Wednesday, July 29, 2009

TDP layout

The Wall Street Journal used to be instantly recognizable by its familiar and unyielding front-page format.

Sadly the ADD types got hold of it and added color and knocked down the barriers between columns. Now it looks like an educated version of USA Today. Not necessarily a good thing.

In Morgantown however TDP are keeping the spirit of the unchanging front-page layout alive by trotting out more of the same day after day.

Weather? Check.
Sports teaser? Check
Reference to reprint of days-old AP story everyone has already read half a dozen times on the Internet or in other newspapers? Check.

TDP have doggedly stuck with the 'quirky story of the day' although it's not credited as such. Set aside by a highlight box it usually features a dumb criminal or a how-about-that Reader's Digest anecdote. TDP editors probably hope or imagine that Fred will put his coffee down and say 'Oh my goodness - Myra, listen to this....'

Problem is these quirky stories have even less shelf life than hard-news stories and the quirkies have made the Internet portal and viral e-mail rounds for a solid 24 hours before TDP faithfully reprints them.

News for TDP: these stories aren't half as funny or interesting as you think they are and publishing one per day does not demonstrate a sense of humor but rather a lack of imagination and energy where front-page formatting is concerned.

The Dominion Post

We love our little local newspaper. We really do. It just drives us mad at times.

Published by the Greer family (current progeny and publisher Mr David Raese), The Dominion Post (hereinafter TDP) is Morgantown's sole newspaper. Its coverage area often overlaps with newspapers in Wheeling, Fairmont and Clarksburg but given the strong sense of individuality and identity in West Virginia towns and communities a cover-the-state newspaper really doesn't exist and probably wouldn't work anyway.

As you might expect, West Virginia University and WVU Sports loom large in any issue of TDP. In a state dominated by Democrats for decades (except for the occasional Republican governor) the mining industries, public schools and state government in general are favorite - even incessant - topics for TDP. Local governments dithering over what coarseness of sand to buy for gritting the roads in wintertime is heady stuff for the newsroom types.

TDP's editorial positions tend to shift with the wind and are frequently tinged by a Dear Abby mawkishness. Some days they can't be bothered so an editorial reprinted verbatim (and credited) from another newspaper is substituted - just in case you were curious as to what the newspaper folk in Butte MT or Norman OK think about current events. One might expect these copy-n-paste jobs to appear OPPOSITE the editorial page but that masthead would look mighty lonely with empty column inches appearing above it.

There are dozens of aspects of TDP that amuse, infuriate and mystify but we'll leave those for future posts.

Introduction

West Virginia seems to have it all - amazing people, beautiful land and scenery, close enough to large cities and destinations but removed physically and culturally from most big-city problems.

West Virginia's relatively small population (less than 2 million) and sparse population density ensure the persistence of media monopolies in most cities and towns. One broadcasting firm controls a significant portion of radio markets throughout the state (or at least in the more populous areas).

Morgantown is home to The Dominion Post newspaper - a publication founded and controlled by the Greer mining & aggregates dynasty - and the inspiration for this blog's title.

Initially this blog may be as faintly audible as the screech of a red-tailed hawk making lazy circles over a hilltop on a summer's day but it has been established to challenge the status quo and to enjoy the frequent examples of irony and unintentional humor provided by the region's people, politicians, public figures and press.