A friend was concerned. “You don’t write much about local media any more. Is it getting better or are you just losing interest?â€
Well, neither. It’s certainly getting different, but not better — and yes I’m still interested. The truth is that work consumes more of my brain capacity now, unlike in the Albany Eye days. Idle hands, idle hands.
But now and then, oh boy:
That headline is a masterpiece of poor taste, and it is funny at first — until you read the story. The jarring contrast between the jokey headline and the brutality of the crime is stunning. But maybe it was OK. After all, these were just a bunch of roughneck laborers from out of town, living in a cheap hotel. They aren’t like us, are they?
Oh, one more thing. Earlier in the day I read a story in the Times Union about a lawsuit brought by a man who’d been hit in the balls with a golf club. Before you ask, “What club does one use for that shot,†you should know that the guy lost a testicle. The reporter was less restrained, and wondered if the case, “might keep the judges from looking forward to golf season anytime soon.â€
By the way, both of these stories were written by Robert Gavin, who covers law and the courts. I guess he’s the Paul Grondahl of crotch stories.
So local media? Maybe not better, certainly different, always interesting.
Times Union: setting standards for “low blows”
I think we all laugh at dick jokes or when somebody gets hit in the nads — those are comedy staples. But is it unreasonable to think that the local newspaper, the one that insists on being taken so seriously, should have a slightly higher standard? We all have urges we can’t control, and the Times Union is no different. When they feel a dick joke coming on, they should stop and ask, what would the New York Times do?