Give You Her Due
To the editor:
I must admit that Brenda You’s big eyes and the title of the piece about her, “Naked Ambition” [October 22], drew me in like a dumb beast.
However, You’s interesting experiences with the Tribune and her stinging comments about the corporatization of the mainstream news media were unfortunately lost in the sexy information about her posing for Playboy and her subsequent work with the Jerry Springer Show. Yeah, she’s beautiful, edgy, and smart, but what she had to say about how “young…reportersare shut down really fast for stepping on toes” underscores exactly what scholarly media critics like Noam Chomsky say about the harmful effects of corporatization on the mainstream media and what Chomsky calls “manufactured consent.”
I hope that the Reader, as an alternative newspaper, will take the opportunity to follow up on what Brenda You has said about the mainstream media and to present to the public what they need to know about the newspapers they read on the train to work every day.
But she sure is good lookin’…and smart…and edgy…and…
Scott Scheidt
Chicago