Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Us Against Them!

I've got to say, for a paper that doesn't give a whit about northern Idaho anymore, they're pretty quick to let the bloggers continue to make fun of the hometown effort. While realizing the commentary from Orange TV is tongue in cheek, I think the Spokesman may have limited room to talk.

In Huckleberries column Orange comments on what a "fun" read the Press is, filled with innuendo, limited scruples, typos and grammatical errors, special sections geared toward women and reporters who's hair color isn't far from his own. That's okay. He's a great writer and it was a fun read.

It was, however, cause to re-look at this morning's copy of each more closely. Yep. The main story in the CDA Press is touting the news that Good Morning America is going to be in town to cover the Holiday Light Show as part of a series featuring the best light displays across the country. Wow! Such excitement. How small town! Right. It's fun. Absolute fun.

Other front page stories covered an improved 911 system, the disturbing resignations at a clinic that serves the un- and under insured of the area and how the United Way is having trouble meeting its goals. All stories vital to our community here in northern Idaho!

Now for the Spokesman. The lead story was about a teacher who remains on the payroll a year to the day after having been removed from the classroom for using school computers to talk about his fantasies of having sex with and even raping teens. The story is quite full of prurient details which are disgusting to say the least.

Beneath the fold a headline read 'All-natural' Viagra alternatives can be dangerous. Then I moved on to Doug Clark's column. It was his review of a workshop called "Knotty Lovers", an adult seminar on "sensual rope restraint". Tell me, please, this column is fiction. I was going to say fantasy but somehow that didn't seem like the correct word!

Okay, the Spokesman, of course, covers stories important to Spokane and other areas it stills considers worthy. And I don't know if it's the water or the air or just what that gives Washington it's state legislators, it's mayors and it's school teachers, and yes, it's police and firemen who have engaged in similar escapades, their proclivity for inappropriate sexual largess. All I know is when you get a dose of it like this morning's it became so unbelievably ludicrous it was laughable. Not funny when taken in context, but laughable.

So our little paper with the unpopular owner and underpaid staff; they're still out there plugging away to keep us informed. If it means looking at pictures of "students of the week" and scouts doing clean up projects or people attending events and businesses making donations to various causes, so be it. I welcome it. It's our town!

3 comments:

Word Tosser said...

And remember, these same papers hit the class room as part of a deal for kids to have newspapers for their classes....
Which makes you wonder.. do you really want children seeing these papers, even if it is only the front page, which that isn't true.. as they get the whole paper

Idaho Dad said...

Yup, both papers were smack dab in the middle of the lobby of my daughter's elementary school. I couldn't help but notice that teacher headline in the S-R. I'm sorry, but first graders really don't need to know about these kind of stuff.

We haven't had a newspaper in our house for five years. There's no need. I get all the headlines and more through various online sources. Is it unfortunate that my kids won't grow up with the tradition of a paper in the house? Yes, but everything changes. My kids will be better informed, better entertained, and better educated than any other generation in history because they have instant access to a world of information through the Internet. The traditional newspaper is dead.

raymond pert said...

I don't think the Doug Clark piece was made up. I guess he decided to explore the world of fetishes and kink.

I've been tired of Doug Clark's writing for a long time. I just don't find him funny or insightful when he writes this sort of thing, whether it's about kinky stuff or about politicians and their wayward ways.