MEMernet: Steve Cohen Is Buying The Mets?
Most times missives from the MEMernet don’t merit a News Blog post of their own. But this one does.
The Wednesday cover of USA Today claimed Steve Cohen bid more than $2.4 billion to buy the New York Mets. For the story, the paper ran a photo of Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis), not New York billionaire Steve Cohen.
The paper is the flagship publication of Gannett Co., owner of the Memphis daily Commercial Appeal newspaper. That might explain some confusion. Also, Rep. Cohen is in a baseball cap in the photo and he could be, maybe, might be in a baseball stadium somewhere. Or, maybe it’s a tennis thing? Hard to know.
But one thing is clear: USA Today got their Steve Cohens mixed up. The announcement did not go unnoticed by Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-New Jersey).
“Congrats to my friend @RepCohen on purchasing the @NewYorkMets! @USATODAY,” Pascrell tweeted.
Cohen took it in stride.
“Unfortunately it’s the other Steve Cohen. @BillPascrell, who knew? They say any press is good press! @USAToday @Mets,” Cohen tweeted back.
Gannett gaffes aren’t new, not in Memphis anyway. Former Flyer columnist Chris Davis owned the Gannett gaffe beat for us in his ongoing Fly on the Wall segment called “Dammit Gannett.” But the paper has gotten better of late. (Or, maybe we’re not aware of it anymore since Davis left.)
But — O.K. — two Cohens, and one’s in a ball cap at a ball game, maybe. And the names are homonyms. It’s not as bad as the time the CA confused Lucero for Lucero in announcing the 2018 lineup for the Mempho Music Festival?
Lucero (left) and Lucero (right)
Here’s how Davis reported the mix-up at the time:
“When the bot and/or out-of-towner editing Memphis’ daily paper can’t distinguish between Lucero the Mexican entertainer and Lucero the enormously popular Memphis band, there’s a problem. When said bot and/or out-of-towner turns to a general image search instead of scanning the local paper’s own archives, it’s really bad.”
Also, do y’all remember when we still had music festivals?
