Fucking stop using Exodus Tyson as a child safety lesson!!!!!!

[The Postmaster General]

I can't fucking believe that as I was writing the above title, yet another new story came on the TV (inside edition) doing what prompted me to start this rant...

Now people, I am a loving parent who cares more for the life of my child than that of my own. I spend every waking day finding danger and steering my kid from it. I've gone through my home and stood on book cases, jumped from couches, grabbed my TV like it was a hooker that wronged me and leaned my weight back knowing if it could hold me, my kid would be safe... my point being child safety is a legitimate concern, and something that I think every parent should take as seriously as a fat kid takes cake.

This being said, it's really fucking out of line to use the tragic death of Mike Tyson's 4-year old daughter as a platform to provide parenting tips. It's fucking insulting, knee jerk and just totally, totally unsympathetic.

How would these news fucks feel if the joy of their life, the apple of their eye... horribly and suddenly died before experiencing the things that make childhood wonderful? How would they feel to turn on the TV and see the news outlets using their story as a means to talk about what they could have done different? Wouldn't they feel a bit conflicted, worse... wouldn't it give ample food for thought that maybe it was their fault?

Of course, it's just an accident. No one could have seen it coming, or it wouldn't have happened. And yes, it is important to get the word out to parents how they themselves can keep it from happening, BUT THE DAY AFTER THE FUCKING KID DIES!!!!! THE FUCKING DAY AFTER!!!!?????

This shit pisses me off to no end. Slightly related, but a somewhat different topic, yesterday I saw a newstory about a baby that died from choking on a ...

FUCK THAT STORY JUST CAME ON!!!! HEY EVERYONE, DID YOU KNOW THAT TYSON'S DAUGHTERS DEATH COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED???

Maybe if I went into the newstudio and starting blasting down all these asshats for being asshats, that too could have been prevented by them not being such asshats!!!

Anyway, this lady's kid chokes on a watch battery, and the lady is on the news talking about how she never saw that coming and wanted to warn everyone... ah... Look lady, it's horrible, horrible, but don't act like babies choking on batteries is some kind of news that no one has heard of... IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!!

Sorry, that was an aside, and totally contrary to my point - a parent acting like they had no idea a baby could choke on a watch battery is slightly different than news outlets across the country making a point that what happened to a dead child, that died yesterday, could have been prevented.

Mike Tyson, I can't standup for much of what he's done outside the ring, but the man had a family. The man was trying to gain back respect. He was getting happy, and I believe a huge part of that was the love he felt for his daughter. The death of her, I'm sure, is something that may flip his world back off track. I only hope that he keeps his head up and stays the course.

Of course, part of me wishes he would march into every news station in the country (which appears to be the extent of who's reporting these stories) and bites the fucking ears off every reporter there.

Yes, these stories need to be told, but fuck's sake show some respect. And no, there's no irony or hypocrisy in me ranting about this --- This is no different than any instance where the media needs to back off of stories, but I will say that I find it to be among the most heinous and tacky. Even showing Anna Nicoles corpse can't touch this one. They could have taken Princess Diana's head and stuck their hand up her neck and had a newcaster use her as a puppet to make it look like she was telling the news story of her own death, and I think even that would be a little more classy.

If these news outlets really cared, they would be telling these stories not the day after someone's tragic loss, but they would be doing in on a regular basis - reminders, maybe even weekly segments on home safety. Of course, I'm talking about some universe that doesn't exist, because we all know they don't give a shit, and using Tyson's name is just a way to get ratings.

It's just sad, is all. We as a society, mostly through our media, have become some detuned toward the feelings of others, that we think it's perfectly ok to make a lesson out of the accidental death of a 4 year old just a day after it happened.

Either way, I know Tyson won't read this, and I know this has no affect on him, but straight up, I wish the man all the best, am sorry for his loss, and want him, his wife, any people living inside their house to know straight up, that they made no mistakes, and there was nothing they should have done differently. One day, the loss of Exodus may result in saving many, many other children, but not because of the news, and not because of any one platforming, but because they, The Tyson Family, already understand what happened, and won't let it happen again.

Peace to their family.

I want everyone to know that this was hard for me to write, and I kept getting mixed feelings throughout, but still kept pushing on. This is something that has really bothered me over the past day, and something I think that needs to be said. I do not like using this tragedy as an underlying part of being angry, but at least no one can say I had anything to gain by doing it.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Am I out of line? Anyone else sick of it? Is this just a general rant at news, or does this seem particularly bad even for the news to anyone else? Am I being too sensitive because of my own child?

Let it rip, or not. It's just something I wanted to bring up. I feel a lot better. Urge to kill fading... fading... RISING... fading...

(exhales)

[someguy]

That rant reads like vintage angry young Bubba, not older mellowed out dad Bubba we've come to know so well.

Have you seen Tyson yet? It's a really good documentary, my favourite movie of 09 so far. It all kind of adds a more tragic aspect to what's happened with his kid.

[The Postmaster General]

No, but I definitely want to. My wife just informed me of an something about the story that's made my anger rise back up a tad, and that would be that Tyson asked the media to not cover the story... So I'm concluding that they are using the kid safety angle as a way to still use the story without it technically being about Tyson.

Sad.

[Reigh Kaufman]

I said this in the other thread about Exodus, but it shows how fucking insensitive journalists are:

The media arrived outside the hospital before Tyson arrived from the press-junket. When he rushed passed them without saying a word, one of the journalists complained that Tyson had "ignored them completely".

Now that's just wrong. Man raced to be by his daughter's bedside - he isn't going to take a photo op just for the papers.

Dickheads.

[jackson13]

If anybody wants to go start a war with the media, gimme a holler. I've had enough of all of their shit too. Exploitation, fear-mongering....they have to be stopped. And I have to stop them.

[Cop No. 633]

Fucking pricks. This is why I stopped getting the news from TV. They just can't report the facts anymore, they have to give their stupid-as-fuck two cents on every piece of news as if their opinions are actually worth anything.

That's very shameless of them to do that. Somebody needs to make a gif of Tyson knocking out one of their heads pasted on top of Zach Galafianakis' rippling body from the Hangover clip.

[someguy]

If anybody wants to go start a war with the media, gimme a holler. I've had enough of all of their shit too. Exploitation, fear-mongering....they have to be stopped. And I have to stop them.

I could so make a Bush joke right now but...

[Abbie Normal]

This being said, it's really fucking out of line to use the tragic death of Mike Tyson's 4-year old daughter as a platform to provide parenting tips. It's fucking insulting, knee jerk and just totally, totally unsympathetic.



This is exactly why I do not watch the bullshit news. I could make several liberal comments here, but this is neither the time or the place.

[jackson13]

I could so make a Bush joke right now but...

That final part of my post was a quote from a movie, so you know, I wasnt completely serious.

Always up for a good Bush joke though. Hit me with it.

[Tagia_Romero]

The child was named Exodus?

[The Postmaster General]

Yes.

[drc5145]

We're supposed to be surprised the media does bullshit like this on a consistent basis?

There's a reason TMZ exists although that's on a different scale of bullshit compared to the one Bubba has highlighted in his post today.

[The Postmaster General]

TMZ is fine compared to what's happening here. Even TMZ stopped reporting on it, with their last entry being the statement from Tyson's family asking for privacy.

The problem with this particular thing is that the news has made it a story about Tyson's daughter by making it not about Tyson's daughter. No, this kind of bullshit doesn't happen on a consistent basis. Like I said, even the most heinous slights by the media in the past are pale compared to creating connections that don't need to be created. If it happened on a consistent basis, you'd be seeing alot more rants from me about it, because it's a whole new level of worse that no one here is familiar with, and something that is probably going to receive a giant backlash. It wasn't just inside edition, but nearly every single news outlet I've come across today, has taken the "child safety tips" angle.

[Cop No. 633]

It's like if a news channel implied that John Travolta didn't know how to take care of his autistic son when he died is what Bubba's saying. That is a new low. Criticizing the parent in the even of an accident? Not cool in any way.

[Cenopath]

Well said, Bubba. As much as we all like to question Tyson's parenting abilities, it's important to remember that this is a man who is grieving over the loss of his daughter, and we should leave him alone while he does. Tyson isn't perfect, but there have been cases of child neglect that are far worse than what happened here - the media, of course, would not use those cases as a model for child safety due to the lack of celebrities involved.

[The Postmaster General]

Well said, Bubba. As much as we all like to question Tyson's parenting abilities, it's important to remember that this is a man who is grieving over the loss of his daughter, and we should leave him alone while he does. Tyson isn't perfect, but there have been cases of child neglect that are far worse than what happened here - the media, of course, would not use those cases as a model for child safety due to the lack of celebrities involved.

Exactly. It's exploitive, and would be just as wrong with noncelebs, but since it's a celeb, it's like "ah fuck it! this is gold!" This is kind of why I related the story about the lady who swallowed the battery, because it was the inverse of this in some ways - where it felt like she was playing dumb on TV over what seemed like a pretty obvious hazard (she never thought a baby could choke on a watch battery -- seriously?) and her kid ended up still being alive and she's telling her story way after the fact (this was months back, and the story came on the day Tyson's daughter went to the hospital), whereas Tyson doesn't want the press over what seems like a less obvious hazard and his kid is gone and it's the next day!

It's the news doing the exact same thing in both cases, but they are annoying for different reasons because this kind of shit should be reported regularly, and not when it's surrounding a celebrity.

I kind of feel calling either story neglect isn't really on the level, though. There is a level of neglect there, but there's so many factors we don't know about - with Tyson, the cord could have come lose, entry could have been allowed into the exercise room accidentally, and with the battery a cat could have knocked it off a high shelf, it may have dropped... But these are things the news should know before they start making stories out of them and creating all these bullshit stories in an attempt to make connections and just run news. They want to save the world with a child safety story, fine, but stop the name dropping and ballyhoo.

On a more positive note, I haven't heard the story today. Of course, I haven't turned on the TV yet, or listened to broadcast radio, or checked online news. Maybe things are getting better all the time.