This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
[Video: There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.]
Us media types need to stop and think.
When people do terrible things like this, we have to report what happened.
But do we really have to tell you over and over who that person was? Must we detail their sad background? Their twisted goals? Their apparent willingness to do anything, even dreadful things, just to get their names in every newspaper, TV station and website on Earth?
Isn't that just what the perpetrators want? Aren't we just encouraging more people to follow their demented lead?
Well, yes, there is reason in that concern. And compassion. But we in the free press do have a basic responsibility to tell you what happened, and that isn't complete without telling you who did it.
So, yes, we do have to cover everything Jason Chaffetz says and does. And we have to use his name, and his picture, over and over and over.
Does it encourage him? Gain him sympathy and support? Encourage copy-cat acts of political buffoonery?
Probably. But we can't say that these things were done by just, "somebody." You have, not just a right to know, but a need to know.
So, only a few days after the congressman from Utah's 3rd District made a total arse of himself in the global media by badgering the president of Planned Parenthood with phony graphs and meritless attacks, Chaffetz was at least a semi-serious candidate for speaker of the House.
Who was it who said that there's no such thing as bad publicity? Just spell the name right. (Though I've heard a few non-Utahns struggle with the pronunciation.)
• Salt Lake Tribune: "Jon Huntsman backhands Jason Chaffetz over speaker bid."
In a tweet, former Gov. Jon Huntsman, for whom Chaffetz was briefly chief of staff, said, "@GOPLeader McCarthy just got 'Chaffetzed.' Something I know a little something about. #selfpromoter #powerhungry"
• New York Times: "Bid for Speaker That Is Quixotic But in Character."
"But opportunity for Mr. Chaffetz is like the scent of an airport Cinnabon, and he has a habit of racing to its smell."
• PolitiFact: "Chart shown at Planned Parenthood hearing is misleading and 'ethically wrong'."
The true or false rating given by this Pulitzer Prize winning fact-check organization to the cancer screenings vs. abortion chart Chaffetz displayed at the Planned Parenthood hearing was the worst they have: "Pants on Fire"
• Vox: "GOP congressman doubles down on comically misleading Planned Parenthood chart."
• Salon: "Jason Chaffetz, grandstanding charlatan: What you need to know about the GOP's shameless up-and-comer."
"He is good communicator, except for the fact that he seems to have a tiny problem with the truth."
• Politico: "Hatch: Chaffetz bid makes congressional 'chaos' more likely"
"Chaffetz's bid 'may prevent McCarthy from getting' sufficient support, Hatch said. 'Which is in my view a pretty bad thing. The more the House stays in chaos, the worse it will be'."
• Ogden Standard-Examiner editorial: "Chaffetz & company put politics ahead of the people"
"If their constituents mattered to Chaffetz and company, they would've dropped their Planned Parenthood charade, negotiated with the opposition and agreed on a budget deal. But they didn't."
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:
"The Secret Service attempted to embarrass one of their biggest critics, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, by leaking his rejected application to join them, essentially behaving like the high school table of mean girls. ... And I don't know what's worse here. The fact that the Secret Service is so petty that they broke the law to embarrass Jason Chaffetz, or that they're so stupid, they didn't realize, if you want to embarrass Jason Chaffetz, just wait, and he will do it for you."
Of course, none of what was being said about him in the lamestream media matters to Chaffetz. That's not his demographic. All that he needs to worry about is:
George Pyle, a Tribune editorial writer, has been a reporter and writer for nearly 40 years, and has absolutely no memory of how he did it before Google. gpyle@sltrib.com