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Unfinished (monkey) business
The giant monkey of Danville was my symbol, back then, of the fin-de-siècle nadir in media fluffery, thankfully obsolesced in one grim morning.

Ten years ago this month, reporters descended upon the small town of Danville, New Hampshire, population 3500, in the southeastern portion of the state midway between Manchester and the seacoast. They came to cover the search for a giant monkey that had been spotted prowling the forests and stealing food from terrified residents. The creature's origins were a mystery. Nobody had caught its image on camera. The elusive monkey foiled all attempts to capture it.

It was a perfect story for a time when the media, and television news in particular, had plunged fully into a careless, anything-for-eyeballs menu of car chases, foiled robberies, trapped babies — anything caught on video or offering a daily-vigil story arc.

As the coverage peaked, Boston TV reporters filed daily live reports from the forest's edge. Wire services took it national. And the ultimate apex in media glorification arrived: a Today production crew put together a story on the Danville monkey.

The morning that piece was to air was September 11, 2001. The new Danville celebrities watched the Twin Towers footage in the monitor while waiting — made up and wearing microphones — for an interview that never happened.

The giant monkey of Danville was my symbol, back then, of the fin-de-siècle nadir in media fluffery, thankfully obsolesced in one grim morning. News reporting was important again, to be taken seriously. The media, and its audience, were reminded that journalism is too precious to waste on simian nonsense.

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