DAMN YOU MCCLATCHY!

I'm more than a little peeved. I have been peeved for quite some time now. The Raleigh News & Observer is the source of my frustration. It was never a brilliant paper that had exciting journalism going on, but since the McClatchy-Bastards laid off about 70 people in June, it has been steadily going down hill. They've decided that if something must go it's going to be the news not the drivel, and thus the front page has been shrinking and the 'Life' section (with comics) has been getting fatter and fatter. Part of the bloating comes not from content, but from the addition of a prodigious classifieds section stuck to the back of the comics. Unacceptable. The comics are sacred. You do NOT attach ads to the funnies, man. *Ahem* Anyway, it's an unfortunate and unpredictable situation--you never know what they're going to cut or change in order to cut costs. The editorial section has suffered and is generally only one page on Mondays. What?!?!?!?

Not only am I ticked about their organizational choices etc, but their content has been quite lacking as of late. I've already complained about Jesse Helms, and their coverage of Edwards' affair over the conflict between Russia and Georgia was horrifying! On the day that Russia invaded, that story was a tiny bit in the corner while Edwards' baby-mama was taking up almost the entire front page. This ridiculous coverage lasted for a good 3-4 days! How can any respectable newspaper justify ignoring serious world news in favor of the sex life of a man who isn't even running for office anymore?! It was sickening. This is just one of their desperate and craven attempts to garner attention and sell papers. They've abandoned journalistic integrity to become a tabloid.


"So their organization and their story content has gone to pot, Jessie, but there can't be anything else wrong", you say. Au contraire mes amis--their recent choice to distribute the propaganda film "Obsession". With the support of publisher Orage Quarles, the N&O VP of display advertising said, "Obviously, we have distributed other product samples, whether it's cereal or toothpaste." The News and Observer has lost the ability to distinguish between basic consumer products and propaganda.

I don't know what the hell they're thinking, but they'd damned well better fix things.