October 8, 2007
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Jimmy Olsen and Perry White1 Historians aren't really sure who said this: "When a dog bites a man, that is not news...but if a man bites a dog, that is news." Journalism professors and dogged journalism students debate the origin of this famous quote. Some attribute it to one John B. Bogart, New York Sun editor from 1873-1890. Others give it to Charles Dana, Sun editor and part owner from 1868-1897.
2 My experience with the quote is that it was constantly drilled into Daily Planet personnel by Editor-in-Chief Perry White, who allegedly shortened it: "Dog bites man, nobody cares. Man bites dog, that's news!"
3 Well.
4 As a former journalism student and editor of the cub edition of my high school newspaper in my junior year, I always thought Perry White's advice made utmost sense.
5 I got home a bit late yesterday and just grabbed the Merc News. I flipped through it to see if the little pictures of what the weather was going to do was going to have rain on Friday.
6 The Merc is great for visual learners. In general, it has pictures of what the weather is going to do for the rest of the week. Monday had a sun, today has a sun with clouds hanging off it. Wednesday and Thursday both have the same exact cloud, just one each, although to a guy who needs a fair Friday, it seemed they gathered and moved on the page, like something out of a Harry Potter diary.
7 I think I was just imagining it, but I really needed Friday to remain partly cloudy. Here is this week's forecast directly from the Merc News' online website:
Translation:
Tuesday: Mostly Cloudy
Wednesday: Partly Cloudy
Thursday: Partly Cloudy
Friday: Rain, rain, rain
8 I found this out the night before last, just as I was finishing up making my flyers for the tailgate party for Homecoming. I looked again yesterday morning and It seemed that the Thursday cloud was moving slowly up and just a bit more to the left.
9 Not news. But it got me to start thumbing through the Merc iso news.
10 So after reading the fun news about the rain, I brushed through the paper.
11 I came upon this huge headline on page 6B:
"Students often tardy to class"
12 No kiddin'? Can you imagine the copy boy flying this headline anywhere in a newspaper building?
13 Ummm...Chief?
14 Evidently not a lot of journalists have taken Perry White's advice.
15 Superman's boss. Go figure.
16 I had to smile. Thought immediately of Perry White's advice to Jimmy Olsen, Lois, and Clark.
17 "Dog bites man. Nobody cares!"
18 Merc, shame on you!
19 Shame on me for telling you about it.
20 Ah, let's move on briefly.
21 I was pleased to tune in once again to The Bachelor last night. It was set in the circus. Perfect.
22 People should throw peanuts at everyone on the set and on that show.
23 Well, I just thought I'd tell you about the journalism quote, about Perry White, and how that headline would NEVER have found the light of day on the Planet, and finally about The Bachelor, and some bimbo said, "Oh...mygod! I was SEHOOO excited to get a rose in front of the whole circus..."
24 Hopefully they'll go to the zoo next week where they could take up permanent residence.
25 Someone's havin' fun, I'll tell you that much.
26 Well, have a great day today everybody.
27 Hope it doesn't rain.
28 Peace.
~H~
http://www.xanga.com/bharrington
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