Cut the wisecracking

IT IS NOTHING NEW, but it still is mean and unfair--the gratuitous reference to a person who has nothing to do with the story or the disparaging aside to the audience about the person in the story. These practices are part and parcel of the journalist's arrogance and preoccupation with trying to be a clever, witty, all-knowing insider. It is the equivalent of a wink, an inside joke at someone else's expense. We all are familiar with the game--it starts in grammar school and continues into the office. It involves gossip and the opportunity to bring down someone who seems to have it all: beauty, power, influence....

When done in private, it may be embarrassing or silly or inappropriate. Yet, when it occurs in print or on television, it becomes more than mean and juvenile--it labels an individual and influences how we think about that person. When performed as a parody on "The Daily Show" or "Saturday Night Live," it is devastating and often funny, but taken in the spirit of satire and free speech. When it is executed on the pages of a major news magazine, it is inexcusable--and just poor journalism.

Celebrities usually held up to scorn and ridicule include personalities as diverse as Ben Affleck, Britney Spears, and Jerry Lewis. This is the way it is done--throwing in some celebrity for comic effect who has nothing to do with the story. An article on TV reality shows doing good deeds: "... It's good to see TV using its resources for an act of charity other than giving Jenny McCarthy a sitcom." Call McCarthy an inno-cent bystander.

All Bruce Willis did was accept an honor from the French government. Newsweek put it this way: "'It could have been worse. The French government could have celebrated the artistry of Ashton Kutcher. Still, even in a country enamored [with] Jerry Lewis, it's hard to fathom why 'Hudson Hawk' star Bruce Willis deserved to be an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.... Maybe the next honor should [go to] Jean-Claude Van Damme?" That item not only ridiculed Willis, but also mocked Kutcher, Lewis, and Van Damme, three celebrities who had nothing whatsoever to do with the story.

Newsweek magazine's coverage of Martha Stewart before she was accused of any crime and during her trial and its aftermath is a case study in biased, mean-spirited reporting of a major celebrity. The magazine took a relatively benign case of greed and scandal--compared to the many examples of major corporate management offenders--and blew it totally out of proportion. Even worse, the writers and editors seemed to take enormous glee in going after a person they obviously felt had no business being rich, famous, or loved by millions of people.

Here is a sampling of Newsweek's treatment of Stewart from 2002 to 2005:

* "Wielding a big knife and a look of determination, Martha Stewart kept her head down while chopping cabbage on CBS's 'The Early Show' last week. But even in her weekly cooking segment, Martha couldn't escape the insider-trading scandal that's tarnished her homemaking empire.... Martha's kitchen is getting a lot hotter."

* "Martha Stewart has borrowed a move from the Bill Clinton playbook: Ignore what everyone else says and stay on message."

* "Although the Martha Stewart camp insists it's business as usual, it looks like the canapes are hitting the fan."

* "As Martha Stewart's legal troubles grow, finding her face in her magazine is like playing Where's Waldo? The former model was once splashed across the pages of Martha Stewart Living. But in the new Thanksgiving issue, Stewart appears only in an ad for her home-decorating products and a promo for her TV show.... Martha's disappearing act might soon spread to her entire company."

* "As Martha Stewart prepares to go on trial this month, she's carefully crafting a new, homespun image. Forget the high priestess of domesticity: she now's Martha from the Block. She took Barbara Walters on a stroll down the humble street in Nutley, N.J. ... As hard as she tries to recast herself as Martha Kostyra of the people, Stewart remains the poster CEO for corporate scandals."

* "If" Martha has it her way, she isn't going anywhere. With the guilty verdicts still ringing in her ears, Stewart is hard at work concocting a plan to stay out of jail.... Her new garden line is flying off the shelves at Kmart, and her Turkey Hill furniture is selling briskly. (Never mind that CBS dumped her TV show)."

* "With her mood suddenly as black as her smart pantsuit, she bolted the scene of her undoing, her teary daughter, Alexis, trailing her.... The stone-faced Stewart [never] broke stride as she cut a path through the media circus."

As a cover story, Stewart's head was superimposed upon the body of a model who was photographed separately in a Los Angeles studio, and the composite image was published. Even Newsweek editors were embarrassed about the fake photo and agreed to make changes in their editorial policy because of the furor it raised--but no apologies to Stewart, Willis, or Kutcher (who has taken more ridicule than even Ben Affleck in the pages of major news magazines for daring to date an actress older than he).