The Rake Magazine

I wrote a post last week about the NY Times coming in to Minnesota and snatching a significant story about Minnesota doctors accepting money from drug companies...and then showing a greater propensity for prescribing those drugs to children.

It was useful to me at the time for pointing out how lame our local gang over at the Strib had become, especially because they reprinted the Times story in a much shorter form--consistent with their strange mantra that the readers of their newspaper really don't like to read all that much.

In our zeal to celebrate the triumphs of good journalism, though, we sometimes forget what the real purpose of good journalism is: to change things that ought to be changed, and to help people who ought to be helped.

There's a terrific story on Salon today, written by Rake contributor Ann Bauer, about her son, who had been prescribed some of the drugs mentioned in the Times' story, and the horrors her son and she have since had to endure.

Two sides of the same story. Two remarkable pieces of journalism. Please take the time to read them. You may have to register, and even pay for Times Select to see the Times story, but damn, it's worth it.

Will someone please think of the children?

I keep trying to quit, but it's an addiction. I know it's bad for me. It raises my blood pressure, makes me wheeze, and makes my head hurt. It kills brain cells and it's bad for the people around me.

No, it's not cigarette smoking. I quit doing that in 1976.

It's Katherine Kersten. She's a plague upon anyone who would try to clear the air on almost anything.

Today's column is a topper, though. The smoking ban that was signed into law yesterday...well, KK's agin' it. But not for the sort of reasons you might think. She's worried that the next thing on the agenda for the American Lung Association is...are you ready for this...steak.

Yes, steak. Because, as anyone knows, steak is bad for you. Like cigarettes, it ruins your circulation and causes an early death in lots of people. However, unlike cigarettes, it only causes an early death among people who actually consume it. Last I looked (and it wasn't that long ago that I had an absolutely delicious filet at Mancini's) there were no noxious fumes coming off that perfectly charred and lusciously pink-centered piece of bovine heaven.

There was no threat to my companion, who was having a piece of broiled fish and a salad. Not even my pre-steak gin soaked olive concoction posed any danger to her. (I wasn't driving.)

But, if Katherine the Great had her way, she would have you defy all logic and FEAR THE GOVERNMENT! Because if they can step in to protect people who are being harmed by the actions of others, who knows, next time they'll probably step in to protect people who aren't being harmed by the actions of others. It's only a short step from banning smoking in public places to banning steaks, pork chops, palm hearts and those damn raspberries whose little seeds get stuck in my teeth.

Damn government. Next thing is they'll be banning food altogether. I'm writing my legislator right now. This has got to stop.

Ok, you say, I'm not being fair. And you're probably right. Because KK didn't stop at steak. Because, she had a column to fill, and we hadn't got around to family values yet. And, logic dictates that, if you're going to ban smoking, you should also ban divorce and pornography, because, in the words of that Simpson's character, "Will someone please think of the children?"

I'm going to start thinking of the children right now. Here's what I'm thinking: If you don't care if they rot their lungs, go ahead and smoke around them. If you don't care if they rot their brains, leave the Strib laying around where they can get their hands on Kersten's columns.

The most emailed story of yesterday's New York Times was a story about how doctors, particularly psychiatrists, were receiving payment from manufacturers of various drugs used to treat various psychiatric conditions. It detailed, in particular, how children were being prescribed powerful drugs, for non-indicated uses, and how the receipt of honoraria by the doctors was oddly coincidental with their propensity to prescribe said drugs.

It appeared on the front page of The Times, and jumped inside. It occupied about 60 column inches, not including three large photos. The same story appeared on the front page of yesterday's Strib, too. Well, it was sort of the same story. It was plucked from the Times and edited down to about 33 column inches. (It's probably also worth a mention that the Strib's editing included taking out all the names of the Minnesota doctors, save one. One would think the doctors who were taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug companies might be the crux of the story. And it probably would be if you weren't a Strib editor trying to make room for the much bigger story of Moorhead State banning cigarette smoking that occupied the main position on the front page. Oh yeah, there were the school kids who were collecting $58 for Darfur. That's front page news, too.)

Now, in itself, the NY Times story on the front page of the Strib isn't noteworthy because, hell, a large portion of the Strib every day is cadged from other papers.

What is worth noticing however, is that this scandalous story was about doctors in Minnesota. Yup, the NY Times has the reporters to come in here and get an important story right under the very noses of the hometown team.

Of course, the hometown team here is looking a lot like Sid Hartman's fabled "Little Sisters of the Poor" being tossed on the field against the New York Yankees.

How does this happen? I prefer to look at it from the positive side. The Times is owned by a family that cares about their role in society, and the role of a great newspaper in helping keep our country great. They accept lower profits in order to accomplish their role.

But, while papers like the Strib self destruct in their never ending quest for increasing quarterly profits, The Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, which are all still family controlled, are going to end up looking a lot like Toyota looks now to Ford and General Motors.

It's the long term view. It's the mind set that the quality of the product is paramount for the long term success of the business. It's rare in American business, and even rarer in the American newspaper business. And when a private equity firm owner is looking for the quick flip, it's so rare as to be nonexistent.

p.s. Here's another story from The Times today. It didn't require the same sort of investigation as the above mentioned story, but it sure put an exclamation point on what drug companies are up to. Even wonder how these drug pushers get to pay a fine that amounts to a small portion of their profits, but selling a dime at Seventh and Hennepin will get you jail time?