The Grinch Report

We discussed The Grinch last week — but no Christmas is complete without this: lazy journalists invoking the name “Grinch” whenever someone steals something or does something bad around the holidays.

Rob, you may ask, is that not a fitting analogy? No, not unless the thief returns what he stole. Then he is like the Grinch. It’s much like comparing someone to Scrooge. Yes, if you are nasty around Christmas you are rather like Scrooge — but without redemption, one is not truly Scrooge-like.

Having said that, here’s a brief review of journalistic Grinchitude, proving the work of many reporters and editors is not just trite, but a little dumb, too.

Grinch in Louisville steals family’s Christmas presents

‘Grinch’ cuts down Vallejo man’s front-yard pine tree

Christmas Grinch steals Grinch from south Charlotte home

Grinch Stealing Christmas Deliveries

Southern Illinois grinch steals family’s Christmas

‘Grinch’ tramples Christmas decorations outside Kerrville church

There are hundreds more, which you may browse in Google News. And if you work in the news business? Let’s save the Grinch stuff until someone actually brings something back.

6 thoughts on “The Grinch Report

  1. W/o being too much of a sycophant, thanks for this perspective…..I actually have never considered this angle before, but it’s so true…..we always connote bad people as Grinches or Scrooges, when in fact, at the end of the day, they’re not.

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