Al Gore has been criticizing the news media lately for the "trivialities and nonsense" of celebrity coverage. Hey, I'm sick of reading about Lindsay Lohan, Rosie O'Donnell and NASA employees who drive cross-country wearing a diaper, too.
Gore wants to see more focus in the media on issues like Iraq and climate change. No argument there.
But there are millions of valuable, educational and enlightening stories to be found somewhere in between Britney's latest stay in rehab and global warming. Those are the stories that take place in our communities; stories that help us live better, safer lives; stories that tell us about people who do important things, and even stories that entertain us - but never in a trivial or gossipy way!
What's defined as news is obviously subjective. Many readers pick up our front page or click on our home page and only want to read serious world and national news. They are looking for "just the facts" and maybe a little analysis on the side.
Many other readers broadly define news as stories that are closer to home and more personally relevant. These people admit to getting their world and national news in quick bites on the radio or TV or the Internet. But they want to read indepth local news.
The saying "All News is Local" has some relevance in our newsroom because that's what we do best - give you all kinds of local news. Even within our newsroom there is a debate about what's newsworthy and what's not; what belongs on Page 1 and what doesn't. Answering those questions is a lot more complicated than you may think, but if you don't like today's menu, believe me, it will be different tomorrow.
So, my advice to Al Gore: You're right, Americans should he reading more about the war and the economy and global warming. But a steady diet of those complex and often frustrating stories will just make readers turn away. Local newspapers need to offer a balance - not with the latest news on Paul McCartney's divorce per se, but with stories that mean something to local citizens.