why wont 'The Smoking Gun' website run the Mel Gibson arrest story?

[idgiehkt]

I sent them the TMZ link to part of the original police report along with links to the story yesterday. This morning I got e-mails saying that the police dept isn't releasing the mug shot (why not?) and that the TMZ report was 'leaked' but with no indication why that should make a difference, and that they 'don't have anything'. I don't see why it would matter since the police dept is saying it is not engaging in a cover up, and Gibson has all but admitted to the remarks and apologized. So instead they are running some lame-ass Lindsay Lohan Story that has nothing to do with anything legal. WTF...have they jumped the shark?

Is a mug-shot public information? I know Court TV is now affiliated with (owns?) 'the smoking gun' website now; would this make a difference?

[e-mail]

[ima_sinnic]

1. I got the same answer from them

I thought mugshots were in the public domain and not something that had to be "released." :shrug:

[muryan]

2. They are usually

a couple days behind on this kind of thing. I dont think they hold mel gibson in any higher regard than anyone else, im sure it will be there soon.

[idgiehkt]

3. I'd like to think so, but what I got this morning was an apology.

and it sounded definitive and final. Does anyone know who owns Court TV?

This Lindsay Lohan crap they are running
( http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0728061lohan1.html ) is such a non-story it is pathetic...it's Hollywood news that really is a big nothing. I don't give a crap about LL drunk slut, if I did I'd read thesuperficial.com or something like that.

[Bucky]

10. So you don't want Hollywood soft news, you want Mel Gibson hard news?

Sorry, but Mel Gibson's arrest and conduct is just Lindsey Lohan crap for us chardonnay-and-brie setters.

I love this story. I enjoy watching any conservative flub. But's basically fluff.

[idgiehkt]

11. Were it not for his insistence that "Passion" wasn't anti-semitic, I'd

agree. But that was quite a big story a while back, and made quite a few hundred million dollars. To me this story is huge, and it goes beyond 'Hollywood'.

[sandnsea]

4. They run stories with original sources

If they don't have a document to post, they don't run the story. That's why the Lohan story is up, they've got an original document. I don't see how it could be more obvious.

[idgiehkt]

5. isn't the police report public information?

why wouldn't it be?

and btw, I sent them the link to the pdf file with the police report, which TMZ would have probably been willing to share. But now that Gibson has openly admitted to this behavior and apologized the original report should be availible. It sounds to me like they don't want to pursue it.

[sandnsea]

6. Yes and no

Some things are public information but you still have to file a request and have it processed by staff. If somebody doesn't leak a copy to them on the side, it may take them a while to get an original. The police are not releasing much and have already said why, they don't want to instigate any more animosity considering the ME is coming apart at the seams. With the shooting in Seattle yesterday, I think they're making the right call as to not releasing any more right now. Although the police chief never should have told the arresting officer to sanitize the report.

[idgiehkt]

7. hmmm...

Smack of censorship to me.

I don't like this one bit. They wouldn't do this for a private citizen. The news should be reported, regardless, otherwise that is less than a free press. I don't want someone deciding, well, we can't report about this and such that happened here because this and such happened there. That's crap. It sounds to me like they are protecting Gibson, probably as a favor, and this whole 'what's going on in the Middle East' crap is just a very convenient excuse, as she

would say.

I bet Gibson's next movie might get hit with a boycott if this gets covered too much, which wouldn't bother me since the joker doesn't need any more money; it's obvious he can't handle what he's got.

And since this would be one of the biggest stories to hit the smoking gun in a long time, I'll be very, very disappointed if they take a dive on it for whatever reason.

[bananas]

8. They have to verify it's real, or they wind up like Dan Rather etc. nt

[idgiehkt]

9. I understand but Gibson's apology speaks for itself.

I just looked over my first e-mail from last night and compared it with what they said today, the first one said:

"once we get the full report (and perhaps the booking
photo), we'll post them.

regards,

bill bastone
editor
tsg"

and then I got a couple from the managing editor today, which I deleted because they pissed me off, before I thought properly, and they said the cops aren't releasing the photo, and basically 'we got nothing'. And an apology. WTF?

[Hand]

12. Insh'Allah... nt

[realitybytes]

13. SMELLY MELLY

He's probably butt buddies with some of the good ol' boys running CourtTV, so they don't want to say anything bad about him. Good ol' selective press coverage. He shouldn't get any special treatment that anyone else wouldn't get. News is news, I don't care who it is, and it should be aired. Not that I care what his pickled, overpaid thesbian grey matter thinks anyway.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. What's a 'thesbian?'

Is it a lesbian thespian? If so, Mel definitely wouldn't qualify as one. Is it a thespian from the ancient land of Thebes? Actually, I tend to think of thespians, as stage actors or screen actors with a great deal more talent than Mel Gibson.

I also think the term 'butt buddies' is pretty offensive.

Welcome to DU, anyway.