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« DUMPING SCANDAL FAQ'S | Main | COURT OF APPEALS REVERSES ITSELF IN TOXIC TOWERS CASE »

Feb 22, 2005

HUGGABLE NEWS

Gr_press_logoThe recent make-over of the Grand Rapids Press was, of course, a concession to reality.  The newspaper's self-inflicted irrelevance as the region's hard news source meant giving tabloid-like splash and fluff a try.  But does Gaydou's gang really have to make it so obvious?

Heaven forbid his staff should include a reporter or two to go out and find the stories lurking behind the facade of business as usual in this town.  Instead the Press's big front page spread yesterday is the breaking news that -- (gulp) let me catch my breath -- a mystery novel is going to published a couple of months from now!  What once would've been an article in the old Flair section of the paper is today a front-page headliner displacing crime, politics, the City budget crisis, and foreign affairs.

People_magazine_logoPathetic.  Grand Rapids may not be a major media market, but there are plenty of examples of small-market newspapers turning a profit because they report the hard news and leave the huggable news for "People" magazine.

Posted by Wm Tingley on Feb 22, 2005 at 04:25 PM in Local Media |

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