Better Headline Written
As most of you will recall, the L.A. Times recently ran an article exploring Fred Thompson’s portrayal of a racist on the TV show “Wiseguy,” and the effect that it might have on his campaign. In my post about the article, I said I had not liked the L.A. Times‘s headline: Will Fred Thompson’s racist role have political repercussions?
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette runs Daunt’s piece today, with a much better headline: Ex-senator not a racist, but he played one on TV.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette gets a cookie.
PCachu (e072b7) — 5/11/2007 @ 6:33 amPolitics is a game of perception. First impressions are lasting and the latimes knows it. I would rather ask questions about his record in the Senate,
semanticleo (710d38) — 5/11/2007 @ 6:46 amhis industriousness, and his sense of humor. I suspect those questions are more relevant to his
candidacy. Know what I mean?
I like Fred, if for no other reason than he reminds me of my Great Grandfather…
And in case you were wondering, that’s a man we would all do well to emulate…
Scott Jacobs (feb2f7) — 5/11/2007 @ 6:55 amSJ;
I’m sure your Great Grandfather was a fine man.
semanticleo (710d38) — 5/11/2007 @ 7:42 amBut how do you know Thompson so well that you would
compare them?
SJ;
I’m sure your Great Grandfather was a fine man.
But how is it you know Thompson well enough for a comparison?
semanticleo (710d38) — 5/11/2007 @ 7:45 ami like the times headline better because it succinctly asks the important question; the fort wayne headline evokes a “so what?”.
i believe that at least 90% of our dumbed-down electorate can distinguish between a character in movies/tv and the actor playing the character. almost all the remaining 10% will be voting for the republican nominee anyway.
fred thompson played some positive characters too, has there been any discussion of whether he will get an unearned boost in the polls from that?
thompson hasn’t told us what he stands for. all i know about him: some of his roles, and he represented tennessee for a term in the senate. that’s it. he’s running a stealth op to offer his party an alternative to the corrupt striver, the crazy mormon and the pro-choice new yorker with the domesstic trouble. this alone does not qualify him for the presidency.
assistant devil's advocate (ab3f16) — 5/11/2007 @ 8:09 amI said he reminds me of my Great Grandfather not he is like my Great Grandfather…
I’d have thought someone with “semantic” in his handle would have noticed the difference…
Scott Jacobs (feb2f7) — 5/11/2007 @ 8:22 amHow on earth is such an asinine inquisitive connection between a role and the man who played it an important question?
“Will Schwarzennegger’s futuristic killer robot role have political repurcussions?”
The answers are obvious: 1. Not to anyone with any sense whatsoever. 2. Certain Dems will make hay of it, so see answer 1.
Pablo (08e1e8) — 5/11/2007 @ 9:47 amWho cares about his acting career? I want more articles about his hot trophy wife.
Moops (8fcb37) — 5/11/2007 @ 10:22 amI don’t believe I’ve ever seen a pic of his wife…
You holding out on me, Moops?
Scott Jacobs (feb2f7) — 5/11/2007 @ 10:30 amHere’s one… and a few more here
Fred!
carlitos (cc9303) — 5/11/2007 @ 11:32 ampablo, the question isn’t necessarily important to me (see the rest of my comment) but it was important enough to pass the times’s headline editor’s test, and, just a guess, the editor wants people to click on the headline. very few people will click on “governor schwarzenneger not a killer robot, just played one in movies”.
if there’s a hot trophy wife around here somewhere, somebody post a link!
assistant devil's advocate (ab3f16) — 5/11/2007 @ 11:39 amlinky – my prior post had more but went away somehow.
carlitos (cc9303) — 5/11/2007 @ 11:44 amOh my…
Helloooooooooooooooooooooo future First Lady!
Scott Jacobs (feb2f7) — 5/11/2007 @ 11:47 amWith a straight forward title like that, perhaps the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is actually the newspaper with intellectual integrity that we’ve all been missing.
Maybe 90% of the electorate can distinguish between a character in movies/tv and the actor playing the character, or maybe not. Certainly a large percentage can’t tell the difference between the character in a presidential campaign and the politician playing him. (Whether one likes John Kerry or not, the idea that he was pro-military, pro-soldier after his “Winter Soldier” days was preposterous in my opinion.)
My comment about Fred Thompson- I heard him many months ago giving a speech or commentary- I don’t remember the setting or the details, but I do remember being impressed and thinking that it would be great if he ran for president, or at least had a job to represent and explain President Bush’s policies to the American people.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/11/2007 @ 5:55 pmI meant to add that the Dems have never accused anyone of being a “futuristic killer robot”, so the labeling wouldn’t be an issue. I am sure there are people who will think, “I can’t see how anyone would want to pretend to be a racist in a movie if they didn’t have at least a little bit of racist in him”.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/11/2007 @ 6:01 pmWhich should be the level of attention payed to an absolute non-story.
Pablo (08e1e8) — 5/12/2007 @ 2:20 pm