Start with research into bipolar depression and resultant behavior.  Just a guess...

I don't know these people, but the mom's behavior is similar to that of people I do know with this psychiatric disorder when they are out of control.  As I said, it is a sad situation for everybody involved, regardless of what is behind the behavior.

That said, what were the mother's of those "boy-toys" thinking?  There is no way in hell that I would have let a 15-year-old son participate in that train wreck, and especially dressed that way. 

Plenty of shameful behavior to go around with this deal.  Not just the mom, who should be plenty embarrassed about herself.

The real story is that KNS "covered" this so.  What lavish celebration from our self-appointed guardians of Faith and Values.  KNS goes further in this direction every day. 

Then again, who am I to challenge them on what's "hip and cool."  Heh.

Editorial judgement at the KNS is bankrupt. He should be fired.

The parents who allowed their children to be a part of this should be investigated for further inappropriate behavior regarding their own children and other minors.

What's with you people? First of all, MTV passed on filming this party because the girl and her mom weren't mean and bitchy enough. That's hilarious. Secondly, people with bipolar disorder don't hold down jobs for long, especially jobs that earn six or seven figures.

Is this gaudy and indulgent and wasteful? Absolutely. Does it evoke distressing thoughts about our culture? Certainly. Does it merit cheap digs at the girl and her mom? Not really.

Does it merit cheap digs at the girl and her mom? Not really.

Oh yes, indeed it does.  Don't want cheap digs taken at your expense?  Then don't act like a nitwit, or at least have the sense to act like one in private. 

The over-compensation going on here is Shakespearean in its breadth, Joycean in its profundity, and Holmesian in its raw physical dimensions.  It's the nadir of behavior and local media, all rolled into one giant burrito, dipped in a chocolate fountain, rolled up Bubba Sparxxx's left thigh and deposited on the hood of a leased sportscar.  Blechhhh.

Many of the comments above read like lines from one of Betsy Hart’s “I’m a much better parent than you are” columns.

While it may not be how I’d spend all of that money if I had it, throwing a lavish and outrageous birthday party for a teenager is not necessarily indicative of bad parenting.

A lot of assumptions have been made based on one article in a newspaper that most posters here agree leaves a lot to be desired. I have no doubt that in next Sunday’s edition, letters to the editor reflecting many of the sentiments expressed here will far outnumber letters about anything of substance.

So the “boy toys” were hired to perform at a party, and, yes, they were chosen for their good looks and popularity. Remember, folks, this is high school. Tess wisely used this as an opportunity to have an important discussion with her nephew, and I’m sure many parents did likewise. Because of the strong reactions from perfect strangers before and after the party, Brittany and her mom likely have had a discussion or two as well. About tolerance, human nature, misdirected anger, the media...

So, having money means your character has never been tested and you're always happy because you can buy stuff.

Worst. Mother. Ever.

I don't think spoiling a child equates with being a rotten mother, just an indulgent one. But, spoiling a child does help to create another generation of self-entitled and immature young adults who will expect everything to come to them without a lick of effort. I think what galls most folks on this site and elsewhere is the sheer amount of money this woman lavished on her child. What's she going to do for her 16th birthday? Her graduation? Heaven forbid how high the bar has been set for this child's wedding. There's absolutely nothing wrong with loving your child and giving them gifts, it's natural. But, everything in moderation...

Worst. Mother. Ever? Nah. Andrea Yates, Susan Smith, even Joan Crawford...there's some mamas that shouldn't have had any babies under their watch.

To say Leslie used very poor judgement in planning this party is putting it ver mild. To 'pay' children to show off their body's to carry the 'little' girl in, disgusting. Where were the parents of the young men? Where were the parents of any of the children that were allowed to attend this 'show off' party. I think the News-Sentinel has set out what it intended to do. To show how parents will do anything and pay anything to 'buy' their children's love and popularity. It's a very sad commentary on our community and society as a whole. Shame on all of you!

Bbeanster,

I was speculating that Brittany and her mom were having discussions of substance, as parents and children do. There are more than a few openers flying around here.

And I wasn't suggesting people are actually being mean to them; as for blaming the media, blaming them for what? I imagine from the subjects’ perspective, this was a nice fluff piece about a party.

There is, however, plenty of meanness on display. “Does this kid have a father?” Ouch!

I wish I could buy my wife a BMW convertible. Well, actually I could. Or she could buy me one (hint hint). But we're saving for retirement.

This whole thing is pretty amusing. I guess I was one of those spoiled, overpriveliged kids. My dad gave me his hand-me-down Mustang when I turned 16. It was a restored wreck he bought from my uncle who restored wrecks for resale in his body shop. It was an awesome car. The chicks loved it.

Anyway, I don't begrudge anybody being rich. I hope to be rich someday. But seeking PR from MTV or KNS or whoever to tell everybody how rich you are seems a little over the top. And trotting your daughter out there to show off how rich you are, well, that's maybe worthy of a little discussion and introspection on everyone's part.

(My spell checker is broken, so forgive my typing. I changed servers today and so naturally nothing on my PC works any more. Thanks, Microsoft!)

"Worst.Newspaper.Ever." should have been the title of this story. Parents have been doing stupid things throughout history.

Our local rag thinks this is news.

If Brittany's mom had written Tennessee's tax code, you'd have a point. Actually, you have several good points, but this teenager and her mother are not responsible for the country's problems or Tennessee's unfair system of taxation. They're also not responsible for starving children around the world and they're not responsible for every local charity that could benefit from the amount of money spent on this party.

You could get angry at our leaders in Nashville and Washington and demand accountability from them because it's their job to tackle the problems you mention. Or you could just attack this family because you have a social conscience and obviously they don't. They couldn't, could they? Surely the article would have mentioned it if they did.

I'm not jumping in to defend them because they're getting beat up in the comments, I'm defending them because for so many of the things everyone is angry about, they are the wrong target.

What astonishes me is the level of outrage over this story. Yeah, it's vulgar, but it's interesting. Far more interesting than the lifestyles articles I'm used to seeing in KNS. Nobody would care if the mother were being this extravagant for her daughter's wedding, because of the traditional, sentimental meaning we attach to the idea of weddings. Even second or third weddings.

And while I don't appreciate people getting breaks just because of their looks, I think one time when it is entirely appropriate to judge the best man for a job based on his looks is when you're the guy who has to schlep the virgin sacrifice. That's just life. There may be a job for them in posing for the covers of romance novels, who knows? Anyway, the hoisting of a nubile rich blond by four cute virile boys is so perfectly pagan in its symbolism - I thought it was hilarious.

It's a quinceanera. Chill out.

I get far more pissed off about the trend so popular in many churches now of teenage girls pledging virginity - to their fathers. Now that shit is creepy.

Jack McElroy has gotten seriously pasted in two posts here and here on his blog at the News Sentinel. The consensus is that the Sentinel blew it by printing a three page story on this. Some of the hits on Jack are pretty tough, "Don't sell your journalistic soul for a few more sales, Mr. McElroy--we all know that newspapers are slowly becoming irrelevant, but please don't help the Sentinel slide further down the slope towards its inevitable demise with tawdry stunts like this one."

Over 57 comments from readers of the Sentinel. Several promising to cancel their subscriptions. Someone at Scripps named Bob Benz writes, "The last thing I want to do is wall myself off from things that I disagree with. I really hope you (and some of the other folks who have posted here) will reconsider that decision to stop reading. But if that's what you need to do, I respect that. I just disagree with it."

I wonder if Bob is a "suit".

For those that care the Sentinel's Daily Circulation is 115,900. The Sunday Circulation is 153,800. That may be subject to change.

26 more comments over on Jack McElroy's blog. Now the family is being attacked. Charges of embezzlement and other things. I wonder if this has gone from a special event for a young girl to a living hell.

Isn't it strange that this class warfare battle followed the class warfare battle over the Hardin Valley High School? The decision made on the Hardin Valley High School was to take funding from other Knox County schools to pay for the remaining 6 million dollars. 

You have to wonder if this article was a deliberate political calculation.

I am the mother you and everyone else is bashing...obviously none of you have ever experienced dealing with the media...they exploit things and blow things out of proportion. This was a fun safe party for these kids...we rented a tent, some linens, bought some candy and hired a singer and dancers. There were no "lap dances". The fully clothed dancers simply danced circles around whoever was in the chair...one did shake his booty at Brittany but it was to be silly not sexual. The guys without shirts carried her in and did nothing more than what we see all the time...walk around in jeans and no shirt. There was a candy table with giant pixy stix and fun dip. The kids were pouring the sugar into the cups and eating it - that's being called a "shot" now??? Come on...for one thing, no one has the right to judge, for another, you are judging something you didn't witness and therefore don't have true knowledge of what really went on. We had 30 parents there chaperoning...don't you think if it were an unsafe or unfit environment that those 30 parents would have taken their 30 kids home? Instead we were thanked over and over for such a fun night. People really have nothing better to do than to meddle in other people's lives and make judgements on things they know nothing about. Had I known that comments would have been allowed on the article, I never would have agreed to the paper covering it because I know how cruel people can be. I guess I hoped that most people would just look at it as a mom giving her kid the birthday of her dreams and that would be the end of it. What I wonder is when all of you sit there writing you nasty little anonymous comments...how do you sleep at night knowing you are saying these things to a 15 year old child? How would you feel if I publicly bashed your child and your family? You all need to worry about yourselves and what goes on in your own lives and stop tormenting my daughter and our family.

Can I offer another perspective on this topic? I am a reporter (not the one who wrote the birthday party story). In less than 10 years, I alone have written literally dozens of the type of stories our KNS readers are now saying on blogs and on comment pages we "should" have covered "instead" of the Sweet 15 story. We do stories on children who had party guests bring canned foods for Second Harvest. Who had their parties at Build-A-Bear and took all the bears to Children's Hospital. Who collected stuff for Katrina victims, Indonesia tsunami victims, tornado victims, Appalachian children, children in homeless shelters, and so on, and so on. Who read about a family whose house burned down and gave those kids all their toys. Whose one birthday wish came true because Daddy finally got that kidney.

Those are important stories. We do them all the time. I know, because I write them, and so do other reporters. And I'll tell you why people are now saying THOSE are the types of stories we should be doing: Clearly, you must not read them. They're so common, nobody even notices them anymore. That's the only explanation for those comments. And it should be clear to us already, for do we get even one-tenth of the reader response to those stories that was generated by the Sweet 15 story? Speaking for myself, if I get a couple of e-mails from the family and a call from a neighbor or two, that's a lot of response for one of those stories. Perhaps a person or two might be moved to make a donation to the child's cause. If so, that's great. But certainly, there is NEVER the type of reader response THIS story generated. If that's what you want, well ... where are you when we're running it?

You read the Sweet 15 story because it interested you. I myself read every word of it when it came out. Whether or not you disagreed with the mother's decisions, it was interesting because it was different. And you sure let the paper know you read it.

My comments aren't meant to represent the News Sentinel. I am one reporter, and these are my personal opinions. Just trying to show another perspective, and here's why it's important:

As a reporter, you can say to your editor(s), "This story is important! Our readers want/need to know this!" till you're blue in the face. But what backs you up and makes the editor listen is reader response, pure and simple. Remember that the next time you see something you like.

Paris Hilton is a nun compared to that Mom.

Several new developments in the Leslie Gibbs story. After scathing comments and letters against the editorial wisdom of the Sentinel a new feature has been added to the Sentinel website. An opt out option for comments. You click a hyperlink and the comments section will not be displayed on the webpage. Do I detect the aroma of attorneys? Seems like a CYA move by the Sentinel.

Jack McElroy, you the man. You could have handled this many different ways but to choose the cop out is a stunning admission. If it offends them then cast it away. Still hasn't dawned on you that your paper is far off track from what the public expects of you?

The other major development is a letter to the editor from Leslie Gibbs. She explains that the rumors about an embezzlement charge are not about her but are about a different Leslie Gibbs. She explains what happened at the party and writes that there were, "30 chaperones at the party, many of whom were parents of kids attending".

I can not remember any family being setup the way this family was by the Sentinel. I do think the party was over the top but that in no way forgives the behavior of Jack McElroy and the Sentinel. To take a birthday party and use it as a club to wage a class warfare battle is not the role of a newspaper.

The problem is that this has garnered so much attention that it will be tempting to do this again. McElroy's job is to sell papers. Does this signal the move to tabloid journalism for the Sentinel?

Ms. Gibbs doesn’t claim to have been “set up” by the media, she simply states that “they exploit things and blow things out of proportion”. On his blog The Upfront Page, Mr. McElroy seems to provide ample evidence to support her claim. He tell us that even before the party is held, the kns staff is “universally aghast” at the plans. The paper decides to attend and “simply describe the party, in detail”, knowing there will be “extreme negative reaction” and that they will be “exposing the family to public scorn”

If they accepted Leslie Gibbs’ invitation without sharing that knowledge with her, it’s fair to say they exploited the situation. Whether or not Ms. Gibbs should have seen it coming is no more relevent than whether or not she is deserving of the ridicule brought on by the article.

"Are y'all really THAT disconnected from reality out there in Farragutia?"

Yes, yes ma’am, we are. Not a brain or an instinct in existence west of the Pellisippi. Everyone in the REAL Knox County knows that.

"I know how vicious some of the little bastards that go to Farragut High School can be."

And you’re most welcome! After all, if we didn’t take them out here, there might be vicious little bastards in every high school in the land.

Last night I asked the question of whether the article the Sentinel would print later about the investigation of Mayor Ragsdale would have a comment section.

It does not. Hypocrisy prevails at the Sentinel.

So why does Jack McElroy choose to have a comment section for a 15 year old girls birthday party but not have a comment section when the County Mayor is under investigation? The articles about the Wests family had comment sections. Why the difference?

Hard to say if this is a Mea Culpa but Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy has given serious thought to the Sentinel's three page story of a birthday party for Brittany Gibbs. It is clear that Jack understands why including the comment section may not have been appropriate considering Brittany's age.

I propose that the Sentinel have a comment section for all stories and use their staff resources to make sure that hurtful, harmful, and libelous comments are removed. Jack does write that several comments were removed due to their content.

What can be learned from this episode? That Knox County is a divided community. That beneath the southern pleasantness there is anger, contempt, jealously, envy, and perhaps even malice.

It didn't use to be that way. Perhaps the Sentinel will explore how this division has come about? Perhaps a story on how bridges can be built? It would be a sad affair if the only time this community is united and unified is on football Saturday.

Part of the problem is a few politicians that are using class warfare as a tool to divide the community. I don't think anyone knew how strong these feelings were until this column was printed. Maybe we all learned something after all.

On South Park this would be the time for Stan to tell us what we have learned. I wonder what Stan would say? 

Lessons learned from a birthday party

Who would have predicted that a story about a birthday party would be one of the most controversial the News Sentinel would publish this year?

The paper has been deluged with comments since "My Super Sweet 15" ran last Sunday, and the reaction certainly has given me pause to think.

Many readers objected to devoting two and half pages to coverage of a lavish party for a teenager. The point is well taken.

Certainly it was a judgment call to present the story in such detail. We did so because we thought there would be high reader interest, and there was. But many readers who saw the party as decadent felt our coverage glorified the event and contributed to the decadence.

In planning the story, we hadn't looked at it that way. We were invited by the family to cover the party, and we accepted, believing that its extravagance and the statement it made about popular culture made it newsworthy. We chose to report descriptively and nonjudgmentally, letting the event speak for itself.

But I appreciate the feedback from those who felt our presentation went overboard and sent a harmful message to youth in the community.

Other readers complained that we don't give extensive coverage to more positive role models. I disagree with that.

That same day's paper included our annual full-page salute to minority youths inducted into the National Achievers Society as well as the latest in our 3-month-long series profiling the good works of the United Way. A creative new Christian ministry was the centerpiece story on both A1 and B1.

The previous day we had published a B1 centerpiece about innovative programs for deaf students. The day before that our front-page centerpiece was about a mission trip that helped a Haitian man who needed surgery. That story was a follow-up to an eight-page section we published on the mission last year.

We believe coverage of the heroes of our community is vitally important, and I'm confident the paper reflects that.

Some readers objected that we unfairly held the family up to scorn, and I can see where that would be a concern. I am less worried about the mother who hosted the party. She's an adult, and she invited us. I'm more concerned about how her daughter might deal with the coverage.

If we crossed a line, it may have been in allowing readers to comment online. Hundreds did. Some remarks were cruel, and we removed several.

Like many newspapers nowadays, we believe reader interaction is important, and I certainly welcomed the more than 100 comments that were posted on my blog, although many were sharp criticisms of the newspaper.

But, if I had fully anticipated the hurtfulness of some of the remarks directed at the family, I might have handled the comments differently.

Finally, some critics said simply that the party wasn't news. Perhaps it wasn't in the traditional sense. But I'd argue that it was news as that term is understood in today's diverse media world.

David Zeeck, president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, offered this broad definition after a recent "Future of News" conference:

"News is the ultimate manifestation of a human desire to know what's going on, to make sense of the world, to catch up on the latest. It can be a letter from home, gossip at the water cooler, or a phone call from a friend you haven't heard from in a while. It's a stock pick or a wanted poster. Sometimes news comes dressed as entertainment -- as in movie reviews and baseball scores.

"News is information I need. It's intelligence that gives me an edge on the competition. It's knowledge to help me prepare for the worst. It's facts that set me straight, trends that show me where things are headed, predictions that may (or may not) come true. It's wisdom that helps me live better."
News is what people talk about, and people definitely were talking about "My Super Sweet 15." Our Web traffic showed it was the best-read and the most discussed story of the year.

In the final analysis, I still believe that discussion will prove valuable and contribute to the community's understanding of itself. At the News Sentinel, we'll take the feedback to heart and use it to understand how the newspaper can better foster such discussions in the future.