Who is Ron Burkle?
The Times tells us that he made his fortune in supermarkets and is a Democratic fundraiser. But there is so much more, as reported in the New York Observer, including a hundred-thousand-dollar- a-couple fundraiser for the Clintons at his home in Los Angeles. He was a business partner of former president Bill Clinton, and one of his closest friends. Clinton was a frequent guest on Burkle’s private Boeing 757, so often that “the former President jokingly referred to it as ‘Air Force Two.'” Burkle is also bidding on 12 newspapers being sold from the Knight Ridder chain of newspapers, so he apparently has his sights set on personally becoming a media mogul. Part of the appeal of this story is exposing a seamy side of journalism, in which celebrities, whether they are jocks, actors, singers, business people and even journalists, are treated as commodities to gain currency for the day’s gossip headlines. One question is whether or not gossip columns should be held to the same standards as th
