August 17, 2001    
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Of the many stories in the past few years that the media has gone overboard on (OJ Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Elian Gonzales, Shandra Levy, etc.), does any one stand out in your mind as being particularly sickening?

All of those are very good examples.

Dianne, 16
Ontario  CANADA

I don't watch television. When coverage of an event bores me, I read about something else.

Jill, 60
Saylorsburg
, PA  USA

They were all over the top in media exposure. Some I enjoyed, some I immediately turned off the radio. OJ -- The Grandfather of Them All. I didn't really follow it, but I worked with a woman who followed the trial closely. Since she only worked afternoons, we'd get to hear her play by play account of the trial at break. Listening to her was fun.

Monica -- puleez. What a waste of time, energy and money. I could not care less about Presidential blow jobs.

The most recent US presidential election -- I was fascinated by it. I listened to all the news programs, all the talk shows, read all the articles. I couldn't get enough of it.

In more local politics -- Acting Gov. Jane Swift amazes me with her ability to screw up every single time and the media just can't let it go.

Laura, 36
Lowell
, MA   USA

I don't know. I try to ignore that kind of thing.

Karen, 21
Marshalltown/Ames
, IA  USA

They were all pretty sickening! I loathe the way in which the media invade personal privacy.

Jane, 60
West Linn
, OR   USA

Jon Benet Ramsey

Melodi, 19
Gahanna
, OH   USA

THE SCHOOL KILLINGS I THINK THE MEDIA HAS GONE OVERBOARD WITH AS IT CAUSES COPY CAT SITUATIONS.

Marci, 56
Diamond
, OH   USA

No...not any one in particular. They were all annoying as hell.

Fisch, 45
Preston
, CT   USA

All of them. I'm tired of my head being filled with such meaningless junk. As a friend was saying to me yesterday, it's all designed to distract us so we won't be outraged by the real autrocities that are going on.

Felicia, 35
Lowell
, MA   USA

This one is easy. The mess with Clinton made me sick. The media really drug this story out and milked it for every possible bit of "news" that they could get. I do not like Bill Clinton but I'll have to admit, I felt sorry for the man. They say that "the public has the right to know the truth." But in this case, I found myself asking - often - is nothing sacred?

Reba, 50 +
Silver Spring
, MD  USA

They all do...although the image on Bill Clinton and his creative use of cigars particularly stands out in my warped mind....

Frodo
age unknown, parts unknown

The media frenzy over the whole Monica Lewinsky thing disgusted me.

Talia, 24
Wilton
, CT   USA

I think the media crossed the line in handling the JonBenet Ramsey case. A  little girl was murdered and all they could think about was what great headline they could get for their front page. The media went crazy making accusations without cold hard facts. And that was wrong.

Jennifer, 19
Wilkes-Barre
, PA  USA

No story in and of itself has really been sickening. Each of those stories is an important issue--but the fact that the media has gone overboard is what I find sickening. I probably find the JonBenet story a little sickening in and of itself, but the fact that the media dug their teeth in so deep into the story of a little girl's murder is just completely horrifying and nauseating.

Johanna, 18
OK  USA

Because I have no imagination, I'll just respond to the ones given. OJ Simpson - I barely remember. I was old enough to remember, I   just didn't care. JonBenet - I kind of liked that one, but I wish more attention had been given to the fact that a young girl died, rather than so much time having been spent focused on WHO DID IT?!?! IT WAS THE DAD! IT WAS THE MOM! That disappointed me. Clinton and Monica - That didn't sicken me, I just got bored with it. I was kind of proud that it was around here - and I have no problem with girls who do "that kind of thing" though perhaps doing it with married men and/or coworkers is a bad idea. Elian - I didn't really have an opinion on this one, I just wished it would go away. And Chandra. Ah, Chandra. I actually had somebody ask me in a chat room the other day if I knew Chandra Levy. I'm not great friends with this person, but we know each other well enough for him to know I have no connection to people who exercise, the Bureau of Prisons, or anything like that. I was stunned he'd actually asked me that - he lives in NYC, so I asked him if he knew Bill Clinton. I heard he got an office up in Harlem, and my friend lives in the East Village, so maybe they have met! I'm disappointed by how the MPD is bungling the investigation, and I've recently heard rumors about the parents not being as forthcoming as they should have been. I'm very eager to find out what happened, but there haven't been any developments lately so it seems to have faded from the news a bit. I don't feel I can say whether or not it disgusted me because the event isn't over:

etoile, 20
Washington
, DC  USA

All of them! These people deserved the same treatment as a plain 'ol citizens. There are millions of people that go to court every day and they aren't exploited and blown to pieces by the media. I don't think it's very fair that these few famous people were chosen at random and then their lives laid out in the open. I'd really rather not know what Bill or Shandra do in their spare time or how it's affecting their families. It's their private business, not the country's...leave it to the media though to make it

Tracy, 24
Ocean City
, NJ  USA

Jon Benet Ramsey

Melodi, 19
Gahanna
, OH   USA

The ramsey girl. Sickening that they did that to their daughter in the first place (dressing her up like a miniature valley whore). And sickening that they got all the attention they were looking for, whether she was dead or a alive.

Firelady, 23
Dallas
, TX   USA

The release of the James Bulger killers. I thought the way that the red-top tabloid media reacted was disgusting - "Although child psychologists who've been studying John and Robert since they were first imprisoned are convinced that the pair are ready for release, we KNOW that this EVIL pair are PLOTTING something TERRIBLE" and other such hysterical bullshit. The way that the readers were taken in saddened me too - "I fink that it's wrong for these people to be released from prison cuz it says so in my copy of The Sun."

Shanna, 16
Cardiff  ENGLAND

I think that anything having to do with the extorsion of child beauty queens is just sick. Enough said.

Nikita

If you remember When the news was broadcasting about Bill CLinton and Monica Lewinsky, the Olympics was also televised. One evening my son turns to me and goes, "What's the president doing with Tara Lapinsky?" (She was the 12 year old Gold medal winner for skating that year). that kind of made me stop and think.

Janet, 44
E. Brunswick
, NJ  USA

nope. . .i kinda sorta love em all in their full ugly gory luridness. . .

mothmc, 36
Los Angeles
, CA  USA

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