Monday mediocrity
Who's in charge of the Enquirer on weekends, and what were they smoking when they put together Monday's newspaper? It's predictable that the most prominent space on the front page is devoted to the NCAA tournament, but in the main above-the-fold photo, Xavier players Justin Doellman and Justin Cage look like somebody just kicked their dogs. Front-page photos need to have some electricity in them, so it's a terrible and lifeless choice, but a worse choice is the story next to it. How in the world did "Malls keeping longer hours" make to the top of the front page? It blows my mind. I am speechless. The news is that Kenwood Towne Centre is open one extra hour on Friday, and also on Saturday. The same at Florence Mall. And that's it. I pity the reporter who actually had to go to the mall late Friday to talk to people about this.
It doesn't end there. We also get a sleep-inducing profile of the weatherman on the fourth-rated news station in Cincinnati. The big revelation: He plays the piano real good. The editorial page, not to be outdone in this orgy of banality, opines that we all just have to stop eating so god damn much. The editorial has the nerve to include this line: "we are now inundated with free food just about everywhere we go." This should be great news to all those folks waiting in line in the cold at the Free Store. Somebody on the editorial page has a serious food fetish, because we keep getting editorials about how our kids are fat and out of shape, but today's editorial is just insensitive.
You wonder why there isn't more hard-hitting and impactful news in the Enquirer. It's a circular game spun by bad decisions and low expectations. Editors decide to put things like today's mall hours story on the front page, and reporters begin to think that's the kind of crap the editors want out there, so they deliver it. It's easy and it's painless and at the end of the week you still get a paycheck. There's nothing wrong with today's profile of the weatherman, but it wasn't good enough to be the lead story in the Life section. Somebody has to stand up and say we're going to do better than this. But sometimes when you stand up, your head gets shot off, so it's easier to keep your head down and deliver mediocrity.
It doesn't end there. We also get a sleep-inducing profile of the weatherman on the fourth-rated news station in Cincinnati. The big revelation: He plays the piano real good. The editorial page, not to be outdone in this orgy of banality, opines that we all just have to stop eating so god damn much. The editorial has the nerve to include this line: "we are now inundated with free food just about everywhere we go." This should be great news to all those folks waiting in line in the cold at the Free Store. Somebody on the editorial page has a serious food fetish, because we keep getting editorials about how our kids are fat and out of shape, but today's editorial is just insensitive.
You wonder why there isn't more hard-hitting and impactful news in the Enquirer. It's a circular game spun by bad decisions and low expectations. Editors decide to put things like today's mall hours story on the front page, and reporters begin to think that's the kind of crap the editors want out there, so they deliver it. It's easy and it's painless and at the end of the week you still get a paycheck. There's nothing wrong with today's profile of the weatherman, but it wasn't good enough to be the lead story in the Life section. Somebody has to stand up and say we're going to do better than this. But sometimes when you stand up, your head gets shot off, so it's easier to keep your head down and deliver mediocrity.
posted by Newsache at 11:59 AM
4 Comments:
At least they had Wright State listed above Kentucky. The NKY bias of our newspaper is sickening so to see a Dayton University mentioned and listed about a Kentucky university is surprising.
The fact that I have to point that out is a reminder of how terrible our local paper is at covering in state news. Last time I checked Dayton was in Ohio and closer than Lexington.
And live on the enquirer website, the splashy headline and story we've all been waiting for: "David tells Liz: 'I love you'"
"David Carroll Jr. mouthed the words to his wife in court today and Liz burst into tears...."
They should give up. It's no longer a "newspaper."
Again, thank you. You have gift for words and story telling that the enquirer would do well to aspire too. I'm book marking this site.
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