A huge tempest has been raised by Matt Taibbi’s cover story in last week’s New York Press, titled “52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of the Pope.” So huge, in fact, that NYP’s website has been down for the much of the past 24 hours, probably as a result of the link from Drudge.
Now I’m all for being “edgy” and “controversial,” and that’s the sort of thing that Taibbi’s done (with varying success) for all his time with the paper. And I’ve always been of the view that any subject –up to and including the Holocaust- can be played effectively for laughs, provided it’s done right (see, “The Producers,” etc.)
But what’s shocking here is that not only is the premise of the piece over the line, but it’s just plain not funny, at any point. My respect for this once-great paper has dropped once again, and I look forward to watching it get fed into the Fox News Outrage Machine. Maybe William Donohue will have a heart attack on the air.
Then again, the Taibbi piece is over over the top that I can’t help but think this was the plan all along. Once they get pounced on by talk radio and Blogosphere, and likely get hit with an advertiser boycott, the NYP editors will get to pretend that there’s a “chill” on their free speech, and that it’s just another example of Bush-era American fascism. The outrage train travels in both directions, you know…
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 4, 2005 05:49 PMI have had the distinct impression that many media outlets have the Pope 'on the clock'. They are just waiting for the big story to emerge when he dies.
I understand the need for media preparedness. The media needs to be prepared with stories and such for when the inevitable does happen, but the tone of many of the recent stories, especially in the television media, is a tone not of concern for the Pope's health, but concern as to when he will die, and a bit of almost grotesque anxiousness for his death. The media tends to sense the coming of a big story, and begins to latch onto it beforehand.
The Pope is a great figure of the 20th century, both from a Catholic and non-Catholic standpoint. His push against communism is as much responsible for the Berlin Wall crmbling as anything Reagan or others did. The Pope has been a tireless advocate against communism and oppression worldwide, and this is good for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.