Saturday, August 22, 2009

Ian Rewrites The New York Post



There comes a time when I start to question if the media is really serving the interests of the American public. Then I remember why I started this blog in the first place. It irritates me when I come across a newspaper tries to be serious hard news source, while in reality it's just a half step above a tabloid magazine. The New York Post is definitely a newspaper that comes to mind. A number of people criticize the Post because of it's extreme conservative viewpoints but their political stance doesn't really matter to me. My problem with the Post is that it has the mentality of a 10 year old and is a serious version of the Sun. The New York Post, like the Daily News is a tabloid newspaper and both like to jump all over novelty stories. However, The Daily News does a much better job with taking prominence and impact into consideration when structuring their paper. This was evident when I scanned the Friday edition of both the Post and Daily News. having taken a journalism class, I was disgusted with how the New York Post was structured. In fact, it has led me to start a brand new segment called "Ian Rewrites the Post." Although the title explains the purpose of this segment, this is the opportunity for people to see how the New York Post could be smartened up. Maybe Rupert Murdoch can gain some good tips from this.

Ian Rewrites The Post.

First, look for the Friday, August 21 edition of the New York Post. Click here to look at it online.

Ok so yesterday's front page feature two articles. The top was one titled Skank War, which is about a feud between a model and a blogger. The second is about a subway theif, who wears a Boston Red Sox cap. First off, does a feud between a blogger and a model really need to be front page material. I know it's a case of committing libel but I'll make it plain and simple. There was no actual malice committed because it was an opinion. Anyway, this is not a groundbreaking story and we're going to cut it from the page and leave it on the side.We also have the Red Sox robber story. Now this might be more important considering he's committed 13 robberies since January and this Red Sox cap is the only thing we know about hm. However, there might be bigger stories so let's cuts this out for now but we can always put it back.

We open the paper and on the left hand side, is an article about 5 ways Obama can save on Health care. Opinion articles should never be on page 2. Whether it's a political or social issue, it goes in the op-ed section and that's where we're going to put this article in the op-ed. So what do we put in it's place? The best bet is to do a local story that will effect enough people, but not everyone. Most people tend to ignore Page 2 for some reason and that's why you rarely see your major stories there. I think the ending of cash for clunkers might do very well.

There was a small article about the Clintons on vacation in Bermuda and this is the Post when they're in their tabloid mode. This is nothing for us to be concerned about. Hillary's taking a break and the Clintons are rekindling whatever they have left. All this really need is the picture with a nice detailed caption. Speaking of tabloid stories there was also another photo of Gerard Butler throwing Jennifer Aniston into a trunk for a new movie. This little tidbit story only has the novelty value to rely on and even that's not strong enough. So this is going to be cut altogether. In fact, I think Page Six should be a pullout. It'll save the Post space and a lot of money.

Here's my favorite part. We turn the page and there's an article about Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a Libyan terrorist, who was released from prison on Thursday and greeted with cheers from his homeland. Al-Megrahi was responsible for blowing up a Pan American Flight in 1988, which killed 270 people and he was released since he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. I want to know why a story about a train thief or a libeled blogger is more prominent than Scotland's decision to let a terrorist walk free. You don't have to answer that question because it's not. So we're going to take this article and make it our front page story. I like the headline "Cheers For a Monster" and the photo of him stepping out of the plane is great. Maybe we'll put the lede on the front page too. So that's done.

On pages 6-7 we find our former front page story, which takes up a full two pages. I think this is a good time to point out that the Daily News did not have this story. So if the Daily News didn't cover than chances are it's not that important. So this story will be pushes back a few pages as a nonsense local news story. So what do we put here? Well we can wait and see if there's another interesting story or we can put the front page story right here. Let's hold off and go to the next page. There's an article about Plaxico Buress, who will face two years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted gun possession. I'm quite disappointed that this wasn't on the front page as the Post usually loves this stuff. Buress has one of the quickest rise and fall to power in the sports world and this isn't major news. I know that carrying around an illegally owned gun is not as hard hitting as Michael Vick's cruel treatment of dogs but it's still big news. A story like this earns the bottom bar of the New York Post. Hey I would have been happy if it made the bottom bar of the sports page but it wasn't and shame on the post. Anyways, we're going to put this story on page 5, where the Libyan terrorist article had been. The Plaxico issue can be delved in further in the sports section. We're going to put our cover story on pages 6-7. On Page 9, we can put the story about the train robber and that's how you fix up the Post. Pretty much everything else is fine the way it is. I know it's not a lot of changes, but what I did alter really changes the perception of the Post.
Feel free to comment on my version of the Post and tell me which do you prefer? Try having some fun on your own and see if you can rewrite today's Post.

This has been Ian Feldman speaking words of wisdom.

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