Paula Deen was the perfect target for an all-out media feeding frenzy.
She was a 66-year-old white woman who made a ton of money highlighting Southern recipes that were considered fattening. We live in an era where people talk about eating healthy, however, most only talk about it.
When it was revealed Deen was diabetic and had signed a deal with a company selling diabetic products it was the first chink in her armor. However, when she admitted in a deposition she had used the dreaded “N” word it fit the perfect media stereotype.
Clearly this old woman from the deep South—Savannah for crying out loud—was all but a plantation owner with slaves in the media’s mind. You can do just about anything these days, but being politically incorrect is one sin that cannot be erased.
It was time to unleash the “shocked” news media on Deen. While one would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the country who has never used the “N” word, the Deen feeding frenzy was in full force.
The Food Network dumped her and that set off a series of sponsors bailing on her (see Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Kobe Bryant, et al ) that has continued to this day.
Deen did not handle her crisis well and paid dearly for it.
She did not get in front of it fast enough. Once you are playing catch-up during a crisis you are in big trouble.
Her first big mistake was agreeing to go on the “Today Show” and then bailing on the show at the last minute. It was like offering a dog red meat and then taking it back. There is no force in the world uglier than the news media when it feels it has been slighted.
Instead of going on the “Today Show” she issued a video apology that missed the mark. It was amateurish and she did not seem remorseful enough for viewers (almost 4 million strong). A second apology video was better and involved tears, but the racism ball was way out of control.
The only thing Deen can do now is lay low and allow the media frenzy to die down.
SPOT-ON ANALYSIS
Your analysis is spot-on, as it usually is. No one ever points out, though, that the “n word” is not the problem. Blacks, especially young black males, casually use that word all the time. The “offense” is who speaketh the forbidden word. *Sigh*
Guess Ms. Deen won’t be making Apple Brown Betty anymore.
MEDIA FEEDING FRENZIES
Dear Mr. Landsberg: Thanks for posting this info. Actually, we are in the midst of three media “feeding frenzies” right now: Journalists cannot shut up about Paula Deen, Wendy Davis and George Zimmerman. Most of the time, these media “feeding frenzies”, while horrifying to watch, do no harm other than destroying the victim of the frenzy. But, there are cases when they do do harm-and we may be about to witness one. The outcome of the Zimmerman trial is uncertain,but if he is acquitted the social media are full of threats of a nation-wide wave of race riots. If this happens, I suggest that the national press corps be given a special award for having stirred up public passions with their inflamatory coverage of the Trayvon Martin tragedy: Lets call it “The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 Award for People in the Media Who Engaged in Criminally Irresponsible Behavior in a Time of Crisis.” (This award was last given to most of the KC-area media class for having brought the city of KCMO to the edge of a horrific race riot over the Salva tragedy.) Take care!! Sincerely and Respectfully, Ernest Evans
BALDWIN’S HOMOPHOBIC RANT
A spot on assessment, John. The feeding frenzy will die away eventually. Ms Deen will not worry about any lost revenue as her branded products and cookbooks are apparently selling better than ever as consumers blowback against the faux media outrage.
What i find astounding is the liberal love child, Alec Baldwin, who went on a homophobic twitter rant a couple weeks ago (not 30 years ago) has been granted a complete pass from the mainstream media.
For the first time in my life I wrote an advertiser (capital one) urging they reconsider utilizing the despicable Baldwin as a spokesman.