March 22, 2000
On pimps and whores - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER -- Frank Sinatra dealt with them his way.
The press or the media, as is the choice du jour in referring to the Fourth Estate, have been looked upon by some, as the scum of the earth. Well, that’s a safe assumption by many in show business, politics or by commoners like us. I guess they (we) have the impression of hungry men and women ripping meager and not-so meager figures apart for the entire world to see. Is that fair? Perhaps, but then again that’s life.
My relationship with the media has been rather cordial. I mean, I haven’t been caught with my pants down in a darkened corridor of The White House, nor have I been the house guest of a former NFL all-star, that’s just been charged with a double murder in Brentwood, California. We, the unwashed masses tend to think that they, the media, prey on the unwilling, yet they only cater to our needs, desires and wants. (They’re three different things.) I’m not a politician or an important person that the media would find particularly appealing, so that’s where the hospitality between the two of us takes place.
I’ve brought up the topic of my principal not wanting to have the media at Tupper, before. She’s afraid, as most principals in this system, that the media would portray their respective schools in an unfair light. In a previous column I have said that any publicity is good publicity. But the fact that the press in this area, should they portray a particular school in an unfair light, actually influences the minds of parents and community folk of the light. Case in point, the recent Province spread on the Fraser Institute’s rankings of all BC Secondary schools. My school, Sir Charles Tupper Secondary, ranked the lowest of all Lower Mainland schools and for reason, low provincial exam marks. That’s the only thing they measure, yet dim-bulbs in the community, namely know-it-all parents who have no grasp of the educational system because they’ve been away from it for so long, think this report is valid and should be followed.
Firstly the report was not The Province’s. It was obtained by The Province, so as for them to have issue fodder for that week. The Fraser Institute is a fine institution and I happen to respect it. There are many people in that organisation that I respect and I think they do upstanding work across the country. The qualms from my principal and my fellow Tupperites are wrong. Some very easily bitch and complain that The Province is at fault for giving their school a bad reputation, the perception may or may not be correct. Sure, The Province shouldn’t be devoting that kind of ink, without running a disclaimer saying what’s being measured. I think it’s rather irresponsible of parents and guardians to pick up that crap and believe those particular facts. (Then again, it’s The Province, eh?)
The media are a funny bunch. They can provoke such loud battles, as above, yet are never held to their own scrutiny. Perhaps, they are in the form of ratings or papers sold, but it’s not vivid enough. It’s not tough enough. The media is a noble profession, and this above bitching aside, I think it’s an important cornerstone of our society past and present.
Sinatra, in his colourful life was always known to have his tussles with the media. Whether it was slagging his latest effort or spreading innuendo about his personal life, he felt very angry; Sometimes he’d retaliate. Violently. He once referred to the media, the voracious bunch that they are, as pimps and whores. Perhaps he’s correct, but then we’ll all be like that.
We too have voracious appetites for the lives of others and the lives we know nothing of. It’s like slowing down on the highway to have a closer look at a car accident. We do it consciously or unconsciously. We look to the media to create larger-than-life facades, only to get our fill and then tear them apart.
I still think that publicity, pro or con, is good. I hope Principal Philipchuk sees that, as the crapola unleashed by this report has sort of united the Tupper community together. It’s united the school like nothing before to defend our community, the way we choose to keep it and the choice we made in going there.
Like Frank, we do it our way.
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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .