It’s been pathetic. It’s been out of touch. It’s been painfully biased. Now it’s useless.
The Virginian-Pilot has finally outlived any real role in informing the public.
Let’s look at the incisive, hard-hitting, top headlines today.
“Portsmouth bus delivers preschoolers hours late”
Wow! Top story in Hampton Roads – a bus was late. In other news, the Virginian-Pilot endorses Democrats.
The Pilot recently announced an addition to the Editorial Board – a crime reporter. Not a surprise, since that’s practically the only type of stories in the paper anyway. Look at today’s paper.
“Norfolk man wanted in Suffolk hammer attack”
“October trial date set for retired Norfolk detective”
“Two from Norfolk indicted in firearms sales, theft”
You’d think there isn’t the first Congressional primary in ages going on right under the Pilot’s nose. But what gets story after story? A dispute between the School Board and City Council in Virginia Beach over who gets to hang on to 8 million dollars of unspent surplus.
Seriously! The hottest story of the year is whether to keep extra money in checking or savings.
Meanwhile, the Pilot’s “blog” – (the news media define “blog” as “where we put real news stories online so we don’t waste real newspaper space on anything but stories about hammers and late buses) – reports on political news.
As if there aren’t a ton on political blogs that already cut and paste press releases…
So, here I am wondering what the point of subscribing to this daily dose of this garbage:
“About 15 people took part in a Ride of Silence on Wednesday starting at Ocean View Park in Norfolk.”
15 people ride bikes, and it’s newsworthy? But it’s not 15. It’s “about 15” – they couldn’t dig deep enough to confirm if it was 14 or 16, so they settled on “about 15.”
I’ll skip the irony of talking about the “Ride of Silence,” but check out the money quote:
“It was a lot of planning, but it was well worth it,” he said.
A lot of planning for a dozen or so people to ride bikes? One bike rider decides to start pedaling. The biker behind him follows. Real intricate.
Guess the Pilot’s magic number is 15. Get a group of 15 people together, do something innocuous that people do every day, pick a vague cause, and BINGO! You’re news!
Now, if the Pilot could find 15 people reading their paper, THAT would be news!
Sorry, Virginian-Pilot. You’ve become pointless. Keep your echo chamber of news/editorial with a faux “wall” of separation. And keep reporting things no one cares about. Keep raising ad rates.
And keep Ben Franklin rolling in his grave.
