The Tiger Woods scandal: Where are the boundaries?

Tiger Woods has been in the public eye since he was a child.

His image has been so squeaky clean that it was the subject of jokes and derision.

The car crash outside his Florida home and his subsequent silence has resulted in a parade of women claiming to have had affairs with the PGA legend.

The media has treated Tiger differently than other public figures who have had similar kinds of news stories.

Recently actor Sean Penn found himself in a similar situation as did singer LeAnn Rimes, yet the media did not engage in the same kind of feeding frenzy that has accompanied the Woods story.

Woods broke no laws, caused no physical harm to another and has led attempted in a noble way to protect his family and preserve his marriage. Excerpt for more, CLICK HERE.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Tabloid Extravaganza: A-Rod, C-Rod, Madge and Lenny

One bit of celebrity melodrama has virtually taken over the print, broadcast and Web media.

It’s simultaneously being reported as a news, entertainment and sports story and is crowding out coverage of the war, election and economy.

It involves baseball star Alex Rodriguez, a.k.a. A-Rod, Rodriguez’s wife, a.k.a. C-Rod, material girl Madonna, a.k.a Madge in the U.K., Madonna’s husband Guy Ritchie and rocker Lenny Kravitz.

Here’s the skinny: C-Rod found out A-Rod was involved with Madge, who was supposedly divorcing husband Ritchie. C-Rod fled to Paris to stay with Kravitz and reportedly blames Madge’s Kabbalah religion for luring husband A-Rod to her side. According to the New York Daily News’ sources, C-Rod found a note written to Madge from A-Rod that read: “You are my true soulmate.”

All of the parties involved are denying the romantic aspects of the reports.

The really amazing story, however, is the way the press has been going full court tabloid over the tale.

Here are a few of the headlines:

– “Lenny Kravitz: Cynthia Rodriguez’s Grand Slam?” (New York Magazine)

– “New adventures of old Madonna (co-starring A-Rod)” (The Boston Herald)

– “A-Rod and wife heading into foul territory” (The Miami Herald)

– “Wife: Madonna lured A-Rod with kabbalah” (United Press International)

– “Let’s play six degrees of Madonna” (The San Jose Mercury News)

– “Madonna and A-Rod and Lenny? (Oh My).” (Gary Post Tribune)

It’s enough to make you long for good old hard news.

James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.

Jimmy Kimmel Gets the Rush Limbaugh Treatment

ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was essentially fired from his position as comedic color commentator on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

After two editions of the show, Kimmel was let go for a quip about former QB and announcer Joe Theismann, in which he said that Theismann, who was let go last season, was “watching from his living room with steam coming from his ears.”

The next day, Monday Night Football producer Jay Rothman characterized Kimmel’s joke as “classless and disappointing,” adding that “it was cheap.”

Rothman confirmed Kimmel won’t be back.

This is reminiscent of 2003, when ESPN bowed to pressure and accepted Rush Limbaugh’s resignation after the talk show host directed commentary at the media about quarterback Donovan McNabb’s overly favorable press coverage.

Sports talk used to be the last bastion of freeform ranting.

Looks like PC-itis has really infected the announcing booth when a commentator gets let go for expressing an opinion and a comedian gets fired for telling a joke.

On another ambiguously funny note, Stephen Colbert was teasing as usual when he announced that he’s a candidate for the U.S. presidency.

But the law could create some serious trouble for the satirical talk show host.

Congress has created a load of complex election laws that Colbert may have already triggered with his latest politically charged prank.

The Comedy Central notable executed the necessary documents to have his name added to both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in South Carolina. In addition, he set up a Web site for his budding campaign while at the same time declaring that he was crossing out the part of an oath stating that he would not “knowingly violate any election law.”

Colbert appears to be mildly serious. He indicated that he has sought the advice of an election law firm, Wiley Rein. The caricaturist switched to his campaign site a petition seeking signatures from the show’s Web site, based on his lawyers’ recommendations.

If Colbert actually follows through as he has promised and pays the fees ($2,500) and collects enough signatures (3000), campaign finance laws will expose his show and network to violations that could even involve criminal penalties.

To the extent that Colbert’s cable show promotes his candidacy, it could arguably be viewed as an illegal “in-kind” contribution from Comedy Central.

The whole problem might be mitigated if Colbert would do something he almost never does—admit it was just a joke.