Speaking Of

Fiorella is the beloved of the mosquito community. There's something about her that attracts them even as she sleeps.  Blame her DNA.

Speaking of DNA, the headline in today's newspaper is "Illness linked to SUVs hits APD hardest," which reminds Fio once again that we  live in an acronym age, an age of LOL, WTF, LGBT, GOP, DNC,  and POTUS. Linguists of the future will have no trouble tracing the decline of American English back to the internet.

Speaking of the internet, it will also have to take responsibility for print news going down the tubes. Newspapers in the thick of the action like the NY Times and the Washington Post still attract readers, but for how long? It's so much easier to listen to broadcast programs or read capsules on your computer.

Trump, the Performer

Trump has reinvigorated comedy, from stand-up to TV to newspapers, and it's not just the newapaper columnists and the editorial cartoonists who've been inspired. The comics pages have also gotten into the act--strips like Candorville, Mallard Filmore, Non Sequitur, Wizard of Id and, of course, Doonesbury.  It's hard to resist such good material.
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Trump is determined to put his brand--his name--on everything, espacially a big, flashy, neon-lit wall. Ah, Ozymandias, nothing lasts forever, which is a reference our so-called president lacks the educational background to understand. By the way, his latest "alternative fact" is that the Civil War was senseless, that no one knows why it was fought.
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His basest base still gives him high approval ratings, mainly, Fio thinks, because none of us like to admit we were wrong. And then there's the circus element. It's so much fun under the Big Top.

That's Fit to Print

Television news bit into newspaper news, and internet news bit into television news.  What's next?

Time marches on.

Good News, Bad News

We want to read things that stimulate our emotions. That's why "happy-times" newspapers don't attract much of a following.  They're too much of a good thing. Papers that scream unremitting death and destruction aren't that popular either.  Too much of a bad thing. Most of us prefer a mix--teary heart-warmers side by side with the latest shocking scandal/blood-soaked murder/horrendous accident.

.And if you don't read a newspaper, the same applies to TV news.

Late NIghts

Ah, for the leisurely life of the writer--or the leisurely life Fiorella THOUGHT writers had. Now that she's about to become a professional on the national level, she's staying up way too late with a laptop across her knees.

Your Fio has been a professional writer for a long time, penning news stories and features for local newspapers and magazines who paid her a mere pittance for her labors.  Now she hopes to crash the big-money scene.

If she can stay awake.

Extra! Extra!

The mighty Statesman is striking out.

Fiorella is repelled by the new format of blaring headlines, larger font, lack of right justification, and page reorganization that the Austin American-Statesman has embraced. The impression she gets is that there is more white space and less news. The Sunday comics have undergone a revision too. Some of the dumber strips have been enlarged while Doonesbury has been reduced so small that Fio has to squint to read it.

Fio can only surmise that the Statesman, tired of contending with the electronic trend, wants to fold, and is deliberately alienating the faithful. Amen.

Losing the Personal Touch

The announcement of Daughter's engagement appeared in the newspaper Sunday morning. It was brief and and did not include a picture, but still cost a mint.

Newspapers seem mostly to be political, entertainment, and fashion news now, with a few self-indulgent features thrown in. Births, engagements, weddings, and deaths--all the things that relate to our lives--are treated as classified ads.

And pundits ponder why Twitter has become popular while newspapers are becoming obsolete.

Tightening the Belt

Fiorella doesn't mind her daily paper slimming down some. Newspapers have gotten bloated, as far as she is concerned--bloated and, uh, full of themselves (word play intended).

As a kid, Fio would read the Waco Times-Herald, through and through, even before the hyphen occurred. It was manageable--the sports report was just one page and often combined with business news. The Sunday paper would be whomping, though--maybe three whole sections.

When you think about it, newspapers started out as rag-tag scandal sheets. Then they became respectable, portentous, and self-righteous. Everyone and his dog got a by-line.

Fio doesn't want newspapers to disappear altogether, but it won't hurt them to lose a little of the avoirdupois.

Extra!

Twenty years ago, radio was supposed to go dead. Now, having reinvented itself, it's stronger than ever.

Fiorella has some ideas about doing the same thing with newspapers. Her first suggestion is that they look back at their roots and augment the news with poetry, short stories, and serial fiction, all from local contributors. Think Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Edgar Allen Poe . . . Fiorella Plum.

And how about a children's page in each Sunday edition, like the Akron Beacon Journal ran when Fiorella was a child? The highlight of her week was the age-categorized weekly drawing contest--she still treasures the tattered clips of her savings bond-winning artwork. The section could also include short fiction by or for children, plus reports about topics like dinosaurs.

And how about child-oriented comic strips? As an adult, Fio loves Rat and Pig, Candorville, Doonesbury, LuAnn, Zits, and the dear departed For Better or For Worse, but as a child, she was loyal to the adventure strips: Ally Oop, Orphan Annie, Brenda Starr, Terry and the Pirates, Mark Trail, Steve Canyon, Dick Tracy, The Cisco Kid, etc. Let's work up some new action for today's kids.

Another idea--revive the neighborhood reporters of the 1980's. People felt the newspaper really related to them then, not just to foreign places like China, Iraq, and New York.

Actually, the best idea might be downsizing, leaving the national and international news to TV and the internet, and working more on local news. The West Austin News has succeeded by catering to the high end market. Maybe everyone needs a niche.

Just turn it all over to Fio. She'll figure it out.