wine by the color

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Overall, I do a much better job managing my ire than I did in my younger days. Outside of idiotic drivers and my friends at Continental Airlines, not much gets me really fired up anymore.

But then I come across something like this and I truly want to harm someone. Namely, whichever newspaper exec thought this was an acceptable way to boost revenue...














This is a photo of a house fire in a neighboring town. The family's four dogs were killed in the blaze and it seems possible the home will be a total loss.

But not all is lost. That's right - you can buy this photo to hang on your wall, to commemorate this family's suffering!

Give the gift of photography! Order now for delivery by Christmas. Final days for delivery by Christmas!

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

Look, if they want to make a few extra bucks selling photos of random community events or little Johnny and Susie playing sports, fine. But how fucking hard would it be to remove the Buy This Photo tag from things like this?

On a day when hundreds of people in the newspaper industry lost their jobs, it only serves to further raise my blood pressure to see people who make decisions like this, to make a buck selling photos that capture personal tragedy, prosper while people who actually care about reporting the news and seemingly outdated things like good writing and editing are put out on the street. Done, of course, three weeks before Christmas.

I'll be calling to cancel the paper tomorrow. I can only hope they ask why I'm terminating my subscription...

10 Comments:

  • At 12/03/2008 7:52 AM, Blogger freakgirl said…

    Unbelievable.

    Too bad we canceled our subscription a few years back. I'd like to cancel it AGAIN.

     
  • At 12/03/2008 3:32 PM, Blogger Brooke said…

    Oh, my God.

    I clicked on the link (mistake). Who knew you could get THAT on a Christmas ornament and give it as a gift! Wooo!

    There's a reason Gannett is being flushed down the fucking toilet ... they're the ones pushing down the handle.

     
  • At 12/03/2008 10:36 PM, Blogger jersey girl said…

    I canceled today with enough vigor to count for both of us.

    Brooke, I KNOW!! A Christmas ornament!?! Can you imagine...

     
  • At 12/04/2008 7:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Had a similiar experience with Yahoo a few years ago. Reading an article about the SHU fire and an add on the side was a picture of a fire with four guys standing in front of it (some sort of protest in the world, but it was spookey). It was a link for the week in photos I think. You are writing about three kids who died (of which one I sat next to at a SHU/St johns game that night, and the fire was started two rooms down from where I lived my freshman year) and you put a spooky add on the same page?

    Do papers/websites (sorry to all writers for combining the two) have any editors of common sense? I tried to figure out where at yahoo to send it but never found a contact. I saved the screen shot in Word if you are ever bored and want to try to find someone to complain/yell at.

    BB

     
  • At 12/04/2008 11:25 AM, Blogger Brooke said…

    On the bright side (for those of us who have worked on the news side of papers), this isn't an editor issue -- it's an advertising/marketing issue. Those departments will do anything for money.

     
  • At 12/04/2008 9:28 PM, Blogger SJPSandman said…

    How do you expect to read about high school softball if you cancelled the paper?!?!?

     
  • At 12/05/2008 6:41 AM, Blogger jersey girl said…

    Sandman: I hear there is a good softball blog. I'll just read that. :)

    Brooke: Very true.

    BB: As Brooke said, those sorts of decisions aren't made by editors. That falls on the shoulders of the marketing department, which operates with one concern - the bottom line. Common sense is never a part of that equation.

     
  • At 12/05/2008 1:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The link still works. Didn't anyone check you blog and figure out the error of their ways yet?

    I wish the North Jersey Media Group would so something similarly stupid so I could light into them.

    All my Gannett anger is long gone, except for the fact that the APP just might be the worst rag in the country.

     
  • At 12/06/2008 10:39 PM, Blogger Todd Cohen said…

    Why do I have a feeling that you've cancelled your subscription before?

     
  • At 12/07/2008 6:23 AM, Blogger jersey girl said…

    Local: To be fair, the Gannett suits have probably been a little busy this week with the mass layoffs.

    Joker: You'd be correct, sir. But I think this might be a permanent break-up.

     

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