ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS

"We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics.
This is how we stay objective."

Dave Barry



Today, we're going to talk about the news business.

Andway, were going to talk about the news business as it relates to street puppies and homeless nation.

And today, the news is not good.

Today, well, actually, yesterday, one of the finest newspapers in this country went to press with a story that blackened the eyes of every street puppy who lives in the distribution area of the newspaper.

And they did this by printing a lop-sided, ill-sourced, largely anecdotal, sensationalized, scare mongering diatribe about panhandlers.

And then, today, reprinted that piece of rubbish, in their sister tabloid (tabloid here meaning format of the paper, not one of those papparazzi rags) complete with a reefer( no, the editors weren't smoking reefer, a reefer is newstalk for a headline on the front page with a reference to a page number inside where the story can be found) which included mug shots of two people who were outed in the story as having had "violent criminal records."

Now, that's some reefer!

And a lot of people who read both -or even just one of those - papers are going to believe that every homeless person who puts on a safety vest and goes to the street to ask for money, is a violent convicted felon who is going to push in the window of their car and yank them out by the throat, and probably steal their steering wheel, too.

And a lot of people who read both - or even just one of those - papers will believe that people who put on the same safety vests, and work very hard on Sundays to put together, and then sell newspapers -astonishingly, the very newspaper which printed the story - are probably also violent convicted felons who will push into the window of their car and yank them out by the throat...and probably steal their steering wheel, too.

See, this is really all about the two cities which we visited in a previous post here on Streetpuppy, and their continuing struggle to outdo each other in their haste to lay waste to street puppies for once and for all.

Eventually, that will happen.

City number two will bow to the pressure from city number one, and finally pass the required ordinance, banning anybody from selling anything on the street at all, or heaven forbid, asking for money.

And then both cities, and their politicians will root and crow about how they have found the divine measure to once and for all rid themselves of the unsightly, unwashed, homeless group of misfits who are growing in numbers by the day.

And the astonishing thing about all of this...and that eventual outcome, is that a fine newspaper is right on board with those rooting and crowing politicians,

A fine newspaper whose product is sold on the street every Sunday by all of those unsightly, unwashed, homeless group of misfits who work their fingers to the bone to sell that product for a few measly dollars.

Here's my advice to every panhandler who crosses the river from city number one to panhandle here in city number two. Stay home. Please.

And here's my advice to every person who dons that vest every Sunday and sells that newspaper here in city number two, on the street.

Get another gig. Something. Anything legal.

Don't waste your time with these people anymore.

Let them come over here...yeah, all the editors, and reporters and executives of that paper, let them come over here and put on those vests, and work for hours to put those papers together, and them sell them on the street, come rain or shine or wind or searing heat or biting cold.

Let's see how fast those ill-sourced, largely anecdotal, lop-sided, sensational stories about all the 'convicted, violent felons' knocking on windows disappear from their pages.