Thursday, March 13, 2008

Lazy Lead's a Lie

"Finding affordable housing just got a bit easier for DeSoto and Hardee county residents," says the story lead.

Uhm. No it didn't. First the funds have to be released, then the agencies must find a contractor, pull permits, assemble crews -- in other words, actually build the houses. Nothing "just got a bit easier," except writing a lazy lead that's a lie because it's months ahead of the event it claims just happened.

In fact, in the process of slapping a congressman's packaged news release up on the Web, no reporter was asked to pick up the telephone and find out when the residences' certificates of occupancy are likely to be issued. That's when finding affordable housing will get a bit easier.

2 comments:

  1. This ad explains a lot of the Sun's problems.

    The Sun newspaper group on Florida¹s sunny Gulf Coast has an opening for an assistant editor to work for our 40,000-plus circulation daily. We are looking for someone who is passionate about local news coverage with at least two years experience. Editing experience is preferred, but not mandatory.

    Why should an editor know how to edit? Geez....

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  2. ... well, the reporters can't report; the columnists can't write, the photographers aren't ... The "passionate about local news" part is a real mystery. We live in a town where the "editor" is married to the school board publicist and has no idea how to cover local government except by rewriting agendas.

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