Elmo, Pancakes and a Rebel Flag

Have you ever just looked at the pictures on the front page of a newspaper and not tried to put them in context? Just look at the paper and don't read headlines. Don't glance at cutlines. Just look at the pictures and then tell me that corporate journalism hasn't contributed to the crappyness of some media outlets. Particularly, my media outlet.

I love newspapers. I loved them so much that growing up there wasn't anything else I wanted to be but a writer at a newspaper. But I'm not. I'm in PR which in college sounded like the eqivalent to selling your soul. I was actually required to read a book called "Toxic Sludge is good for You." The whole thing made me realize that PR people can be the most deceitful people in the world. So, I chose to offset selling my soul with selling it cheaply for a non-profit. That way at least the message I was pushing was similiar totoxic sludge: good for you.

But I digress.

Today's paper had, above the fold mind you, a picture of an Elmo doll, a picture of a Confederate war reenacter in full garb standing in front of a Confederate flag, and pancakes. Please bear in mind that I don't live in a small town. It's a major metropolitan area. So in 24-hours, I find it hard to believe that the most important stories we have to offer were as follows:

• TMX Elmo is the this year's hottest Christmas toy and all stores are sold out of it. Replace TMX Elmo with Xbox 360, Tickle Me Elmo, Furby, Cabbage Patch Kids, etc. and you have the same story every year. It doesn't need to be on the front page.
• Confederate reenacter is pissed because they won't let him use a real gun or wave the confederate flag at a public Civil War reenactment. Maybe it's just me, but the idea of having a man who dresses up for fun and clings to the hope of one day proudly waving the confederate flag again, having a loaded weapon in the middle of a big crowd seems like inviting trouble. It's a government event, buddy. Deal with it.
• Pancakes: It's what's for dinner. This wasn't an actual article, but just touting an article in the Living section about Breakfast being the new Dinner. I shit you not. Didn't elementary schools figure that out when they began their "Upside Down Day" experiment? Scrambled egg tostadas don't seem that revolutionary to me.

I'm just tired of getting everyone else's news. All the papers in the country seem to be running the same stories with the exception of 4-5 local stories they plop in for good measure. I don't want stories about a party thrown by a local magazine that happens to be owned by the same company as the paper it was printed in.

Synergy is BAD, people. Not everything needs to be cross-promoted.