Jon and Kate Plus 8 Official Thread - Part 5

[MICKEY4EVER!]

He was photographed sneaky, sneaky; and it did not look factory rolled. Know what I'm sayin? Jon said he's struggled with "smoking" for a long time. He is a snowboarder, dude. You need to see the pic.

LOL! I wonder if someone can post the pic here?

Funny, I don't picture Kate as someone who would be attracted to a smoker. (Nothing wrong with smokers, BTW) But it seems to me she would have nipped that in the bud from the get-go, unless like you said, it's not factory rolled!

*****Sorry! Just saw the link you posted! Um, yeah, that did look "home-rolled" didn't it???

 

[newtodis]

I think this is a very well written piece from a journalist...

In a post Monday night, I suggested that viewers stop watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 if they really want to help the Gosselin kids. With the divorce of these two self-absorbed parents, there is no way for viewers to justify tuning in any longer. It's nothing but debasement and voyeurism from here on out.

But with the show going on hiatus until Aug. 3, let me further suggest that we in the mainstream press also step back, slow down, take stock and try to wean ourselves off the narcotic of Jon & Kate page views unlike anything we've seen since Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy.

I say this after the embarrassing story put out by the Associated Press Tuesday that Jon and Kate Gosselin had been living "separate and apart" for the last two years while acting as if they were living together on their TV show. Had that fact been verified and true, it would have been the basis of a very big TV story -- a story just a few of cuts below the quiz scandals of the 1950s in terms of deception on the part of those who make American television.

But it wasn't verified and true, according to a correction the news service sent out later in the evening saying the couple had been apart only a week or two, according to lawyers involved in filing the very papers the AP cited as evidence for its first report. It appears that even AP, one of the bedrocks of mainstream fact-based journalism, was caught up in the Jon & Kate frenzy of getting it out there first before getting it right. Does anyone in the land of new media know what the word gatekeeper means anymore?

Here's the correction as it appeared on MSNBC's website Tuesday night: ALLENTOWN, Pa. - CORRECTION: The Associated Press sent an earlier version of this story that said Kate and Jon Gosselin had been living “separate and apart” for at least two years. The AP later sent a correction saying this was not true and that the couple had been living apart only for a week or two.

National Public Radio's website, on the other hand, was still running the uncorrected story at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday -- as were many other sites. I suspect the original story will even appear uncorrected in some newspapers Wednesday morning.

As of late Tuesday at any rate, what readers were left with thanks largely to AP was confusion. And that is the very opposite of what the press is supposed to create.

So, let's try to steady ourselves and behave like journalists. If we keep acting like crazed Hollywood gossip columnists from the 1930s, Jon and Kate will keep issuing dueling press releases as they did Tuesday with Kate saying Jon did something so bad over the weekend that she can't live with him anymore, and Jon saying he is "hurt" by the allegation. No specifics or facts, just more innuendo and conflict. It's a game for publicists and silly people addicted to fame -- not journalists. But it will go on and on as long as we keep lapping it up like starving kittens.

There is still much news to report and all kinds of enlightening cultural pieces to be written about the sociology of Jon & Kate and the audience of millions that tuned in to watch it for four full seasons and part of fifth.

The audience size alone warrants coverage and can absolutely serve as a barometer of popular taste -- especially given the fact that the audience plunged from 9.8 million for the season opener on May 25th down to 2.9 in recent weeks. And then came 10.6 million viewers for Monday's show when the divorce was announced. Clearly, a mass audience is reacting to this story -- and doing so in illuminating ways.

I have given TLC the benefit of the doubt in several pieces I have written the last four months about the show. But no more. The channel has already earned its place in TV infamy for its part in pushing this family past the breaking point this year. To now act like it is taking the high road with a six week hiatus is laughable. You can't fix what TLC helped break by turning off the cameras for a few weeks in the summer.

I will write about the show and how the audience reacts to it when it returns. To me, that is news in that it tells us something about who we are as viewers and people.

But I am also going to try and hold myself to a tougher standard as to how often and what I write about Jon & Kate -- even if my web numbers suffer. I haven't yet and I am never going to play the games -- and I use that word kindly -- that some show biz tabloid journalists use in publishing unverified information that barely rises to the level of rumor or gossip.

I hope some of my colleagues will do the same, and that collectively we will come to our senses about how we treat the Jon & Kate story from here on out -- and cover this realm of American culture and life online.

And while I'm hoping, maybe AP will fully explain in coming days how it managed to put out a story with such wide-ranging implications without first having the facts on which it was based nailed down.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2009/06/jon_kate_ap_correction_hiatus.html

 

[nuke]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/06/jon-gosselin-caught-smoking-his-joint

yes, of sorts!

And did you see the next picture that's not shown on that site where he is holding it the way most people hold a cigarette. It's a cigarette nothing more.
Yes he's a jerk and maybe he cheated but I refuse to accuse someone of being a druggy based on one picture.
Ask anyone that smokes if they've ever held their cigarette in a non-traditional way and they will tell you yes.

 

[airhead]

I watched the show. It was pretty sad and some parts were pathetic. I think Jon's statement that he was proud of himself for sticking up for himself were really pathetic.
I wonder if his gift to himself was getting his ears pierced...

 

[joviroxx]

This is a circus.. all I keep asking myself is why Kate didn't listen, knowing that Jon was happy with his twins and really didn't want more kids, do the procedure knowing that it might be more than 1 ? And 2) Why didnt she listen when Jon said, at the end of last season, that he didn't want to be Jon& Kate plus 8 anymore. He said he wanted to quit the show..didnt he?

Was she not listening and ignoring or was Jon just not standing up for himself? I don't know, no one knows. I don't like to form opinions based on media outlets and editted footage. I have feelings about it but Im not going to pontificate , accuse or project blame and motivation without any real facts to go on.

The only thing I know is that its crazy and this family NEEDS to be out of the limelight for the sake of those kids.

 

[newtodis]

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this from this site or not (religious) but the part I'm posting doesn't mention religion. I will edit if needed.

Kate also says, "When the babies were born, I was well aware that our marriage could crumble. It was close to doing so at times. But we survived that first year. And then the second one. And then each year after that. Even though the issues have changed, it's never gotten easier.

"But Jon and I are more determined than ever that we're in this together. We've told our kids many times that we're always going to be a family. There are no other options. Sure, Jon and I take our stress out on each other, and no, that's not always good or healthy. But we work hard as a team every day."

http://www.jonandkateprayers.com/

 

[newtodis]

Another article from moms of multiples:

Laurie Brenneman feels Jon and Kate Gosselins' pain.
Though not a regular viewer of "Jon & Kate Plus 8", the Perry County native, and mom of a family of 10 children -- three biological, three stepchildren, and four adopted kids --tuned into Monday's episode at the request of The Patriot-News.

She said that the tabloid couple's plans to divorce underscores some of the problems in managing a large family.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, you really never have time for yourself. There's always the next kid or the next thing coming at you, and the children deserve that," she said.

"Sometimes when you get frustrated, the first person that's easy to push away is the other adult in the relationship, because you don't want to push away the kids. You can be 'mean' to the adult," she said.

It's a perspective that Sharyn McGranahan of Carlisle, a parent of twin girls and co-chairman of the Lonnie Whitcomb Memorial Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships to families with multiple siblings, well understands.

"[Having multiple kids] changes your entire family life -- your schedules, your social life and your personal relationship with your spouse," she said.

"The family fell apart because the couple fell apart," McGranahan said. "There are a lot of break-ups in multiple families [because] there's no time for yourself. My advice would be to fix the marital relationship and ditch the show."

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/06/perry_county_mother_of_10_feel.html

 

[longstangetrip]

And did you see the next picture that's not shown on that site where he is holding it the way most people hold a cigarette. It's a cigarette nothing more.
Yes he's a jerk and maybe he cheated but I refuse to accuse someone of being a druggy based on one picture.
Ask anyone that smokes if they've ever held their cigarette in a non-traditional way and they will tell you yes.

I'm not sure what it is like you are. But, I've never seen a tightly twisted, tobacco cigarette with no filter. I'm not looking at the way he's hitting it, I mean holding it.
I couldn't care less if Jon smokes the tumbleweed or smarties. I've lost all faith in both of their judgement.

 

[phamton]

I'd like to see what the haters would say if they had 8 kids.

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum but I don't think anyone on this thread would classify themselves as "haters." There are people who support Kate more than others but the supporters are not "lovers" anymore than those who don't agree with Kate are "haters."

Maybe we could call ourselves Kate "supporters" are Kate "non-supporters". But really, I'd rather not be labeled as either. I think Kate is great at many things but somethings she does annoy me and the same goes for Jon. In fact Jon is much more "annoying" right now. I want to shake him and knock some sense into him right now.

ETA: I wonder why those of us who may disagree with some of the things Kate does are called names like basher, haters, judgmental, and are told that we pick apart everything she does if we dare to criticize her. She is not Saint Kate and makes plenty of mistakes as do we all. I can complain about my spouse, my kids, my boss, my neighbors, my parents, my in-laws without being called a basher or hater but Kate is off limits. Why is it that those who question what Kate does are called bashers but those who question what Jody and Kevin do are not? Why do the staunch supporters of Kate get labeled with all the "good" names but the non-supporters get labeled with the not so nice names.

 

[DMRick]

Wow, a journalist with a bit of class

I think he's right..as long as the journalists and rag mags put out stories that only have a ring of truth, and possibly a lot of incorrect info, Jon and Kate will feel they have to defend themselves. I still see even here on the Dis, that many think they were separated for two years and played us. Apparently that was an incorrect story and they have been separated for two weeks.

I think this is a very well written piece from a journalist...

In a post Monday night, I suggested that viewers stop watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 if they really want to help the Gosselin kids. With the divorce of these two self-absorbed parents, there is no way for viewers to justify tuning in any longer. It's nothing but debasement and voyeurism from here on out.

But with the show going on hiatus until Aug. 3, let me further suggest that we in the mainstream press also step back, slow down, take stock and try to wean ourselves off the narcotic of Jon & Kate page views unlike anything we've seen since Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy.

I say this after the embarrassing story put out by the Associated Press Tuesday that Jon and Kate Gosselin had been living "separate and apart" for the last two years while acting as if they were living together on their TV show. Had that fact been verified and true, it would have been the basis of a very big TV story -- a story just a few of cuts below the quiz scandals of the 1950s in terms of deception on the part of those who make American television.

But it wasn't verified and true, according to a correction the news service sent out later in the evening saying the couple had been apart only a week or two, according to lawyers involved in filing the very papers the AP cited as evidence for its first report. It appears that even AP, one of the bedrocks of mainstream fact-based journalism, was caught up in the Jon & Kate frenzy of getting it out there first before getting it right. Does anyone in the land of new media know what the word gatekeeper means anymore?

Here's the correction as it appeared on MSNBC's website Tuesday night: ALLENTOWN, Pa. - CORRECTION: The Associated Press sent an earlier version of this story that said Kate and Jon Gosselin had been living “separate and apart” for at least two years. The AP later sent a correction saying this was not true and that the couple had been living apart only for a week or two.

National Public Radio's website, on the other hand, was still running the uncorrected story at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday -- as were many other sites. I suspect the original story will even appear uncorrected in some newspapers Wednesday morning.

As of late Tuesday at any rate, what readers were left with thanks largely to AP was confusion. And that is the very opposite of what the press is supposed to create.

So, let's try to steady ourselves and behave like journalists. If we keep acting like crazed Hollywood gossip columnists from the 1930s, Jon and Kate will keep issuing dueling press releases as they did Tuesday with Kate saying Jon did something so bad over the weekend that she can't live with him anymore, and Jon saying he is "hurt" by the allegation. No specifics or facts, just more innuendo and conflict. It's a game for publicists and silly people addicted to fame -- not journalists. But it will go on and on as long as we keep lapping it up like starving kittens.

There is still much news to report and all kinds of enlightening cultural pieces to be written about the sociology of Jon & Kate and the audience of millions that tuned in to watch it for four full seasons and part of fifth.

The audience size alone warrants coverage and can absolutely serve as a barometer of popular taste -- especially given the fact that the audience plunged from 9.8 million for the season opener on May 25th down to 2.9 in recent weeks. And then came 10.6 million viewers for Monday's show when the divorce was announced. Clearly, a mass audience is reacting to this story -- and doing so in illuminating ways.

I have given TLC the benefit of the doubt in several pieces I have written the last four months about the show. But no more. The channel has already earned its place in TV infamy for its part in pushing this family past the breaking point this year. To now act like it is taking the high road with a six week hiatus is laughable. You can't fix what TLC helped break by turning off the cameras for a few weeks in the summer.

I will write about the show and how the audience reacts to it when it returns. To me, that is news in that it tells us something about who we are as viewers and people.

But I am also going to try and hold myself to a tougher standard as to how often and what I write about Jon & Kate -- even if my web numbers suffer. I haven't yet and I am never going to play the games -- and I use that word kindly -- that some show biz tabloid journalists use in publishing unverified information that barely rises to the level of rumor or gossip.

I hope some of my colleagues will do the same, and that collectively we will come to our senses about how we treat the Jon & Kate story from here on out -- and cover this realm of American culture and life online.

And while I'm hoping, maybe AP will fully explain in coming days how it managed to put out a story with such wide-ranging implications without first having the facts on which it was based nailed down.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2009/06/jon_kate_ap_correction_hiatus.html

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

New 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' episodes will include Jon Gosselin's new girlfriend


http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/06/24/2009-06-24_new_jon_and_kate_plus_.html

I find that hard to believe...but given everything I don't know why.

How about giving the kids time to adjust? If this is true, I won't watch Jon's girlfriends.

 

[madge]

I'm just wondering how long before Barbara Walters gets an one-on-one interview with Kate? Or Jon?

she admitted on The View yesterday that she watches the show ..

 

[DMRick]

I know many people don't care for the word hate, and would rather it be said they they intensely dislike Kate, but that is what what the word hate means, and that is how some people feel.

I have no problem saying anyone is not a Kate supporter, if that's what someone is. If you (general) don't intensely hate her, then you don't and I agree, you shouldn't be known as a Kate hater. Sounds to me that you (yep, you this time !) are just a person who wishes things could have turned out differently, and you think both Kate and Jon have done things they shouldn't. That's how I feel too.

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum but I don't think anyone on this thread would classify themselves as "haters." There are people who support Kate more than others but the supporters are not "lovers" anymore than those who don't agree with Kate are "haters."

Maybe we could call ourselves Kate "supporters" are Kate "non-supporters". But really, I'd rather not be labeled as either. I think Kate is great at many things but somethings she does annoy me and the same goes for Jon. In fact Jon is much more "annoying" right now. I want to shake him and knock some sense into him right now.

 

[jpaxton1118]

I'm not sure what it is like you are. But, I've never seen a tightly twisted, tobacco cigarette with no filter. I'm not looking at the way he's hitting it, I mean holding it.
I couldn't care less if Jon smokes the tumbleweed or smarties. I've lost all faith in both of their judgement.

I have seen plenty. That was the big thing when I was in my 20's. The guys liked the way they tasted better then the filtered.

 

[madge]

Shame on Gosslin for violating her children's privacy in such a disgusting way. All I can hope is that the judge hearing the divorce reads this and has the same reaction. Those poor children. It's beyond indecent to chat with People about your children's pain. But, hey, money is money.
(And, of course, J&K can take plenty of the credit for what the kids are being put through. )

if they were going to tell the media what/how they told the children, part of me thinks they might as well have just filmed it for the show. TLC made a point of saying in an interview that they weren't going to film it, then Jon & Kate tell everyone anyway. sad. so sad for those kids.

 

[LoraJ]

I find that hard to believe...but given everything I don't know why.

How about giving the kids time to adjust? If this is true, I won't watch Jon's girlfriends.

I don't think it is true at all because Jon stated the other day he hasn't seen her in a while.



I don't have a problem with Jon & Kate talking to the media. I'd rather hear what is going on from them and not made up stories from blogs and gossip columns.

 

[madge]

I'd like to see what the haters would say if they had 8 kids. I cried on their last episode.

I am so sick of the term hater.

last summer, I got blasted for using the term sheeple. hater is just as bad, IMO.

 

[jpaxton1118]

I am sick of the term hater also. Just because someone does not agree with Kate that means we are haters. But if we agreed with everything Kate did and bashed Jon then we would not be haters. I don't think that there is any hate going on. Just a discussion about how we disagree with the way things are being handled. I think Kate is not a nice person, but I did feel sorry for her Monday night and just because I don't agree with her mothering does not mean I hate her. People need to get some kind of life if they are getting so upset about what is being said.

 

[DMRick]

I don't think it is true at all because Jon stated the other day he hasn't seen her in a while.
.

Didn't he say he has hardly talked to her? So I assume he has talked to her some. No idea if that is in person or not.
I'd like to think that by now she has run far far away.

 

[madge]

Well exactly my point -- he's not doing interviews re Kate, their family, their kids, their divorce all over the place. It's either a teaser for the press, or having a bit of class -- guess it depends whether you've already decided you don't like him.

or option C: Jon saw a lawyer in NYC not long ago, and had media training. (per the article) My guess is that he's been told to give the "watch the show" answer whenever asked about anything related to the family.


Jon isn't talking to the media, but Kate is. I find that interesting. (no hidden agenda, just interesting. LOL)

ETA: I see that Jon has talked to Entertainment Tonight, although it doesn't appear as extensive as the interview Kate did with People.