Templating the News

mrG — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:21:12 -0400

We have all heard the complaints that the blogs just aren't legitimate news media, but every so often we also get a glimpse on how neither is the mainstream news -- in this case, it was a happy accident of RSS aggregation that trapped both this story and this companion item, both published in the StockHouse USA News, both via the Canada Newswire, and both almost verbatim identical with some strategic regionalizations.

Oh, sure, I accept that you can regionalize a story by substituting the numbers and region names, and I'd accept that, but what about ...

"Atlantic Canadians are clearly hard working, and more hours spent on the job often means less quality time with family, friends and loved ones," says stress and wellness expert Beverly Beuermann-King. "Vacations are important because they encourage escapism and play, allowing individuals to reconnect -- away from the stresses associated with everyday life."

as compared to

"Ontarians are clearly working by nature, and more hours spent on the job often means less quality time with family, friends and loved ones," says stress and wellness expert Beverly Beuermann-King. "Vacations are important because they encourage escapism and play, allowing individuals to reconnect - away from the stresses associated with everyday life."

Makes you kinda wonder what Bev actually did say, don't it?

Needless to say, this isn't a news item at all; the InterActive Corp by-line at the top is the only tip from what a newspaper might give as paid advertisement because while the article has you teary eyed from stealing all that time from connecting with your loved ones, hey how about that, we just happen to have a link here ... to Expedia.

A pure coincidence I'm sure and who am I to question the integrity of Ipsos Reid or the magnamity of IACI in paying them to come to these results, and I'm not saying all news is as blatently unbalanced or that there is no payola in blogdom.

I'm only saying what we likely already know but still need to remember, that blogs aren't the only news source to take with a few grains of salt.

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Templating the News