentioning Kirby's Puckett's soiled reputation.
Now I'm not trying to be the righteous right hand of God or even distract from the legend of this hall-of-famer. Certainly he was a great athlete, a talented man who did a lot of good for a lot of people, including the state of Minnesota. I just scratch my head at why none of the news coverage includes more articles like these.
"But Audra," you say, "YOU'RE the media and you didn't mention any of that on YOUR show today!"
Guess what - I was overpowered by my superiors. They told me to leave out that stuff - that the viewers get upset when they hear it.
Like I said, not trying to be a party pooper; I just wish that the media's internal editorial thought process would be tempered with something other than sentimental, hero-worshiping amnesia.
6 comments:
Tell it like it is.
I know exactly what you are talking about here...
I don't know. It seems kind of natural to me. I've never been to a funeral or wake where they spend time talking about the persons faults. I think it is natural at the time of a persons death to remember the good things and not so much the bad. Kind of in the way, through Jesus blood, God is able to see us. And this is like a public wake.
We even do this with the Bible in church. When we teach kids about Noah, we usually leave out the whole getting drunk and naked.
I am open to the fact that I may be wrong and maybe this information should be part of the coverage, but what is happening seems to me what happens on a smaller scale at the time of most people's death.
I can get with that. And I understand, too, that love covers a multitude of sins. I just think the media is a little two-faced about it. When these allegations first came out, the media went wild with accusations and scathing reports. That's the last we heard of Kirby until now - and suddenly he's a hero?
Like I said, I don't wish to negate the man, his career, or his legacy. I just don't want to get carried away with "how wonderful this" or "how heroic that" when he - like all the rest of us - had serious issues in his life. It's not normal to hold a cocked gun to your wife's head while she's holding your daughter. It's not heroic to engage in multiple affairs or try to strangle your wife with an electrical cord. If Kirby had been just any other guy on the street, people would have rejoiced to see him put behind bars...but because he hit a home run in 1991, he's a saint? It just doesn't seem right to me.
I think I understand what you are saying and I agree with that. It seems odd to me as well that people can get so emotionally attached to someone they never met just because they can hit a baseball.
But like I said the reaction to want to highlight the positive aspect of a man at his death just seems pretty natural.
After reading your blog and the comments, I tend to agree with you. Welch's comment makes sense to me too. I truly believe God will judge us not on our careers or skills but rather how we lived our lives and treated those around us. Kirby was a talented baseball player, but unfortunately he had a dark side as well. I feel sorry for his children. They lost their father.
Thanks for "keepin' it real" and reminding us that what we hear/read in the media is not always the full story.
Love ya-
Momma G
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