Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Breaking News on Andrews Peephole Case: N.Y. Post Leads With 'Erin's Perv Fury'; Media's 'Haunting' Story is 'Volcanic' on Google Trends!

ABC News has another big report on the Erin Andrews nude video scandal, "Looking for Clues in Erin Andrews Peeping Tom Video: What Hints Can Be Gleaned About Perverted Perpetrator's Identity from Web Clips?"

But check out the New York Post, "Angry Erin Andrews Wont' Rest Until Peep Perve is Jailed":

Beautiful ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, who was secretly videotaped naked in her hotel room by a peephole pervert, is horrified and furious over the twisted act, her lawyer said yesterday.

"We are focused on putting this predator behind bars," her lawyer, Marshall B. Grossman, said yesterday. "This conduct is unacceptable in a civilized society" ...

Andrews, last seen on air Sunday during the network's annual ESPY Awards, will not resume broadcasting until college football kicks off in September, ESPN officials said.

Andrews, 31 - dubbed "America's sexiest sportscaster" - was caught on tape in her hotel room with a camera that may have been handheld.

The video and screen grabs surfaced on the Web under the title "Hot naked blond who looks a lot like a sports-blogger favorite in her hotel room."

Actually, if you check the link, the Post's story is behind the curve on what's known at this point. One guy interviewed there suggests the hotel security should have had "a camera on every floor to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen?" Of course, most reports now say that Andrews was videotaped by a miniature hook-neck camera through a hole carved in the hotel wall (see TMZ, "Andrews Peeping Tom - ESPN Investigating"). The Post's story is going heavy on the Erin Andrews photo-slideshows, naturally.

Related, from MediaBistro, "Erin Andrews Peephole Scandal Continues to Make News." MediaBistro takes issue with the Post's reporting, and has a nifty PollDaddy survey:

Do you think the Post and others - like TMZ, Fox News and CBS - made the right decision in publishing or broadcasting photos or parts of the illicit video? Take our poll and leave your comments below.

Actually, again, really bad reporting: TMZ viewed the original peephole videos, but declined to purchase them, and has refused to publish nude images of Erin Andrews.

Also, From Associated Content, "Erin Andrews Peephole Pictures Included with Hotel Video?":

Erin Andrews peephole pictures and hotel videos have been on demand for about a week. The search for Erin Andrews peephole pictures is now as prominent as the Erin Andrews hotel video. But searching for Erin Andrews peephole pictures may be a bit less risky, and easier, than finding the Erin Andrews Peephole Pictures Included with Hotel Video? Erin Andrews hotel video. The hotel video is now almost impossible to find, and can shut down one's computer. But Erin Andrews peephole pictures are now the next stage of this Internetp henomenon.

More, Gawker continues to ridicule the press reporting. See, "Nekkid Erin Andrews Haunts Media's Soul." But the phenomenon is hardly resrtricted to the tabloids, as we can see in the video above from yesterday's Fox & Friends coverage. See, Associated Content, "Erin Andrews Video Peep Airs on Mainstream Media":

Erin Andrews' peep video has been hot on the Internet for days, but now the Erin Andrews video peep has hit the mainstream. ESPN obviously didn't want to report on the video, but other major news outlets aren't so shy now. Now the Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews Video Peep Airs on Mainstream Media video peep, and its pictures, have reached actual news organizations like the New York Post, FOX , and CBS. As such, Erin Andrews' video peep, and the evidence of it, isn't just limited to Internet porn sites anymore.

The first controversy came when the New York Post turned Erin Andrews' peep video into front page news - and even reprinted some of the peephole pictures. Of course, they put a black box over Andrews' private parts, but still reprinted the images from the video peep nonetheless.

Added: See also, Deadspin, "CBS Discusses "Serious Violation" Of Erin Andrews' Privacy By Airing Video In Which Her Privacy Is Violated."

Okay, how about more explanations focusing on the complicity/demand side of thing? From Jamie Samuelsen, at the Detroit Free Press, "Everyone, Even I, Share Blame in Erin Andrews Incident":

It’s a horrible story on every level and any attempts to analyze it or place the blame on anyone other than the voyeur diminishes the heinous nature of the crime. And it is a crime in no uncertain terms. The person who shot the video is pretty low on the decency food chain.

But the video is a big story. And certainly thousands of people went looking for it when it started to make its way around the Internet. And thousands more will write about it or read about it. A quick search of “Erin Andrews” on Twitter this morning elicits everything from tweets of sorrow and shame to silly sophomoric tweets offering to be her lawyer or fruitlessly searching out the video. Will Leitch wrote a great column on Deadspin about this exact thing. To paraphrase, he wrote that everyone finds this story despicable, yet we’re all, in away, guilty for getting it to this point. As a sportstalk radio host, I’ve talked many times about Erin Andrews. We had her on the show a couple of times and she was asked (although in my defense, not by me) who she was dating and if she ever considered posing for Playboy. Wholly inappropriate questions for 99% of the journalists out there, female or otherwise, but somehow questions that are expected to be asked of her.

Keep reading, here. I think Samuelson low-balls the search numbers: It's probably in the hundreds of thousands who have searched for Andrews nude online. Google has manipulated its algorithms to limit "Erin Andrews Nude" searches, but Bing.com hasn't done a thing, and Yahoo.com goes back and forth.

Added: According to David Whitley at FanHouse, approximately 4.9 billion people have searched for the Andrews video. See, "Everyone Deserves Blame for Erin Andrews Video Fiasco":

To the approximate 4.9 billion people who've spent the week clicking around the web looking for the video, may your hard drives go permanently soft.

Wait, I'm in that group.

I could say I was only doing research for this column, but the fact is I was more than willing to stop mentally undressing ESPN's sideline babe and watch the real thing.My guess is you were, too. If not, I commend you and hope things are going well at the monastery.

Plus, on the investigative angle, see, "Erin Andrews Peephole Video Likely Shot by Fellow ESPN Employee: Report":

She may have been burned by one of her own.

The shocking nude peephole video of
ESPN reporter Erin Andrews was most likely shot by a fellow ESPN employee, Radaronline.com reports.

The video shows Andrews stark naked in her hotel room. Her lawyers insist the video was made without Andrews' knowledge, and she was "in the privacy of her hotel room," Radaronline.com reports.

The scandal erupted when the video was posted to the French Web site Dailymotion.com. Radar reports that the video was uploaded by a user named Goblazers who has been identified as a 49-year-old American male.

ESPN is infuriated, and has vowed to find the person who created the video.

Also, "Erin Andrews Peephole Video: Did an ESPN Co-Worker Make the Video?: ESPN Internal Investigation and Countless Others Track the Maker of the Erin Andrews Hotel Peephole Video."

And more, a controversy on the controversy? Check it out: "
USA TODAY Columnist Raises Some Hackles With Erin Andrews Tweet:

The controversy over the videotaping of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews in her hotel room, has ricocheted around the internet in every form.

USA TODAY columnist Christine Brennan has gotten a strong reaction to her postings on her Twitter account with the tweets linked to Facebook.

Tweeted Brennan:

Women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house. There are tons of nuts out there.
Erin Andrews incident is bad, but to add perspective: there are 100s of women sports journalists who have never had this happen to them.

The Big Lead picked up Brennan's postings and the response has questioned Brennan's opinion ...

Andrews was asking for it? Read the rest of it at the link. And then check out the radical feminst blog, Feministing, "The Long History of Objectifying Erin Andrews."

Also, I'm sure this'll bolster the argument at Feministing, but check out Deadspin's, "The (Mobile) Internet Is For Porn":

Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day.

At the post is a hot semi-nude pic of Marisa Miller, who was this year's Sports Illustrated bikini cover girl.

See also, The Blog Prof, "ESPN Hottie Erin Andrews to Sue Over Nude Peephole Video at Hotel."

Most of the main bloggers on both the left and right have avoided this story; and that's because it raises the most difficult and potentially irreconcilable cultural, gender and political issues we've faced this decade.

I'll have more, but here are the traffic trends for the Erin Andrews hot searches on
Google trends from earlier this morning (the post's timestamp is 9:43am PST):

1. adam laroche
2. splice the mainbrace
3. erin andrews video p...
4. boris kodjoe
5. andrea mcnulty photo...
6. ben roethlisberger a...
7. poveglia
8. harvey mudd college
9. baja fresh
10. tour de france stage...
11. alex donnelley
12. tony bernazard
13. shun kaji fusion
14. chrysler cash for cl...
15. snogging
16. valerie jarrett
17. shun kaji fusion 5 p...
18. henry louis gates ar...
19. free market warrior
20. young mom dies after...
Here's the Andrews entry, for the same time, at the link page:

erin andrews video peep
Hotness: Volcanic

Related searches:
erin andrews, erin andrews video, erin andrews peephole pictures, erin andrews playboy, erin andrews youtube

Peak:
2 hours ago
Updates forthcoming ...

**********

UPDATE: I doubt the threat of malware infection stopped that many people for searching for the Andrews video. But see, The Week, "The Erin Andrews Video Peep Malware: How Hackers Helped Slow the Spread of Video That Violated the Privacy of the Sexy ESPN Reporter."

Don Chavez takes a look at Internet search trends (NSFW), "Erin Andrews, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian Compared on Google Trends":

Well this scandal isn’t over yet, but the buzz surrounding Erin Andrews ... could definitely rival that of Kim Kardashian especially if Erin gives an exclusive interview to *ahem* Barbara Walters on ABC ...

As for Paris Hilton, all I can say is. “That’s Hot”. The sideline princess can’t touch the release of Paris Hilton’s sex tape just before her reality show “The Simple Life” hit the air on Fox.

This race is far from over, and my money is on the blond with brains.

I'm sure Feministing is not pleased ...

Also, from Neil Best at Newsday, "ESPN Bans New York Post Staffers from its Outlets."

And Michael Rand discusses the "inside job" theory, "The Erin Andrews Story Gets More Bizarre."

It would make sense, given TMZ’s assertion that four of the video clips were shot in one hotel, while two others were shot in a different hotel. That information, based on the site’s review of the video, would seem to put an end to any thought that this was a random act targeted simply at an attractive woman. If TMZ is correct, then the person who made the videos certainly knew it was Andrews.

That wouldn’t make this whole thing any better or worse — though it would perhaps change the story from being about some creepy person obsessed with Andrews to someone perhaps intent, from the inside, on damaging her professional reputation. And to anyone who thinks she was in on all this (and they are out there in greater number than you might suspect): such a thought is simply absurd. Andrews takes her job seriously, and while something like this might lengthen the shelf life of a D-list celebrity, it does nothing for someone’s professional reputation. Inside job or not, there’s no way Andrews knew about it.
Rand's TMZ reference is to, "Erin Andrews Peeping Tom - Inside Job?"

Plus, at Associated Content, "
Erin Andrews Peephole Video: Did an ESPN Co-Worker Make the Video?":

The Erin Andrews peephole video mystery might lead back to ESPN, the attractive sportscaster's employer. Two gossip websites, TMZ and Radar Online have reported that the Erin Andrews peephole video, which is a combination of several videos at various locations, might have might have been the product of an ESPN co-worker of Andrews'. With the Erin Andrews peephole video story remaining the top searched item on the internet (according to Google Trends) and being covered by every major media outlet (from the New York Times to CNN), the story has taken on a life of its own. It seems that the hunt for the "perpetrator(s)" has become just one more chapter in a story that began as a novelty, a curiosity, and has since exploded into an a full-fledged physical and cybernet manhunt.
Also, a French news report post a photo of Ms. Andrews without black patches or blurring, that is, stark naked, "Le mur de la chambre d'hôtel avait un trou" (roughly, "through the hole in the bedroom wall ...").

**********

UPDATE II: Some commentary from Tina Sims, at the National Ledger, "Andrea McNulty Charges; Erin Andrews Nude Photos and Video Drag Down Sports."

No comments:

Post a Comment