By Steve Rhodes
Dem Convention Notebook 4 will appear later today. If you missed it, here’s Dem Convention Notebook 3: Rahm Rockne, SuperPAC Man. And now, the rest of the day’s news . . .
1. Judge Judy doesn’t even allow hearsay evidence, and it’s more than a little disconcerting that the General Assembly passed “Drew’s Law” specifically for this case (which proved to be crucial).
UPDATE 6:44 P.M.: It appears that the vast amount of reporting attributing the hearsay evidence to Drew’s Law is wrong. I stand corrected. (Does everyone else? Geez! At least I can say I really didn’t follow this damn thing!)
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In fact, nobody acquitted themselves well – Drew Peterson is a royal jackass and likely a multiple murderer who the media saw fit to exploit for profit and “the people” behaved like bloodthirsty children at a beheading.
It’s hard to argue with much of what Thomas Peterson – son of Drew and Kathleen Savio – wrote on his Facebook page.
See also:
* Nobody Should Play Drew Peterson In A Lifetime Movie
* Watch Rob Lowe Actually Take Seriously His Role As Drew Peterson In A Crappy Lifetime Movie
2. Why not just put them at 7/11s and on parking meter boxes too and be done with it?
3. The Tribune is not naming Chief Keef as the author of a taunting tweet after the death of Lil Jojo because he has not been charged with a crime.
Normally I might agree – I have criticized the media (including the Tribune) for abandoning just such a standard in recent years.
But Chief Keef injected himself into this story, and is inextricably wound up in it – as is Lupe Fiasco and many others in their own ways. Your job, Tribune, is to explain why this is an international story that is generating so much heat and flash – perhaps in corners of the city, nation and world you aren’t real familiar with, but nonetheless – so your readers can understand what this is all about. Providing a rich and mature context, especially against the backdrop of this summer’s gang violence, cannot be accomplished without talking about Chief Keef.
That doesn’t mean assigning guilt. It means explaining the beef that has caught the attention of so many, including the police. It may turn out that it’s not related to Jojo’s death at all, but it’s still a time to discuss Jojo’s world and tell us why we should care.
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The Tribune first named Drew Peterson on Oct. 31, 2007. He was not charged with murder until May 8, 2009. In the interim, the Tribune published 113 articles naming him, according to a ProQuest database search.
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Finally, Greg Kot has already named Keef in a related article featured in the Trib website. Maybe the reticence is reserved for home print subscribers who don’t read Kot. Eric Zorn has also named him in consideration of his lyrics and now-infamous tweet.
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The Tribune Company-owned Chicago magazine also has no such qualms; see Coming To Terms With Chief Keef.
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In Anger Over Chief Keef’s Tweet Mocking Rival’s Murder Explodes Online, the Sun-Times reports that “[Pitchfork’s] editor apologized for a video interview with Chief Keef conducted in a gun range and removed it from the website.”
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Previous Keef in the Beachwood:
* South Side 16-Year-Old Gets Shot, Blows Up
* Kanye West Hops On Chief Keef (Spin)
* Chief Keef at the Congress in The Weekend in Chicago Rock
* Local Music Notebook: Chicago’s On Fire Right Now
* Rhymefest vs. Chief Keef
* Sucker Free Scene Report
* Chief Keef at Lollapalooza in The Weekend in Chicago Rock
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4. Rahm loses 100 jobs to Aurora. No press conference to follow.
5. Gentrifiers of the Midway.
6. This week’s installment of the world’s greatest college football report comes with bologna and balls.
7. The (Short) Week in Chicago Rock.
8. Underemployed in Chicago.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Hold the bologna.
Posted on September 7, 2012