London's Watergate

[Snark]

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2.../19211866.html

This is perhaps a new low for a publication that has been in free fall journalistically for many a year now. A bus driver photographed eating lunch on the job.

641 words dedicated to not only a non-story, but then an attempt by the paper to spin it into some sort of scandal.

I know how this works, I've been part of the process: a "journalist" sees something, reads something, or has something sent to him by happenstance. They weren't "investigating" the matter. The "journalist" thinks "hmmm... I've got XXX number of words to fill in tomorrow's, or the next day's edition. The "journalist" then calls up a bunch of people on the phone or by email that he thinks sound relevant to the matter and solicits opinions. 45 minutes later: voila - a story is born.

Everyone should just remember this when reading stories from the media, especially local media (and not just from the Freep). Great stories are not usually that great. Bad stories are not usually that bad. Outrageous stories are not usually that outrageous.

[manny_santos]

I agree with your thoughts. There are a lot of drivers in this city and everywhere else who eat while driving; this one just happens to be driving a transit vehicle.

I have also been involved in the news media, at the student level. Usually we worked on more stories than would fit in the next day's paper, just in case one or two stories couldn't be completed for some reason. If there was a serious gap that needed to be filled, such as on a slow news day, we turned to other publications and tried to put a local spin on the story. We had a policy of not printing articles from the Canadian Press or other publications, but a paper like the Free Press can easily put in a story from another Sun Media paper if they truly can't find a good local story. In some cases they can put a local spin on that story, especially if it's related to provincial or federal politics.

[Underground100]

I just went to the comments section of the article and found this guy's blog; this is his archive of complaints:

http://dougbale.blogspot.com/

And I can't believe this is actually some big story. Oh LFP

[ForestryW]

This one is my new favourite:

Giant boot stolen
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2.../19209511.html

[manny_santos]

^^ Sounds like the police blotter in Dog River, Saskatchewan.

In other news, an elderly man with white hair was seen stealing a napkin from The Ruby. Some locals refer to him as Oscar.

[Wharn]

Why does anyone bother reading the LFP? It's nothing more than a simple-minded tabloid that makes absolutely no effort to make any relevant commentary on any relevant issue. If you're a Liberal, grab the Globe. Conservative, take a copy of the Post.

[Blitz]

^ Good luck finding any local news stories in those papers. Many people don't read newspapers for the politics, they read them for local news.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Many people don't read newspapers for the politics, they read them for local news.

Hardly anything noteworthy ever happens here, and when something does it's covered by the national papers (Electro-Motive is all over the NP and Globe). Half the Free Press stories are crap like "Crowbar used in Robbery" or "Kitten stuck in tree ties up Fire Department".

[MolsonExport]

Saw the article in question. Drivers should not be eating/texting/calling/etc. while their vehicle is in motion. But 641 words? Front page? Damn, either the news is really slow or the reporters are.