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You're Right, David Simon, We're Pathetic!
March 19, 2008

During the final season of HBO's The Wire, creator David Simon railed against the press tendency to ignore the complexities of entrenched social problems and, instead, focus on trivia.

The patrician executive editor of the fictional Baltimore Sun was enamored with all things “Dickensian.”  Ambition often drove editorial choices.  Stories were shaped to attract the prestigious prizes, a conduit to plum positions at the NY or LA Times.

Some things just never change in Baltimore.  The real Baltimore Sun is at it again – this time the once-venerable paper has declared its own little drug war on one addiction treatment medication called buprenorphine.

Huffington Post’s Maia Szalavitz complains that the Sun "narrowed in on a tiny problem while refusing to look at the big picture….Addiction is a massively complex social problem -- but the sad thing is that rather than suggest solutions, the press is busy looking for stories to plug into its prize-seeking formula. And this kind of series, misguided as it is, often does win prizes. You're right, David Simon, we're pathetic!"

In other news, David Simon writes: "The Wire's Final Season and the Story Everyone Missed."

Posted by Mary McNamara on March 19, 2008 | Comments (0)