Comments on: Taking Tiger Mountain

By: Kachina

Kachina — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:21:39 +0000

Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation Anyway … nice blog to visit.

cheers, Kachina.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:52:18 +0000

Hey, WIRE fans, I made an homage to the show. Watch it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__CSXuSDEw0

By: That Honey Nut

That Honey Nut — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:47:24 +0000

…with a whimper?

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:11:34 +0000

Fantastic post and some amazing thoughts from rimrat.

All the best

By: rimrat

rimrat — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:20:49 +0000

Much of the irony of “The Wire” is that the Sun editors and Carcetti and Stringer Bell and the union leaders aren’t the worst among their kind but among the best.

By: rimrat

rimrat — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:37:02 +0000

Both Baltimore Suns are apparently squandering their greatness by gutting their institutional memory and cashing in on the century-plus they’ve spent building up respect within their communities. That said, the “Wire” Sun’s bad editors are better than many of their real-life peers and the newspaper still apparently has a newsroom full of dedicated professionals. If anything, the editors … and even the lying reporter … still seem to about their notion of journalism, however flawed. Most of the midlevel and above editors I’ve known — including some Pulitzer prize winners — were more concerned about keeping the editors up the line happy than they were with any journalistic ideal. There are exceptions, but most are just corporate lackies. Considering that even the journalists of “The Wire” produced a prize-winning series that offered a kind of truth, despite the lie, and I will have to say it is better than the average newspaper. That ain’t praise.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:42:44 +0000

…er “” oh, well…

By: Curtis

Curtis — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:41:38 +0000

JP — use these instead of these [ ].

By: John Peterson

John Peterson — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:47:36 +0000

[quote]It’s a sort of sentimentalized civics lesson to be sure, but I think that although Simon truly does lament the end of the honorable city paper, he would agree that any mode that can replicate its contributions is welcome.[/quote]

Yea, and that’s strange, because it seems that Simon would rather be writing for the paper than anything else, but [i]The Wire[/i] does more to tell the stories of Baltimore than 1,000 newspaper articles.

By: MissnBodie

MissnBodie — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:00:15 +0000

This is an interesting take, and reminiscent of the recent interview with Simon where he states he found it ironic that no one picked up on the major point of the newspaper subplot, that the paper was missing all the big stories, namely the ones mentioned in the lead post, while oral history in the communities remains the best way to preserve someone’s memory, albeit embellished. (The biggest story not reported is of course, not Omar or Prop Joe, but the coverup and its ramifications for Carcetti, Rawls, Perlman and Marlo. Remember, nobody at the Sun is covering City Hall or the courts anymore, except for the guy working the Fed. Cts. at the same time).

Reading this post reminded me of Bunny, who like Gus was a man of principle demoted and discarded by the system. I suppose Daniels fits this model too, though his story is a bit more complicated by his ambition, murky past, and devotion to his ex-wife and Perlman. Thus a parallel between Season 3 and Season 5 emerges. McNulty’s demotion after Hamsterdam allowed him to follow Bunny’s (and Daniels’ advice that the best way to police was from the streets. They needed to know whom they were helping in order to form the relationships necessary to serve and protect. Hamsterdam is a form of community policing that works. They meet and educate the lieutenants, the drug trade is controlled, and the neighborhood prospers (well, you know, relatively). In the process McNulty forms a bond with Bodie and Carver begins his maturation expressed more powerfully in Season 4. Season 4 incidentally follows the same theme, though without the clear character parallels, with Prez, who never learned how to work the streets as a cop, finally appreciating the individuals in that community. Thus, seasons 3 and 4 teach that the stories are at the local level, and integrating the system with the individual is essential to honest and successful institutions.

Briefly then, Season 5 faults the newspapers for their version of ‘juking the stats’ while not ‘community policing’ by putting more reporters on the beat and getting to know the community. Only Fletcher does that. Even saintly Alma doesn’t follow through on her connection to McNulty to figure out why only two murders are being charged. Similarly, Templeton misses the story behind McNulty’s admission. Yes the editors are bad, but are they worse than Burrell or Rawls or Old Mayor or Carcetti for desiring a Pulitzer above integrity? In my view it’s a wash. The real flaw, as Simon and this post have led me to ponder further, is that there aren’t more Guses and Fletchers who take the time to connect with the people.

Does Fletcher represent ‘a new hope’ for the Sun? His work completes Reginald’s redemption, and along with Simon’s cameo and Gus’s smile from the copy desk suggest that perhaps in such a newsroom, the paper can do a bit of real po-lice work of their own.