One bum, two bums; bum-wraps and bum coaches
Today's tabloids, Sept. 15, 2010.
9:51 am Sep. 15, 20101
Each day, the New York tabloids vie to sell readers at the newsstands on outrageous headlines, dramatic photography, and, occasionally, great reporting. Who is today's winner?
Daily News: Well, some of the bums are out! Yesterday you may remember the Daily News asked you to go to the polls and throw a roster of incumbents out of their seats. The list was pretty long! Today, the News is triumphant because two of them were ousted—Pedro "Senate Coup" Espada and Hiram "Broken Glass" Monserrate.
Anyway, there is little mention in this crowing story of the success of some of the other guys labeled "bums" in yesterday's paper. Charlie Rangel, for instance, whose challenger was arguably worse-behaved than he anyway (Adam Clayton Powell IV). Inside the paper you'll find lots of primary coverage; the "BUMS" storyline sorta gets lost in the shuffle. But one must go on as one meant to begin!
Long after the actual stories of fashion-week had started to seem recycled (after all, how many variations of these tales can be spun from one year to the next?), newspapers are obliged to continue writing about it because of advertisers' competition to be front-of-mind during the spectacle. It's not a direct thing: a salesperson promises the newspaper will cover the events from top to toe, and flag the coverage on the front page, etc. etc., and the advertiser feels that readers will turn to the pages where their ads are displayed.
In that context, the Daily News' flagging of a short story by its fashion editor on the appearance of "granny pants" on the runway makes sense: So what if the Gatecrasher column had much juicier stuff from the parties around fashion week? This pretty picture of a girl wearing next to nothing refers readers to the section many pages further back in the paper that has been dedicated especially to Fashion Week (and the advertisers supporting the dedicated section). Or maybe Gatecrasher's lead story—about the relationship between designer Marc Jacobs and his fiancé—single 'e' intentional—is too racy for the newsstand?
The New York Post: Is it puzzling that the Post only highlights one ousted bum—Espada—on the front today? For a moment I thought it might show a bit of political sophistication. Nobody seriously thought Hiram Monserrate would win his primary. But it was by no means a given that Espada would lose. It's the more surprising, better story, so why clutter it up with news about other races? It's true that the Post strategy for Page One has been focus, whereas the News has tried to emphasize breadth. Both approaches have their pluses and minuses. But a look at the rest of the Post front page lets you know they are doing the worst of both worlds. Two sports "reach-arounds" on the front? Sure, Rex Ryan, the Jets coach, has some crossover appeal to readers unaccustomed to flipping the paper around to the back to see the Sports page. There was that sexual harassment story; and he's generally a larger than life character. "What now, big mouth?" reads the Jets-green text. But it's kind of a bad sale: How many people who need to see Ryan on Page One will last for a story with this billboard: "The Jets’ offense was supposed to have taken such big strides forward with Mark Sanchez in his second year and new weapons in the skill positions that were acquired in the offseason. Yet the group looked lost, producing only six first downs and 176 yards of total offense, converting just 1-of-11 on third down and never really threatening the Ravens’ defense." Add to that that the Post not only put this sports story on the front, but a second one featuring Jorge Posada and linked to the Yankees' recovery of their first-place league position.
Observations: I'm frankly so annoyed at the whole "bums" storyline that I have a hard time giving either paper the win, which makes this hard. A sexy girl for the News to bolster a local politics lead; two sports stories for the Post. The traditional lack of focus for the News and an uncharacteristic lack of focus for the Post. I think what it comes down to is that you don't usually see a sexy girl on the back page, but you see plenty of Jorge Posada and Rex Ryan. Looks to me like squandering real-estate. If the Post had made the ballsy move of giving Espada the whole front page, or at least only sharing it with Ryan, I might have bitten.
Winner: Daily News.
News for giving Paladino some wood words.