Meltdown, cont'd

It's late. It's piecemeal. But it's finally happening. The adults in the news media complex are starting to express concern about Charlie Sheen's well-being and how the press is enabling his meltdown. On Monday's Morning Joe (MSNBC), co-host Mika Brzezinski angrily slammed NY Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin for cracking wise about Sheen. For a moment, I thought it was going to come to blows. Good for Mika. Today, Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey weighed in: "Major news outlets, led by ABC and NBC, have been relentless in recent days in aiding and abetting the epic meltdown of a celebrity who happens to be the biggest star on the biggest comedy hit at rival CBS. Given the amount of air time they have gifted him, it's as if the producers on the other networks have fallen under Sheen's spell. [...] no one is exercising any discretion, at least the kind that weighs things like taste, proportion and decency instead of ratings points." I hope these responsible voices will help guilt the media (esp. the TV variety) into doing less exploitative reporting. But it remains an uphill climb. The link right below Rainey's column on the LA Times website points to a "Sheen Glossary" containing the actor's greatest verbal hits ("Adonis DNA," etc) to date. Sigh.