A cigarette lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the symbol of television journalism's guilt trip about Paris Hilton.
Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton's release from jail on MSNBC's "Morning Joe'' program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than two million people have watched a clip of the incident, about 10 times the number who watched it live on TV.
Apparently, she is not the only one sick of the socialite.
"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important,'' she said.
"We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't.''
"They can't think we're that dumb.''
Note this, given the post below:
CBS's Katie Couric told a Boston audience in May, to applause: "We have a precious amount of time on the 'CBS Evening News' and I don't think we need to ever utter the name Paris Hilton.''
A month later, Couric's broadcast reported on Hilton's jailing and the controversy over her short-lived release.