Local Newspapers: Tweaking the Bothersome Groin

Several weeks ago, a sports story in my local paper caught my attention. The story recounted the trials a female high school basketball player suffered after she had “tweaked her bothersome groin."

The good news is that the school girl's groin is cured now and she "can yield more production than her junior year."

The really bad news is for the readers of my local newspaper. Its journalistic tomfoolery is quickly becoming the rule rather then the exception. Straight news stories have evidently lost their appeal. Investigative reports? Never.

Human interest stories dominate in the paper and even take precedence in real news stories. “As he scraped off the blackened shards to save his charred morning toast, little did Congressman LocalGoodGuy know that, later that same day, he would be scraping the shovel-ready ashes off the wheat subsidies in the farm bill as the amendment went up in flaming defeat like wheat straw caught in a wildfire on a drought damaged prairie.”

Does this type of introduction draw the reader in better than just the facts: “Farm Bill Amendment Stuck in House Committee"?

Is the casual approach a reflection of the decline of investigative journalism? Aren't newspapers supposed to give in-depth balanced stories on issues that impact us, citing facts and various opinions?

Do the newspaper editors think that more homey, dumbed-down approaches take the edge off of our suffering and subdue our need for real information? If you replace facts with filler or folksy jargon, will people become more stupid, yet happier? Do happy people buy more newspapers?

I've heard that some newspapers are blaming their plummeting revenues on bloggers and blogging.

Perhaps discerning readers are increasingly drawn to the blogs in search of in-depth writing and intelligent coverage of the issues.

Perhaps the readership shift is simply a result of citizens seeking better journalism.

Comments (2)

Nora Thomason

That's a sad commentary about your local paper, Jacinta. Sounds to me like they are really missing an opportunity to grow and be better and are just giving away their readership without even trying to retain it.

Posted by Nora Thomason | February 10, 2009 4:06 PM

Posted on February 10, 2009 16:06

Jenny

As astute as a panda in the willows. No seriously, it's a great article!

Posted by Jenny | February 11, 2009 3:49 PM

Posted on February 11, 2009 15:49

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