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Bullshit? I call it.
What in the eff is this? It was in the “Latest News” section of the Enquirer’s front page. I am absolutely flabbergasted. Every week, the Cincinnati Enquirer gives me something to bitch about, and this, to be sure, is this week’s bit.
I don’t even know where to start. Sure, “Little Miss Know It All” is one of the Enquirer’s blogs (it is, isn’t it?), and whatever. But since when did “Bigg’s is tripling coupons this weekend” become news, much less “BREAKING NEWS” type stuff? Clearly this comes from a press release, and maybe it’s interesting to lots of people. But you can’t say “Breaking News” and expect to be taken seriously.
You also can’t expect to not get called out for it. Come the eff on, Enquirer. You’re not respecting yourself here–you’re ruining your name, and you’re not expecting what you should be expecting out of your readers. We’re not stupid, and it’s embarrassing to watch you do this sort of thing. Ugh.
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I understand your frustration. Honestly, I do. I think similar things when I see a story with dozens of news crews crowding in over a horse stuck in the mud. I wonder what the heck is wrong with people who camp out for a week to get tickets to a movie. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. And if you don’t coupon, or like saving money, then this story probably doesn’t make sense to you. For those of us who coupon, this is like a new Harry Potter book or new Star Wars movie. Its what we wait years for!
In all honesty the “Breaking News” wasn’t written for the Enquirer/Cincinnati.com audience. It was written for my blog audience, who I knew would be very, very excited over this news. Triple coupons means hundreds of dollars in savings on everyday food items in only a few days. I tend to be silly and have fun with my readers. Its just a part of my personality, as I suppose being sarcastic and snarky is a part of yours. (no offense meant, we can be pretty snarky around here too. Snark is appreciated in our house.) What I write for my site does get pulled onto Cincinnati.com, but I don’t write with that audience in mind. I had no idea this would make the front page, but from the response (over 12,000 views in the past 24 hours) I’m guessing its something people are interested in. Especially considering how many people are hurting right now. Heck, if you knew you could get free shampoo and free shaving cream, free cereal or free meat for your family, wouldn’t you? And that’s what this story is about. Not some big sale–but about the opportunity to save money. And what motivates us more in our day to day lives than money? (Hopefully love, but not for everyone.)
If I can help you save in any way, let me know! ;)
Thanks for the response, LMKIA (is that right?). It’s possible that we’re too quick to jump on the Enquirer at times, and our frustration in general shouldn’t be directed at you, or your blog specifically. At the same time, however, it was (and is) pretty alarming to us that triple coupons, however interesting and useful that may be, is “Latest Headline” news for the Enquirer. It’s the same idea as front page, above the fold, “Holy Crap! We’re getting an Ikea!” Again–interesting, perhaps useful, but not the hard news that we should expect from newsmedia.
Your blog post, as you said, is written with your audience in mind–and you’re doing a good job. We’re questioning the Enquirer’s quality, and challenging them to give us stronger journalism. That would be the best way to put it, I feel like. Snarky headline? Sure. That’s pretty much how it works in the blog world, right?
And damn, that horse stuck in the mud thing was ridiculous.
It absolutely was. Especially since it bumped little ‘ol me from the 5 o’clock news that day. Seriously? Saving $$ on Gas or a Horse Stuck in the Mud? In all seriousness I hadn’t wanted to do the gas story that day, but they’d begged and pleaded and I got showered and went. (I’m a stay at home mom–showering isn’t always easy!) Sat in the sun with two bored kids waiting for them to show, b/c they got called to that story instead. Oh well, its how it goes.
And when it comes to my hard copy newspaper, I’d totally agree with you. I’m old school, and nothing is like opening my paper for the news and crossword in the morning. I was a press secretary and campaign manager for political campaigns in my past life. I honestly get very frustrated with what passes for news these days. But on a website, in an environment where media are now competing for every viewer and ad dollar with no-name upstart bloggers like myself, I can understand it. They need people to ‘tune in’ to the site, for multiple visits per day. so news mixed with party happenings, Ocho-Cinco moving back to the Tri-State, and the biggest sale to hit the Tri-State in five years…I can see that.
I like it here. I’m going to stick around and read a bit.
OK, people. Come on, really? There’s always one in a crowd that just doesn’t get it. Todays big news IS the economy. Job loss, financial problems, inflation and home forclosures. So how can you be so surprised that a story would be breaking news that a grocery store would be offering chances to save hundreds of dollars on things that we need each and every day! Did I mention all of the free things? Do you really need another story on another soldier being killed in Iraq?
The Enquirer is OUR newspaper. Journalist do not always get the big hot stories that you feel are big hot stories. That doesn’t mean it is crap!Perhaps Mr Munch is rich and doesn’t care that the rest of us can eat and pay our bills this week.
Of course as much as I love horses, really? Was it set to race the Derby the next week? I would believe saving money in these hard times and for the next set of government screw up’s to be first on the list. You didn’t see me on there when my indoor declawed kitty ran away for a few days.
Thank you so much Miss Know It All for all of the hard work that you do for us that are clueless on our own.
I think you’re missing the point. The Bigg’s story is in fact news, but it’s not the kind of news that the Enquirer should run under the “Latest Headlines” banner. If you read the post more carefully, I’m directing my venom at the Cincinnati Enquirer and their editorial decisions. Apparently, some of that venom made its way to Little Miss Know It All. Whoops.
I’m not begrudging LMKIA or her readership any of the joy, helpfulness, or information that she brings us (or, you, rather). I’m just saying that the Enquirer’s decision to make that the equivalent of front-page, above the fold news was a bad one. For the record, I saw LMKIA on channel 5 earlier this week and she did a great job–talking about THE FUCKING BIGGS COUPON TRIPLING.
There’s one thing that you absolutely nailed in your response, though–you’re clueless.
[...] The Worst News Story Ever: We break off a poorly-thought-out opinion about a front-page headline on the Enquirer’s website. Imagine that. [...]