Story after story on the tragic decease of Danny Gans has used one or another variant of this phrase, "named 'Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year' 11 years in a row." Most recently, it popped up in a Las Vegas Review-Journal tribute. What I want to know is who kept bestowing this 11-time (or more) accolade? And I've not been the only one asking.
It's simple Journalism 101 to be able to cite the bestower of this honor. For all we know right now, it might as well have come from The Man Upstairs. And was Gans "voted" that honor 11 times? Or was he "named" it "12 years in a row"? )(CNN opted for the 11-year version.) Does anybody even know? It's like some kind of self-perpetuating legend.
The obit in the New York Times, significantly, steers clear of the issue, though it's otherwise quite a trove of Gans-iana. Same with the Los Angeles Times obituary. Both papers clarify that it wasn't Gans who rejected Broadway but the other way around: His 1995 B'way show closed after only six performances … which is probably at least 500% longer than Criss Angel's Believe would last on the Great White Way.
If newspapers and TV stations are going to keep parroting this superlative, it'd be nice if they could provide even an iota of context. (Gans is alleged to have had only two predecessors as "Entertainer of the Year," by the way, one of them a drag queen — and, no, it wasn't Frank Marino.) The blogosphere is often accused of being a "giant echo chamber," but in this case it's the sacrosant MSM which is performing that function.
