And another thing ...
OK, there seems to actually be one more useful point to make from the collective circling of the toilet, JonBenet-wise, that Our Meedja seem unable to stop. It is this:
Asked if he were an innocent man, Karr replied, "No."
Aaaaaaagh. He was not asked if he were an innocent man. He was asked if he is an innocent man (which, dear reporter, is rather patently not the same question as "Didja do it?"). As an indication of an ongoing state, it should continue to be reported in the present indicative. Under no circumstances, it ought to go without saying, is it subjunctive. Even if we were trying him in the old-fashioned way, it'd be indicative:
We shall throw thee in the Pool of Champagne, Goodman Karr, and if thou art innocent, thou shalt sink!
The rest of the reporting is sort of like watching the shuttle explode. Over and over and over and over and over:
Before takeoff, Karr took a glass of champagne from a flight attendant and clinked glasses with Spray, who sipped orange juice.
Karr first dined on pate, salad, fried king prawn, steamed rice, broccoli and chocolate cake. He also had a beer — crushing the empty can with his hands — and then had a glass of chardonnay.
Crushed it with his bare hands! And this a guy who allegedly had his alleged facial hair removed so he allegedly could prepare to purportedly think about having an alleged sex change! Doctors say!
Karr appeared to order the drinks himself.
How 'bout that Fox News! CNN had a guy in business class with the suspect and didn't get detail like that!
Enough. You newspapers that still thought this was front-worthy on Monday, you should know better.
Asked if he were an innocent man, Karr replied, "No."
Aaaaaaagh. He was not asked if he were an innocent man. He was asked if he is an innocent man (which, dear reporter, is rather patently not the same question as "Didja do it?"). As an indication of an ongoing state, it should continue to be reported in the present indicative. Under no circumstances, it ought to go without saying, is it subjunctive. Even if we were trying him in the old-fashioned way, it'd be indicative:
We shall throw thee in the Pool of Champagne, Goodman Karr, and if thou art innocent, thou shalt sink!
The rest of the reporting is sort of like watching the shuttle explode. Over and over and over and over and over:
Before takeoff, Karr took a glass of champagne from a flight attendant and clinked glasses with Spray, who sipped orange juice.
Karr first dined on pate, salad, fried king prawn, steamed rice, broccoli and chocolate cake. He also had a beer — crushing the empty can with his hands — and then had a glass of chardonnay.
Crushed it with his bare hands! And this a guy who allegedly had his alleged facial hair removed so he allegedly could prepare to purportedly think about having an alleged sex change! Doctors say!
Karr appeared to order the drinks himself.
How 'bout that Fox News! CNN had a guy in business class with the suspect and didn't get detail like that!
Enough. You newspapers that still thought this was front-worthy on Monday, you should know better.
posted by fev at 8:12 PM
2 Comments:
I agree that this ceased to be front-worthy the moment it was released, but I'd put my money on desperate editors trying to drive readership. With that in mind, I wonder what should be done to win back those elusive customers while maintaining our integrity.
I haven't found anyone with any answers, and I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot. Just merely opening a discussion.
The rules are changing, and we have to as well. Is the JonBenet on 1A a phase we have to suffer through until we get to the substantial changes, or is this the news of the future? How do we get people to again care about the traditional news?
And with that dream slowly fading, where do we go from here? What's on 1A of your newspaper in the future? I could go on, but it's late. Just some food for thought, 'cause I got nuthin'.
I hate to say it, but is anyone turning to their local hometown paper for news about JonBenet? I think everyone's getting it from TV, Web, etc. -- BTW, the same sources your local paper is getting it from (unless your local paper is in Boulder).
That's my argument for kicking it off the front page. Newspapers are for information readers can't get anywhere else -- because if they CAN get it somewhere else, they DO.
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