The most obvious headline of the day comes from Yahoo News referring to a story by Reuters news service:
Prison would prove tough if Jackson convicted
Ya think? The headline is pretty awful. The story, which if you want to spend your time reading you should have the fun of looking it up on Yahoo News yourself, (hey, I can’t do everything for you) is one of those stories in journalism where sow’s ears are spun from a sow’s wiggly little tail. Reporters are awaiting the jury to decide upon poor Michael’s fate. So this writer reached down into the depths of her journalistic tool box and pulled up a jewel about how life could be difficult for the so-called “King of Pop” inside the slammer.
I wish I could say that I cared. I don’t. Whatever the jury decides is something Jackson will have to live with, whether behind bars or not. But I can understand this journalist writing such a story. Because the awful truth behind newspapers is something called the newshole. It’s like a pothole except you have to fill it with whatever material you have handy. It is also possible that this Reuters writer (say that fast 16 times)was given such an assignment by an editor. That is because editors are where the truly bad stories originate.
Editors scream at their minions to “fill that damn newshole” with something, anything. Just as long as the hungry beast gets filled. The result is instant enlightenment. Oh my, Michael Jackson might have it rough if he goes to prison. I did not know that.
I’ve filled the newshole with my share of meaningless drivel so I feel I can sit here and criticize. In fairness, nothing stories come from a variety of circumstances ranging from idiot editors to slow news days. It’s quite common to see this on local television news. Hey, nothing happened, let’s do a story. Make some s*** up! Why? It’s the newshole.
Just remember, as long is there is an empty newshole, no stupid story will go untold.