News reporting
as it’s currently practiced is being criticized in many quarters, and not
without reason. Both quantity and quality are suffering; newsroom budgets are
being cut, news bureaus are being closed, and now reporters and editors
are being asked to insert commercial messages into previously sacrosanct
editorial matter. Reporters are abandoning newspapers for PR agency jobs,
probably with the idea that if they’ll be doing that kind of work anyway they
might a well do it for better pay.
It’s refreshing,
then, that you can still run across a well-written, well-researched news
article that both conveys the personality and examines the motivations of the individuals
reported on. I give you the following.
VOYAGER RETURNS FROM CRUISE ALONE;
TRAVEL COMPANION'S FATE QUESTIONED
TRAVEL COMPANION'S FATE QUESTIONED
Portsmouth - Less than three weeks after putting
to sea in a pea-green boat with Arthur Owl, George Pussycat returned alone
today to this port from which the two had embarked on their unprecedented
voyage.
Questioned about
his missing traveling companion, Pussycat read from a prepared statement, saying
he did not know what had happened to Owl, but that he "must have gone for
a walk and lost his bearings."
The journey of
the two in the washtub-like vessel was launched amid much fanfare, but was
controversial from the start. Critics questioned the pair's compatibility and
noted that while Owl carried provisions for two months, Pussycat stocked only
salt, pepper, and breadcrumbs.
A police source requesting anonymity because he or she was not authorized to comment said that what had appeared to be a promising lead proved a dead end when no positive identification could be made of feathers found in the vessel. Responding to the implied accusation, Pussycat cited the irony of being suspect "just because I dust vigorously."
A police source requesting anonymity because he or she was not authorized to comment said that what had appeared to be a promising lead proved a dead end when no positive identification could be made of feathers found in the vessel. Responding to the implied accusation, Pussycat cited the irony of being suspect "just because I dust vigorously."
Consensus of
legal opinion surveyed locally is that no action will be taken against Pussycat
since -- wait for it -- there is no
evidence of fowl play.
# # #
Wotthehell;
it’s my blog. Thought I should lighten up after the May 3 post, anyway.
---------------
V-E+2
---------------
V-E+2
