Hearne: ‘Ducks’ Lawsuits About Money Not ‘Closure’

Forget touchy-feely words like “closure,” it’s always been about the money…

The object of the game in mainstream journalism is to milk controversial stories like Ride the Ducks and Schlitterbahn’s Verrückt, because those are the stories that keep the lights on. And if you haven’t noticed, the way things are going in news, survival is the name of the game.

So let’s be clear, the latest big “news” story about duck boat victims’ lawsuits being delayed by the all-important criminal investigation into the July sinking in Branson is a smokescreen for greedy lawyers.

The lawyers representing the folks lining up to sue everybody in sight (and an eager, complicit media) say it’s all about people’s relatives getting on with their lawsuits ASAP so they can experience closure.

But it’s really about money and time is money.

Because for the lawyers taking these cases on contingency – meaning they don’t get paid until the lawsuits are settled – means they’ll be out of pocket for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses or more until they can finally cash in for somewhere around a third of what the families get.

In other words if one of their clients wins $15 million, the lawyer pockets $5 million.

Not surprisingly said lawyers are using the media to try and make points about superfluous stuff like the general public may not find everything out for a bit longer because of the delays and  the grieving families won’t be able to “move on.”

Which suits the news media because rather than just writing about this for some higher purpose, these are the kind of stories that play best with the public (and  that they can brag about, you may have noticed)…which helps in their quest to reach more eyeballs and thus ad dollars.

So for the media, any new wrinkle on a sexy story like the Ducks is a win-win proposition.

From the get-go these stories have been about money and everybody wants a piece of the action.

Starting with Ride the Ducks and Schlitterbahn cashing in on risky rides despite obvious dangers.

And despite these most recent duck deaths, the companies who own these dicey ducks are still going strong with little to no media oversight in their respective markets.

Take the Chattanooga Ducks in Chattanooga, Tennessee…

The company barely had to field a few softball questions from the local media and haven’t missed a beat since.

That’s because there’s nothing in it for local news media to risk pissing off advertisers.

The Wall Street Journal weighed in a couple weeks back to report its business was down by about half, but nothing from the local media.

In fact, nowhere can I find any evidence that Chattanooga Ducks or any other duck boat operators have implemented new safety measures or been grilled by their local media about plans to do so.

Where are those stories?

And check out these promotional photos of their ducks in action…they almost look like they’re about ready to sink just like Branson’s ill-fated duck.

Back to the money…

Chattanooga Ducks continues its no refunds policy once a trip has begun and the boats hit the water…no matter what. A policy that could well contribute to customers rolling the dice on risky future rides.

Go figure.