Star-Tribune Earns a Bingo Square
Mary Jo Pehl tipped me off to this Minneapolis Star-Tribune piece on Martin Rike, a man who was injured during a tubing trip on the St. Croix River. It's a relatively ordinary story outside of the fact that Rike's weight is a prominent part of the article:
A paramedic stayed with Rike while rescuers tried to move him. First they helped Rike into a boat, but the boat ran aground, Roland said. Then they brought in a hovercraft to reach him, but that failed, too. An amphibious vehicle and an ATV didn't help either, Roland said. They even tried trying to get a Coast Guard helicopter with a hoist from Traverse City, Mich., to help.
There's a subtle but annoying undercurrent in this piece - a circus sideshow atmosphere. Rike's weight ("nearly 500 pounds") gets called out multiple times.
Now take a peek at this version of the same story (via BFBer Wanderer.) Notice anything? Rike's weight isn't mentioned explicitly; it barely seems to be a part of the story.
There was a letter to the editor published in the Star-Trib addressing this, though:
I can only imagine how quickly an editor's red pen would have crossed out the adjectives from the headline "Black man rescued,"Jewish man rescued," or even the somewhat-comparable "Diminutive man rescued." Apparently being a large person is sufficiently newsworthy to warrant a headline. I find it hard to believe that, pursuant to some new editorial policy, all story subjects will now be identified by age, city of residence and an estimate of their weight.
Citing the man's estimated weight is insensitive and doesn't lend anything to the story, which already contained a quote from rescue personnel that he was a "man of large stature" and featured a photograph of the man. Next time, just report the news and leave the carnival-barker headlines to the tabloids.
Nicely said.
Fat Girl on a Bike | The BMI Change of 1998
Posted by paul on July 23, 2007
"I think everybody was concerned about his health and medical condition..." Urgh. More people "concerned" about a fat person's health.
"Rike said Tuesday evening that he was thankful for the many people who helped in his rescue. He acknowledged that his weight made the rescue more difficult." In other words, his fatness caused a lot of people trouble, so he'd better get on Weight Watchers straight away so he doesn't inconvenience anyone else.
Double Urgh.
Jennifer Portnick
Personal Trainer (who is fat)
San Francisco, CA
I read the Star Tribune with great regularity --several times a day. The especially disturbing part of this story when it first was reported (prior to the story you link), was that while they had a HUGE headline "500lb Man Rescued" as the top story on the front page, the story *estimated* the man's age at 39. Miraculously, they were able to say that man, certainly weighed, exactly 500lbs, but the age, "Uhh...yeah, we can't confirm that, but man was he fat...certainly 500lbs!"
They didn't say they estimated the weight at all, only the age -- a sure sign of sensationalistic journalism.
...Mary Jo Pehl of Mystery Science Theatre 3000?
As for the article...sigh.
Yes, and I was honored to get it!
you think the STrib article was bad? you're thankful you didn't see/hear the coverage on the local (Twin Cities) stations, particularly FOX9. it was horrible and maddening, for sure. and 10x worse than the STrib coverage, if you can believe it.
My local television station loved this story. They had some people post comments on their website that said that he should have to pay for his rescue. And, then, they posted the most outrageous story that described how he wanted to have stomach amputation but his health insurance wouldn't cover it. What went unnoticed was the fact that he was worried that he wouldn't be rehired because of his weight.
"Rike said he went tubing for the first time Monday evening because he was trying to follow his doctor's suggestions to undertake a fun but safe activity."
Well, ya just can't win for losing, can ya? Do what the doctor orders and then be humiliated and ridiculed in the media. Loverly.
I live in MN, and it's not just the Trib making reference to his weight. WCCO is playing up the weight loss angle majorly.
In this day and age, sadly, being fat and having one's life in danger, even if it's completely not fat related, guarantees a headline. Because you know, it *must* be because of the fat that his life was in danger. Sigh.
i saw that coverage on WCCO, too. FOX9 and WCCO are stations i try to avoid altogether because of their horrible "news" reporting.