Anatomy of a Front Page

Congratulations to the Washington State High School Class of 2008 and their teachers for a job well done; I learned in today’s paper 90% of our state’s high school seniors passed their WASL exams. Interestingly, the Seattle PI chose to subordinate their accomplishment to below the fold so a puff piece worthy of the Jerry Springer show illuminating how one man created a fantasy reality to seduce women (Why, I’ve never heard of such a thing!) could take second billing. Further, this tale of deceit and deception warranted investigative reporting, long distance phone calls and close to a full page of content deeper in the front section. To think, if the man had actually harmed someone or broken a law, his story may have been meaty enough to clutch the headline from the first African-American to lay claim to the Democratic nomination.

Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall during editorial meetings. What were they thinking???!!!?