Did you see the cover of The L.A. Times this morning? The (formerly) sacred journalistic real estate "above the fold" (and below it too) was sold as
ad space to promote a TV show. What's next...sell the actual name of the Times for a fee? The L.A. Timex? The L.A. TiM&Mes? The L(exus) A(udi) Times? I suppose it is better than going out of business, but not a lot better.
But wait! Before I posted this entry, I did some fact checking to make sure I wasn't the victim of a fake-photo scam. I looked at
the Newseum site that displays all of the day's newspaper front pages...and no True Blood ad/photo! Yet the Times own blog
"Opinion L.A." says the ad really was published. Hmmmmm. A mix of truth and lies to untangle?
Was the ad the front page or not? I emailed the Newseum for comment and here's what they wrote:
The simple answer to your question is that each newspaper sends us its own front page PDF file every day. So, we simply post the files that are sent to us. The version of the front page that we have posted is the version that the LA Times sent to us this morning.
So, does the L.A. Times want to have its cake and eat it? Present one front page to readers (for money) and another to the Newseum to protect its journalistic reputation? I emailed their spokesman, asking which front page was the
real front page. Here's what they wrote:
"The “True Blood” ad wrapped today’s paper. Hope that helps, but feel free to give me a call if you have more questions."
Perhaps this is a foolish time for me to be picky about the issue, since papers are failing left and right, but somebody has to do it, no?
Was the ad the front page or not? I emailed the Newseum for comment and here's what they wrote:
The simple answer to your question is that each newspaper sends us its own front page PDF file every day. So, we simply post the files that are sent to us. The version of the front page that we have posted is the version that the LA Times sent to us this morning.
So, does the L.A. Times want to have its cake and eat it? Present one front page to readers (for money) and another to the Newseum to protect its journalistic reputation? I emailed their spokesman, asking which front page was the real front page. Here's what they wrote:
"The “True Blood” ad wrapped today’s paper. Hope that helps, but feel free to give me a call if you have more questions."
Perhaps this is a foolish time for me to be picky about the issue, since papers are failing left and right, but somebody has to do it, no?
Seems that the LA Times guy is making some excuse. "Wrapped" the regular issue, but the banner is the LA Times'.
ReplyDeleteWhether that qualifies as a front page, I don't know.
But, after all, sometimes our beloved MA wraps its (home delivery) Sunday edition in a
plastic bag stuffed with soap samples, or something.