What's News

Housing Prices Are Stirring and Bidding Wars Are Back! 

John Edwards Still on Trial for Being a Scumbag! 

Man Shoots Wife, Mistaking Her for a Hog!

Minneapolis Airport Evacuated After Bag Triggers Alarm! 

Teenage Boy Set on Fire!

Secret Service Agents Paid for Sex in El Salvador!

Fear in Alabama After Beating of White Man by Blacks!

Illustration by Jeff Jones

With so many stories to choose from, how does a managing editor know which one will grab the public's attention and please the advertisers who pay for all those newspapers, magazines, TV shows and websites? In the end, what's really new, and newsworthy? Based on my personal experience working inside several major newspapers, I can attest that "news" is made at daily meetings in cities nationwide where, over coffee and doughnuts, editors place their bets on the winning story and the only thing that really counts is the bottom line. Next thing you know, you and all your friends are having heated debates over whether the hog-mistaking wife-shooter should pay or how much the Secret Service guys actually did. And the more you talk about it, the bigger the story becomes, until before you know it that's all there is to talk about, and where you stand on these earth-shattering shooting stars that light up the sky for a week or two is crucial.

This phenomenon played out most recently with the Trayvon Martin Hoodie Murder and ensuing George Zimmerman Bail Debacle, but did not happen with the White Man Beaten by Black Mob or the Teenage Boy Set on Fire. (Who wants to hear about that? Too gruesome and way too incendiary, no pun intended.) Sadly, too often the truth of the matter plays almost no part in what makes a news story popular enough to hit the big time. I certainly hope I never become newsworthy for anything, ever, except maybe for winning the lottery. Until then, I'm laying low.