Getting to the Bottom of the Story

I wasn’t planning on writing about the Fourth Estate today. As often happens, serendipity played a large role. Perhaps I should title this, “The Blogs made me do it.”

I started the morning by reading Nancy Nall’s entry in which she wrote. “If I had it to do over again I wouldn’t have chosen journalism.” With her comments on the profession at the back of my mind, I went to check on a very different blog My Journey, written by a friend of Lucy’s as he chronicles his treatment for cancer (Hi, Cris.) In his January 13th post, he had cited a case in an Omaha court, presided over by his father, and today he noted that the coverage had gone national. Actually, if you follow the links, you will see that the story has also been picked up in the British press. The Google search lists the headlines of the various articles (just how many variations on bottom, booty, and bum are fit to print?) and the different slants on the reporting of the case would make for a great final in Journalism 101. You know the kind:

Compare and contrast the following articles, paying particular attention to the standards of the community involved, the gravity of the case and the appropriateness of the accompanying photograph.

That’s cheered up a rather dreary Friday.