40 Festering Feston

I missed the article in the Wall Street Journal in which Tom Feston, CEO of MTV, expressed his outrage that MTV staff have been maligned by the opinion that they make their living peddling soft core kiddy porn. But I did see the letters to the editor Tuesday (Feb. 10) commenting on his outrage. To the last comma and period, they ridiculed him:

Letter 1:

leading edge of producing outrageous, offensive material

he seemed satisfied that the show was appropriate for 8 million children between 6-11, which simulated sex, lyrics, goping.

used the juvenile, “everybody’s doing it” excuse

suggested MTV help the youth culture grow up.

Letter 2:

tastes and morals of the 18-24 demographic can hardly be considered representative of the culture

Feston needs to expand his circle of contacts

Letter 3:

comments on Feston’s “self deluded sophistry”

says he achieves ratings through titillation and glorification of sybaritic, salacious and inebriated behavior

No thinking person believes that “claptrap” about reflecting current values

Letter 4 : The program was a burlesque show put on by a hypocrite--the Cliff Notes version of MTV programming

Letter 5: Feston doesn’t get it that the Super Bowl is viewed by millions of little kids--it was not HIS audience--the one attracted by constant emphasis on sexual innuendo.

"The Cliff Notes version of MTV." Now that’s good writing.