Upstream. A Mohawk Valley Blogzine.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Pete Hamill On Prosecutors And The News.

While reading Pete Hamill's book News Is A Verb, I came across a great quote about prosecutors and their relationship with the news.
The celebrity virus has infected many people who are supposed to be more neutral. This is the age of the prosecutor, not the defense attorney. Thirty years ago, Perry Mason served as counsel for the defense in the American imagination. Now TV shows glorify the cops and the prosecutors. And real-life prosecutors, like real-life cops, watch these shows. They also look at television news. They read the newspapers. They see what editors believe is important. If a legal process can be transformed into a drama with a basic conflict, white hats up against black hats, they will make it into the newspapers. If they can assemble enough facts, no matter how circumstantial or spurious, to indict a big name, they will be famous. There will be a chance of cashing in the greatest of all American lotto tickets, the book deal...Beyond that, they can run for higher office: In the world of celebrity, anything is possible.

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