Suffice it to say, anyone who writes for a newspaper is acutely aware of the challenging – OK, scary – times now upon us. And, yet, as I settle in with my Cuban coffee to savor my morning papers, I increasingly find myself doing as much wincing as reading. And it has nothing to do with all the non-breaking news that the dailies are now relegated to. I still get analysis, variety (including a sports fix) and portability.
But increasingly those “typos” you’d occasionally encounter on a jump page are found anywhere, including seeping onto the front page. In the body, in cutlines. Oxycontin or oxymoron? Proof readers? Were they all let go?
But even more than that is the news judgment. And I’m not even talking about the page-two celebrity piffle that now passes for news.
Just last Friday the two local dailies provided Exhibits A and B with their front pages. One featured a large color photo of lightning-struck cows. It was sad and unnecessarily graphic, but it was available — from TV coverage. So, it ran. Tellingly, the actual story was buried on page 6.
The other daily thought it appropriate to run an account — with accompanying color photo — of President Obama swatting a fly during an interview. The sub-head included the ostensible rationale: “What does that say about him…and us?” And, candidly, I thought, “this medium.”
But these were just two, given-day examples. I don’t need any more in-your-face animal cruelty stories or the latest update of what some mutant from a dysfunctional culture did — yet again — or what some slug has on his computer that involves kids. OK, cover it. It happened. This element is out there. Thanks for the heads up, just don’t bludgeon me with it.
Call me naïve or addled or woefully out of touch. I’ve been called worse. But I still believe the daily newspaper’s job is to inform — and also entertain. But neither is a synonym for pander.