Media Sensitivity
"Five people present at a rape? That's not a rape, that's an orgy." So joked WPTY-Channel 24 reporter Leon Gray before Memphis Police Department spokesman Lt. Richard True briefed members of the press on the details of a recent assault in which a man forced his way into an East Memphis home, bound five people, and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl. And the tackiest comment award goes to

Oops!
Sometimes in the newspaper business -- or so people tell us -- writers spice up their copy a little with offhand comments and inside jokes just to amuse their editor. The trick is to make sure these little gems of wit get taken out before they make their way into the paper. The News-Examiner in Gallatin, Tennessee, learned this the hard way recently when some unfortunate copy did just that. In an article about a high school soccer team, the coach is quoted as saying of one player -- and this is the tamest of the lot -- "We like to keep him at the sweeper position so his sperm breath will stop people from penetrating to the goal." As you can imagine, this sparked a chain of events that led to what may be one of the most vigorous retractions of all time. "No one at the newspaper other than the writer knew of the contents of the paragraph," reads the retraction, "The words were result [sic] of a sad, misguided joke by the writer gone seriously awry." No argument there. Needless to say, the reporter was dismissed.

Music Math
We recently came across a reprint of an interesting chart that originally appeared in the Tennessee Register under the title "Christian Music: It's Not Just For Protestants Anymore." The chart itself is a list of secular musicians with suggestions for what contemporary Christian musicians you might like if you like a particular secular act. If it's accurate than there are some Christian musicians out there who are pulling off stylistic hybrids rock critics could only dream of. For example, if you happen to be the unlikely person who yearns for a wholesome performer who combines the best elements of Garth Brooks and Huey Lewis & the News, then Stephen Curtis Chapman is your man. Our favorite, however, seems to hint at the waffling spirituality of one well-known songstress. "If you like Amy Grant," this indispensable chart tells us, "Then you'll like Amy Grant."

Fond Farewell?
A crowd estimated at 25-40 people gathered Monday evening in the lounge of the Adam's Mark Hotel in East Memphis, where The Larry Finch Show had originated all season. They came to see Finch's final public act as head coach of the University of Memphis basketball team. Late last week, however, the show was moved to the WREC AM-600 studio on Beale. According to several sources at the station, Adam's Mark management refused to host the final Finch show for fear that the coach would "go off." Adam's Mark officials did not return several phone calls from the Flyer. Meanwhile the show proceeded with no fireworks. Finch was nostalgic and emotional, recalling favorite moments from his 23-year association with the school. The station played the Frank Sinatra anthem "My Way" at the end of the show, while Finch and everyone in the studio wiped tears from their eyes.

Compiled by Jim Hanas. P.O. Box 687, Memphis, TN, 38101. FAX: 521-0129.